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strategy games student packet PDF

75 Pages·2011·5.06 MB·English
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ENGINEERING STRATEGY GAMES th 7 Grade Apogee Ladue Middle School Kathleen Gardner 1 Table of Contents Strategy Games Introduction.......................................................... 4 Z-Man Games Submission Screenshot................................................................................6 Advice from Real Game Designers.....................................................................................7 Game Design Features & Flaws by Bruce Baskir .................................................................9 Iterative Design..............................................................................................................10 Game Theory............................................................................. 11 Prisoner’s Dilemma.........................................................................................................13 Apogee Game Design Benchmarks ................................................ 14 Thinking About the Experience ........................................................................................15 Themes ..........................................................................................................................16 Theme Development....................................................................................................16 Common Themes in Game Design................................................................................17 Brainstorming Themes .................................................................................................18 Theme Research..........................................................................................................20 From Theme to Game..................................................................................................21 Theme Development Rubric .........................................................................................22 Game Mechanics............................................................................................................23 Review.......................................................................................................................32 Selection....................................................................................................................35 Game Mechanics Rubric..............................................................................................36 Victory Conditions..........................................................................................................37 Player Objectives........................................................................................................38 End-Game Conditions..................................................................................................40 Victory Conditions Decisions........................................................................................41 Special Considerations in Game Design ......................................... 42 Player Skills....................................................................................................................42 Common Design Problems...............................................................................................44 Game Proposal.......................................................................... 46 Game Proposal Rubric....................................................................................................48 Game Prototype......................................................................... 49 Materials List..................................................................................................................40 Game Prototype Rubric...................................................................................................51 2 Strategy Game Rules .................................................................. 52 The Five C’s of Writing Rules by Brett Gilbert....................................................................53 Required Elements..........................................................................................................57 Board Game Rules Evaluation.........................................................................................58 Rubric............................................................................................................................59 Playtesting a Game .................................................................... 60 Playtesting Log...............................................................................................................63 Package Design ......................................................................... 65 Elements of a Game Package..........................................................................................65 Expectations...................................................................................................................66 Final Product ............................................................................. 68 Submission Form.............................................................................................................69 Final Product Rubric........................................................................................................70 Final Process Rubric........................................................................................................71 Appendix.................................................................................. 72 Resources.......................................................................................................................72 Personal Game Log........................................................................................................73 3 Strategy Games Introduction Games are planned experiences for players. Some games provide significant intellectual challenge and the opportunity to plan and carry out a myriad of strategies. Other games provide players with emotional experiences like tension, fun, or even fear. Successful games match the designer’s expectations to the players’ actual experiences. Games have provided humans the opportunity to engage in mental challenges, social interaction, recreation, and competition for thousands of years. Many new games are introduced each year, but few are successful enough to merit production in subsequent years. You, however, will create a classic bound to be played for all eternity. What is a “strategy game?” A game is any activity undertaken or regarded as a contest involving luck, skill, or a combination of both, and played according to a set of rules for the enjoyment of the players or spectators. A strategy game is a game where players’ decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome of the game. These decision-making skills do not occur by accident; game designers create games to generate specific actions, behaviors, and outcomes. These decisions take place in the form of strategy, the long-term, overarching ideas a player has to winning the game that inform his or her choices as they play the game. Many games incorporate a theme, which is the utilization of a particular subject or scenario world in which to immerse players. A familiar example is Monopoly where players take the role of landlords as they buy, sell, and rent property. In Detroit Cleveland Grand Prix, players race cars around a track. In Jamaica, players sail pirate ships and battle rival ships. A great theme, fully fleshed out, can attract and keep players. A great theme can also put players in the right frame of mind to make better, more informed decisions because they can use existing knowledge about a subject to help them. In these games, outcomes reflect real-world consequences of a player’s decisions. In Risk, when you lose an army, you lose actual army pieces. Abstract games are the alternative to themed games. Abstract games do not simulate reality, and examples include Chess, Go, and Checkers. In abstract strategy games, players must think about the problem logically as the rules describe in a straightforward manner. 