Design Tip of the Week #21 (Fun to TIME Ratio Part 2)

So this week you are going to talk about the Time part of the Fun to Time Ratio.  Where do I find part 1?

Sorry for the delay.  We have been spending lots of time lately working on this issue for both of our games, so hopefully I have some more (fresh) insight this week.  But here is a link to part 1:

http://mvpboardgames.blogspot.com/2014/09/design-tip-of-week-20-fun-to-time-ratio.html

So isn't it easy, just cut out a couple of rounds and voila shorter?

Yes, it does sound easy.  What you find when you cut rounds though is that sometimes your game doesn't feel complete.  If you have a buildup to your game, people could feel cheated if they didn't get to build up as much, or equally bad they could spend all this time building and not get to the payoff.

Lets take this one step at a time, how do you solve the buildup issue?

This is a great question, and one I have worked on several times.  Not only in our own designs, but also with other designers at Unpub events.  If the first couple of rounds of your game feel superfluous cut them.  If everyone does the same things every time you don't need those rounds.  The key is to cut the rounds without cutting the progress. 

For this we have introduced character cards in some of our games.  In Bastion for example, during the first few rounds you were setting a course for yourself.  Later in the game you would either try to maximize those strengths you had developed, or balance your character out, to handle more diverse situations.  By introducing characters we were able to start setting the course for you.  The keys to making successful character were:

1. They had to be unique: Their powers had to match their persona.
2. They had to train you up equal to about a turn of training.
3. They couldn't railroad you into one specific strategy.
4. Don't constrain yourself to powers that you would normally find in the game.  These "Character Powers" didn't have to be balanced with the rest of the game.  If they were better, the character could start with less of something else, if they were weaker they could get more of something else.
5. They have to be easy to learn.  The game is designed to be easy to learn and play, with rich decision.  The characters should not muddy those decisions, they should build to them.

We had now cut an entire round out of the game without detracting from people's experience.  It doesn't have to be special characters though, lots of games have variable setup cards, or abilities.  Even if it is just for first time players so they can get into the game quickly (see Catan's first game setup) it is worth looking into.  If first time players are making decisions they don't understand it will not only take longer, but could ruin the rest of the game for them.  If they don't like your game the first time they probably won't try it again.

Lesson Learned: Try cutting a round at the beginning of your game by having special setup cards.  They could be variable power cards (like characters) or quick setup instructions (like Catan).  Either way could cut a round off the beginning of your game.

What about chopping off a round at the end of the game?

The hard part here is having players do a lot of buildup just to be left cold in the end.  The end of your game should be the most exciting part, as that is going to be the lasting impression the gamer leaves the table with.  You don't want to overstay your welcome, but you don't want people building up all this cool stuff and never getting to use it.

What we did with Bastion was to make the last round something you had to earn.  We didn't cut it completely, but made it so the town could burn before you reached it.  If it didn't burn, then the last round was another chance to use your cool stuff.  The town is no longer in danger of falling, you just get to wipe up the scrubs while they try to run away.  It gives you a cool benefit for getting better at the game and surviving until the last round.  There is no player elimination, so if the town falls you just add up your scores when it fell, but your are rewarded with extra VP for trying to save the town.  This way the first time you play the game will probably be 1-2 rounds shorter.  As you get better though you will make it to the final rounds.  As you get better the game also becomes faster so you will probably finish in the same amount of time.

Another solution for cutting rounds at the end of the game, is making the ramp up quicker.  You may have to make the end game costs of things lower as people won't have as many resources, or you may have to make the resources you gain from an action higher, but this way you get to the endgame faster.  In Salvation Road, we decided how many rounds we wanted the game to be (approximately) and back filled the costs for things to work out.  At some points the game was going longer than we wanted, so we cut down the cost of each end game card.  Now the game could end earlier.  So we had to up the pressure throughout the game to make it hard to reach those goals.

Lesson Learned: Consider having a variable endgame, that is more likely to go longer the better you get at the game.  Another option is to find out the correct length for your game, and tinker with the costs of things to have a natural build to that point.

Is that is for Time?

Yup.  That's it for this week, next week I am going to talk about the Fun aspect of the Fun to Time Ratio.  Until then, I am Peter, keep designing great games.