Design Tip of the Week #24 (Why Have Custom Dice in Your Game, and When to Introduce Them)

Another Series?

Looks like it.  Last week I talked about a simple way to make custom dice for your prototype (or any time you need them).  Here is a link to the post if you missed it:

http://mvpboardgames.blogspot.com/2014/11/design-tip-of-week-23-how-to-make.html

You may also want to see the discussion over at BGG (BoardGame Geek) for some other cool tips:

http://boardgamegeek.com/article/17518053#17518053

So this week you are going to tell us why to make Custom Dice?  Isn't it obvious?  Because they are cool.

That is certainly a factor in why to have custom dice in your game.  But there are some fundamental things that custom dice allow you to do that you can't do with a traditional die. 

Firstly, they allow you to have more information on a die face than just a number.  Look at Quarriors, Dice Masters, or Mice and Mystics for some examples of this.

http://boardgamegeek.com/image/2010754/marvel-dice-masters-avengers-vs-x-men

People often talk about cards having multiple uses, but you can achieve this with dice as well.  In Salvation Road we use the dice for Threat Rolls, Fighting, and Healing.  You don't need to look up what to do with the dice for all these situations, you just count up the hits.

Custom Dice allow you to convey information without having to look up every result on a custom table.  While Dice Masters has a lot of information on their dice, they try to add more depth by introducing rules on the cards too.  I view this as a small failing because not only do you have lots of information you need on the dice, you also have to refer back to the cards.  They developed a cool system, but all the information isn't in one place.  It could be worse, you could have to keep looking back at the rules, but this could lead to bloat as more cards are introduced to the set.

Lesson Learned: Custom Dice are a way to add multiple uses for a single component without a lot of extra looking things up in the rules.

What are some other cool things you can do with Custom Dice?

You can also mess with the odds a bit.  For example, if you want to remove an enemy and take one wound for your hero you could easily put that in the rules.  Or you could roll a die that has 4 hits, 1 miss and 1 double hit.  Now you are still taking 1 Wound on average, but it will be a little swingier. This leads to more tension than just taking 1 Wound.  If you want it more swingy you could move the hits around even more.  You could have a die with 3 hits, 2 hits, 1 hit and 3 sides with misses.  You would still average out to taking that 1 hit, but it will be a lot more swingy.  Half the time nothing will happen to you, but every once in a while you will take a tremendous amount of wounds.

Dead of Winter did this with their Exposure Die.  Your results could be anywhere from no damage, to dying and taking someone else out with you.  Some people love this and some people hate it.  It certainly creates more tension in your game, but it could also create huge swings in luck that drive people away.

Be careful with having too large a swing in your luck.  There is a lot of middle ground between gaining Victory Points and Dying.  Both results probably shouldn't be possible on the same roll.  But it all depends on your game.  The longer your game is the less one roll should matter.  If you are rolling the dice 100 times in your game the luck should probably all balance out.  In a 5 hour game the final result probably shouldn't be determined on one die roll.  Of course there are always exceptions.

Lesson Learned: You can vary the odds in more ways than one.  The average result doesn't always tell the whole story.  If you want more luck in your game, have more variety between the results on the different sides of your dice.

What do they add to your game?

There are two main things I think Custom Dice can add to any game.  The first we have discussed above, but don't think it can be repeated enough is simplicity.  You can simplify your rules by making Custom Dice.  You don't have to have lots of tables or reference sheets to tell you what happens on each die result.

The second main reason to have Custom Dice is theme.  Custom dice are an easy way to add theme to your game.  I would much rather roll a hit symbol and know I did damage than have to look at a table to see that I hit on a 1-4.  Even Dungeon Dice, which wouldn't be any fun at all with normal dice, gets a big buzz because of it's custom dice.  Just looking at the cool symbols is enough for some people to get totally emerged in your game.

Lesson Learned: Custom Dice should simplify your game while emerging people into the theme.

When should I bring them into my prototype?

You should make sure your prototype is a game first.  Your first few playtests will probably be either solo, or with people very close to you.  You don't need your dice to be custom at this point.  You could just have regular dice and look up tables.