4 The Objectives are the stated ways players reach the end of the game. Games can end in a variety of ways from achieving a stated level of points to number of rounds to other triggering events. Achieving an objective for yourself or delaying another player’s achievement determines the overall purpose of the game. Mechanics are the specific ways that players physically play the game. There are over 30 commonly used mechanics like Roll and Move, Action Point Allowance, Set Collection, and Pattern Recognition, but there are many new and innovative mechanics that game developers have created. In Niagara, clear plastic disks move based on player decisions simulating a river’s movement. Game manufacturers are always looking for unusual and new mechanics in game prototypes. The End Game Condition is the particular event, condition, or combination that players work towards and ultimately achieves to end the game. Some games end after a fixed number of rounds, where others are a race to the end. Some end based on points accumulated or spent, while others are based on accumulation of money or territory. Other games have players solve a puzzle, eliminate all other players, or comprise some combination of these listed. Victory Conditions are the combination of Objective and End Game Condition; it is important to note that in strategy games, ending a game first does not always make you the winner. Rules are the most important document of the game. Rules enable (or prevent) players from playing the game. Successful rules clearly and concisely communicate to players what they need to know and what they need to do in order for them to play the game as you expect it to be played. The prototype is the physical product that represents your ideas—the board and bits. Every aspect of the prototype should reflect the game’s theme and should easily facilitate the mechanics. If the pawns are representing pirate ships, the pawns should look like pirate ships. In addition, the pirate ships should fit neatly onto the spaces. The artwork should reflect the theme and the layout should be clearly organized. Playtesting is the iterative process of playing a game, evaluating what occurred, fixing the game prototype, pieces, or rules, replaying, reevaluating what occurred, many many times, so that the game plays consistently according to your intentions and as the rules dictate. Playtesting occurs alone and in small groups. Playtesting occurs when you are present or “blind,” when the game developer is behind a glass wall, videotaping the game, or later reads evaluations players fill out while they play. Metagaming is any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game. Consider creating a structure whereby players can make the game their own, different tactical strategies to win, having a variety of winning scenarios, several different playing frameworks. This is going to be so fun! You can do this! 5 Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature. Tom Robbins 6 Advice from Real Game Designers Write the game you want to play. --James Ernest Design for yourself and have fun making and playing your games. --Richard Borg Every good product is a success because several people have had a hand in adding their expertise to the process. Believe in teamwork. --Reyn Guyer Listen and adapt. Playtesters (strangers, not family and friends), inventor relations folks, retailers, distributors, agents... all have valuable input. Evaluate it carefully and adapt what makes sense. Don't assume you have all the answers. But be the guide to the vision and make it better with the input you may receive. --Curt Covert Playtest, playtest, playtest. And play nice with others. --Colleen McCarthy-Evans Test. Test. Test. Don't rely on enthusiastic relatives and friends. God bless them, they lie! --Brian Hersch Do not look for what sells. Nobody really knows what will sell tomorrow. just do what you love and then look and find those who love what you do. --Haim Shafir Stop working alone. Find people who are as smart as you, or preferably even smarter, and harness their creative energy along with your own. I've created few games by myself, and so I've gotten to work on everything. Because the more everyone contributes, the more insane ideas you'll be able to try out, and the better off your games will be. --Mike Selinker If you are creative enough to invent one game, you are creative enough to invent several games. Hanging all your hopes on one game is a shot in the dark. By pitching a handful of games, you not only increase your chances of success, but you establish yourself as a 'serious' inventor. --Keith Meyers 7 How Are Strategy Games Different from Luck-Based Games? In general, a strategy game has all of the following elements in varying degree: • Game is based on a grid, rather than a linear line or lines. • Players succeed (or lose) based on strategic decisions, not luck. • Players have equal knowledge to play; no trivia. • Play is based on multiple decisions a person could make on each turn with possible advantages and disadvantages each time. • Players can plan strategies that will take multiple turns to complete fully. • Players can replay the game a bazillion times and have a different experience each time. • Winning (and losing) is specific and achievable. Your Game You are to create a strategy game for others to play. Your game must include: • A theme or story • Specific achievable objective to end the game • Well-defined mechanics that foster play • A complete typed set of rules including setup instructions • Professional quality board, and pieces • A box that all pieces and board fit neatly inside • A design on the box that advertises your product. Your game can include: • ONE luck element (draw pile, dice, spinner) that enhances game play but allows a player’s decisions to be the determining factor of the outcome. Your game may NOT include: • A sports or war theme • Player movement through rolling of dice • No overt killing—pieces may be eliminated or knocked out, but you must think more creatively than just destroying other players. 8 Game Design Features and Flaws By Bruce Baskir, Game Designer 1. A game should have a clear objective. Once the game is over, it should be simple to determine the winner. 2. A game should have a well-defined end point. It should be easy to tell when the game is over. 3. A game should involve choices. Any game that plays itself is not worth playing. 4. A game should have interaction between the players. Otherwise it’s solitaire with a time limit. 5. A game should have rules that are clear and complete. While it may be impossible to foresee every situation that may arise, the designer should try to minimize the number of situations where different rules are in conflict. 6. A game should not have a single obvious path to victory. If there is always a single best move to make, then the game has no real choices, and will not be likely to be fun to play. As a corollary, if it can be proven that a certain series of moves will nearly always lead to victory, then there is a flaw in the game design. 7. A game should not have excessive down time. Playing a well-designed game is fun. Waiting for other players to finish their turns is usually not so much fun. 8. A game should not provide an advantage to the first player (or to the last player). Games should be designed so that any advantage due to order of play is cancelled out over time. Similarly, different sides in a game should be balanced so no one has an advantage over another. 9. A game should avoid the runaway leader problem. If your game favors the player in the lead, then getting a small advantage early can turn into an insurmountable advantage later. Minimizing the possibility of anyone else winning makes the game no fun for all the other players. 10. A game should not rely on random chance to determine the winner. Having a random element in many games can be desirable to improve replay ability, but having too much of the game rely on a single lucky die roll will kill the enjoyment for many players. For this reason, roll-and-move games should be discouraged, unless they are done well, because the excessive randomness in the movement overwhelms the strategic elements. 9 Iterative Design Iterative Design is an engineering process where a design follows a cyclical process of definition and development. First, an idea is discovered and elaborated into a prototype. Next, the prototype is testing and data is collected. Third, the data is analyzed and the prototype is adjusted or advanced depending on the needs of the prototype. This cycle continues, with the results allowing for the evolution of the product’s successive versions (iterations) in the repeating cycle until the product is complete. START IDEA DISCOVERY ANALYSIS PROTOTYPE DEVELOPMENT DATA TESTING COLLECTION PRODUCT DELIVERY 10

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Other games have players solve a puzzle, eliminate all other players, or comprise some combination of occurred, fixing the game prototype, pieces, or rules, replaying, reevaluating what occurred Anagrams. Bluffing. Deal-
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