Even if your dice are turning out to be very intricate it is better to test them before committing to making dice.  You may find out that you don't even need them at all.  Maybe a more streamlined approach is better for your game.  Maybe you find out you don't like your initial distribution and want something different.  It is much easier to change your table then to remake the dice.

With that being said, once you have a good working prototype and are ready to show it to the world, you should probably put the effort in to make your dice.  If it makes things easier for your playtest group, and speeds the game up then it is the right call.  If you make them and need to change them at this point, it is ok.  Sometimes you will need to change them several times.  That is why it is good to hold off as long as you can, but it is better to put the extra work in before you show it to people than to start getting feedback like:

• The game is too long
• There is too much to remember
• There is too much to look up
• I couldn't get into the theme

Then you are wondering is it the mechanics, or the components.  That is the toughest part of early playtesting.  Even later prototypes can suffer if your components or graphic design is confusing to playtesters. 

Lesson Learned: Make your Custom Dice when you are convinced your design is solid and are ready to introduce it to people outside your inner circle.

What's next?
 That's it for this week, next week I am going to talk about why not to use Custom Dice in your game.  Until then, I am Peter, keep designing great games.

Design Tip of the Week #23 (How to Make Custom Dice)

Lets get right into it.  What will you need?

For a 16mm D6 (probably the most common die I make) you will need:

• 16mm Blank Dice (you could use ones with pips too, but I buy blank ones)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D166220011&field-keywords=blank+dice&rh=n%3A165793011%2Cn%3A166220011%2Ck%3Ablank+dice

• 1/2 inch Hole Punch 

http://www.amazon.com/EK-Tools-Circle-Punch-0-50-Inch/dp/B0090JVDNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416284062&sr=8-1&keywords=1%2F2+inch+hole+punch&pebp=1416284209536

• Sticker Paper

http://www.staples.com/Staples-Sticker-Paper/product_490429

• Paper Cutter, or Scissors

The links are only suggestions, you can google these items, or find your own source for them.

Step 1:

Lay out your symbols in a word document (any program will work).  First may a test print on regular printer paper as it is much cheaper if you make a mistake.  You want to look at spacing, quality of the symbols, and size.  Make sure you punch a few out to make sure you aren't overlapping, and that the symbol fills the punched out piece.  You can resize and test again until you get the size and quality you are looking for.  I will often print on the same piece of paper to save cost.

Layout - You want to have several rows on your paper, each with enough symbols for 1-2 dice.  Even if you end up printing more than you need it is ok, you will want to have more later for sending out prototypes.  Here is an example below:

Step 2:

Print on the sticker paper and use your paper cutter or scissors to cut between your rows.  you should now have strips that are ready to punch.

Step 3:

Have your blank dice ready and peel the backing off one strip of your sticker paper.  You will then punch one symbol at a time, placing each symbol on one of the die faces.  While I apply the sticker to the Die, I leave the rest of the strip inside the punch.  It will stick to the punch a little, but should be easy to take off.  I have included a picture below as an example:

Final Results:

As you can see, I left the blank sides blank.  If you want, it would be easy enough to add a blank sticker to them if you are really worried about them being weighted.  Personally I am not that worried for a prototype, but it is easy enough to do.

Anything else?

Nope, it's as easy as that.  I have made custom D8s too.  For those I bought a bag of 100 D8 like those listed above for D6.  The punch I use for D8 is a bit smaller too.  It doesn't have an exact measurement on it, but it is about 8-9 mm.

What's next?

 That's it for this week, next week I am going to talk about the benefits of having custom dice in your game.  Until then, I am Peter, keep designing great games.

More Content...

There is some information about the components I use to make d8s below in the comments.  But here is a picture of what they look like.

 

Design Tip of the Week #22 (FUN to Time Ratio Part 3)

What is this about and where do I find the first 2 Parts?

This series is covering something I call the Fun to Time Ratio.  You know your game is done when you get this ratio correct. 

In the first installment of this series, we talked about ways to make longer games feel shorter:

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

In the second part of the series, we talked about ways to shorten your game, without losing the flow:

http://mvpboardgames.blogspot.com/2014/11/design-tip-of-week-21-fun-to-time-ratio.html

Now the hard part, how do we add fun?

What is fun?  That seems general.

Fun is a very general term.  What is fun to some people will not be fun to others.  This week we will focus on some general tips to increase fun that should span most gamers.  Even though we have different tastes, there are certainly some things to consider regardless of your audience.

Lets start out with Decisions.  How do you make them fun?

Lets start with the basics.  People want to feel smart.  Anything you can do to make the player feel smarter without making their opponents feel dumb is probably a good thing to add to your game.  Think about the games you like.  Why do you like them?  Probably because you are pretty good at them.  You feel good playing them because you make good decisions.  You feel smart.  Even if you don't win your favorite game a lot, you are probably either getting better the more you play, or see your decisions making positive impact on the game.  I have heard people talking about building their farm in Agricola, even if they didn't win, and pointing to the progress they made.

What people don't like about Agricola is the pressure feeding you people puts on you.  This isn't universal, but seems to be the key complaint.  That is because when you don't succeed you lose something.  In this case points.  In The Year of the Dragon puts pressure on you too.  You probably won't finish that game with all of your things in tact.  This is a chief complaint about the game.  Some people love this mechanic, so I am not trying to push you away from it altogether, but realize that if you put negative feedback in your game that it will turn some people off.

An example from our designs was in The Last Bastion.  We originally had a mechanic where people would lose if the town burned and they hadn't helped enough.  It was a good mechanic and lead to some cool tension at the end.  Even if one player seemed way ahead they could lose because they didn't do enough to save the town.  We flipped it on it's ear, instead incentivizing people to try and save the town.  Instead of giving people a negative experience of the auto-loss, we gave everyone a bonus for doing what we wanted them to do.  At the end of the day everyone felt better because they were pushed to do what the theme told them they should be doing.

Lesson Learned: Try to make decisions lead to a positive reward, not a negative punishment if possible.  People want to feel smart, reward them for good choices.

Oh Great Game Maker (insert sarcasm here) what else do people want?

People also like to feel special.  Look at all the top games on BGG (boardgamegeek.com).  In almost all of them people have a way to feel different from everyone else.  Do what no one else can do.  The top game, Twilight Struggle, both sides feel, and play completely different because of the events.  In Terra Mystica every race has a unique power.  In Through the Ages, civilizations don't start differently, but they acquire things that make them unique throughout the game.  If I get Napoleon, you can't get Napoleon so I am unique.  Keep going with Agricola.  You have unique cards that only you can have, and upgrades that only one person can build.  Puerto Rico the same thing.  Buildings are limited so only one or two people can have the same one.

It is very hard to design games that make people feel unique, but I think this is a key to success.  If you play 2 games in a row and do the exact same thing regardless of special powers, or starting position, then there may be a problem.  That is why I don't necessarily like games that have an open tech tree.  If you can build anything whenever you want, than what prevents you from doing the same thing every game. 

Lesson Learned: Give people a chance to feel unique, either through setup, or introducing limited powers throughout the game that only one person can attain.

Summary

While the concept of fun is unique to each person, we do have things in common.  People want to feel smart, and people love having something no one else does.  It is in our nature.  Observe any child for 20 minutes and you will see this.  They always want what the other person has (special powers).  And they always want to show you something (feel smart).

Series Summary

I always get asked the question, how do you know when your game is done.  Or how do you know when to start trying to break your game?  I come back to this rule, if your game is fun to play, in the timeframe you are playing it, you are probably there.  If it was fun for the first hour, then got boring, find a way to cut the end without making if feel rushed.  If the game is playing quickly, but it feels like something is missing, try to add some fun through the techniques discussed here and in the first part of the series.

What's next?
 That's it for this week, next week I am going to get back to prototyping and discuss how to make your own custom dice.  Until then, I am Peter, keep designing great games.

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.

Random Musing #2 (Where have you been?)

Hey all.  Sorry I have been away.  I had been pretty good at keeping on a weekly schedule until life popped up.  I do plan on continuing this as a weekly feature (probably missing more weeks in the future) but sticking to a better schedule.

Part of the reason for my absence was a tight schedule to get Bastion in a good place before the end of the year.  There have been a few developments with Bastion which will probably come to light very soon, but also the design work on it has been very productive.  We were in a spot where we were making lots of changes and most of them stuck.  The game is the best it has ever been right now, so I feel it was worth the time away from the blog.

With all that being said, this week is crazy and I am working through the weekend.  Hopefully I will have a new post up by next week, but if not I promise one the week after.  Thanks for sticking with me and hope you have enjoyed the content so far.

As always feel free to reach out to us at MVPBoardgames@gmail.com or on Twitter @MVPBoardgames.

That's it for this week, next week I am going to talk about the "Fun to Time Ratio Part 2".  Until then, I am Peter, keep designing great games.

Design Tip of the Week #20 (Fun to Time Ratio)

What is the Fun to Time Ratio?

The Fun to Time Ratio is quite simply: Did the game provide enough fun to fill the time it took to play it?  There is no real way to measure this as there is no real statistical way to measure fun.  But we have all felt when this ratio is off.  There are some games that just outstay their welcome.  There are some games that end just as you finished building up your engine (or army) and you wanted them to last longer.  And different people react differently to this as well.  Some people want a 10 hour game while others love Micro Games.

So how do you know if your game is at the right level?

This goes back to knowing your game.  Who is the audience for your game?  If you don't know this then you probably need to take a step back and figure it out.  Once you figure out who will like your game, find other games in the genre and see about how long they take.  Do people complain about games being too long, or short?  This will give you a good launching point, but doesn't have to be where your game comes in.  Maybe that can be a differentiator for your game.  But you should know that going in and look for feedback on it when conducting playtests.  Ask questions like: How did the length of the game feel to you?

That is the second part of the equation.  While it is important to have all different kinds of people playing your game, it is most important to have this core audience try it out.  If your game is about a Strip Club (sorry couldn't help myself) don't bring it to a church gaming group you have.  The audience for your game are the ones whose opinions you should trust most on this subject.

Lesson Learned: Find the right groups to playtest your game and see what they think about the length.  It may not need to be the length that changes, you just may need to add more fun.

How can I change it if my ratio is off?

There are many ways to change this ratio, but the 2 main ones are change the length of the game or make it more fun.

Well that was easy.

Some other things to think about are mini payoffs.  I like to use Micro Games as an example of this.  I am not a huge fan of Micro Games, but I have learned some lessons from the ones I do like.  For example, One Night Ultimate Werewolf wouldn't work if you had 2 hours to solve each session.  One of the keys is having that time constraint.  After you are done you get that payoff of winning or losing.  Most times people want to play again.  Maybe they use different roles.  Or use the same roles until they get better with them, then change it out.  Some groups will use the same roles all the time if they find a grouping they like.  So why do people play it over and over for 2 hours if it wouldn't make a good 2 hour game?

It is the quick payoffs.  There are other reasons too, but this is a big one.  Some longer games incorporate this into their gameplay too.  Twilight Struggle incorporates "Scoring Cards" into the deck.  This introduces mini goals for the players to achieve.  After the battle for Europe is over now we move on to Africa (to be honest I don't know the order but the point remains valid).  You get that high, or low from the one conflict then move on to another one.  All these conflicts are tied together in a bigger struggle but you are still getting these mini payoffs as you are playing.

Lesson Learned: Adding mini achievements in the middle of your game can lead to the experience seeming to move faster.  It also gives players a goal to work toward.

Is that it?

Not even close, that is just one way to work on your ratio.  I am going to try something new and make this a 3 part series that comes out over the next 3 weeks.  Please provide feedback and I will try and incorporate it in the rest of the series.

What's Next?

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

Design Tip of the Week #19 (Special Powers)

What are the advantages of Special Powers?

Special Powers can be leveraged in a lot of situations to differentiate things.  It could be characters the player controls, neutral characters everyone can control, items players can gain, foes, locations on the board, etc.  Here are some benefits of having special powers in your game:

• Differentiation - This is the biggest one in my opinion.  Makes things act (and just as importantly feel) different.
• Variety - Lets every game feel different.  If you can have a different power each game it increases the replayability.  Even if the powers just come out in a different order, or on a different spot the game changes from one game to the other.  This is especially true when you have 2 variable things that intersect creating lots of different combinations.
• Theme - Special powers are a great way to add theme to your game.  They have to make sense though.  Don't paste this on.  The power really needs to evoke the feel you are trying to reach for that character.  An example we had in Salvation Road was the "Annoying Kid".  He was a Survivor so he had an ability that hurt the group.  We wanted him to feel annoying to the players so we made him hurt other characters when he went to their location.  It made sense thematically as other characters were more careless around this kid since they were just trying to get away from him, but it also made the player annoyed with this character as well.  You had to plan around him and make sure that no one ended up with him.  He filled the roll thematically for the character and for the players.
• Fun to Design - Tinkering with special powers in your game lets you learn a lot about your system.  It lets you break things in interesting ways without complicating the system.  Even if you don't keep a power, it may change the way you think about your game and lead to bigger changes.

What are some challenges of Special Powers?

Special powers are cool, so why not put them in every game?  Here are some negatives:

• Hard to Balance - Special powers can be very hard to balance.  In math terms if something is worth 1 and something else is worth 1.5 what do I do?  Do I make them both worth 1.5 or 1.  What if the next thing is worth 1.7?  They will never be 100% equal and this could upset some players.  It is also easy to miss something without a lot of playtesting and it could totally break your game.  Even if you fix it later players may have moved on to the next game and won't even give it another chance.  They may perceive your game as broken and not well playtested.  It could be a poor reflection on you as a designer even if one card is off.  My friends won't play City of Remnants any more because there was a broken card in it.  It has since been erataed but they won't even bring it to the table to try it, and view the company in a poor light.  I would love to give it another try, but it will sit on my shelves collecting dust until I find another group to play it with.
• Unwanted Complexity - Some games just don't need more complexity.  It could be a light game that needs to stay light.  Even adding little powers may push it over the top.  Or it could be a big heavy game where one more thing will make your brain melt.  Either way, if you are pushing the "Fun to Time Ratio" of you game don't add more stuff.

When should I start adding Special Powers?

I usually try to get the core of the game down before adding special powers.  I may add some basic ones early that give +1 here or -1 there, but try not to mess with the core until it is solid.  These basic powers give me something to balance my future powers against too.  If I want them to be really good I will add +2 to something and see how that changes things.  But I don't get into the nitty gritty of powers until the game is balanced everywhere else.

How do you introduce new powers?

I try to balance them again the basic powers I made early.  I typically try to come up with a whole lot of thematic things first and add them, not concerning myself too much with power level.  After playing them I will work on the balance if the game still feel good.  Balance can be achieved by either making a power better or reducing the cost, or by making a power worse or increasing the cost.  This seems obvious, but people often forget about the cost part of this ratio.  All the powers don't have to be the same if there are different costs associated with them.  I will get into this more later, but just be careful with costs.  If it just a one time cost and come out early, is it too good?  If it is a steep cost with a great power, does it lead to rich get richer situation?

When introducing a new special power to an already flushed out system with other powers already designed, I try to make the new power a little better than the others.  I do this intentionally because I want people to use it so I can see the consequences of it.  If it is on par, or worse than your other powers people will avoid it because they are unfamiliar with it, or perceive it as weaker.  You want it to get tested so it is better to lean toward too good and back it down later after you realize the consequences of it.

Lessons Learned?

Special Powers are good for a lot of games.  If your game needs a shot of theme try to add them in.  Make sure you know your game can handle the added complexity though or it could hurt your game more than help it.  Also, realize you will be adding a lot of playtest time as you try to balance the powers.  Don't release new power without playtesting them with your other powers or it could break the game and make you look bad.

What's Next?

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