Game Theory

Review: Spontuneous

2011-11-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

Hardcore party gamers who enjoy music and singing are probably familiar with the game Encore, which has been around (in various editions) since 1989. Basically it's two teams, draw a card, read a word on the card, the teams go back and forth racking their brains to come up with - and sing - songs with that word in the lyrics. It's a fun game with the right crowd, but in my view, it has a fatal flaw: if you're playing with people with a mind for retaining and recalling lyrics, the game can go on for hours - and no party game is fun for THAT long.

Enter SPONTUNEOUS, a new singing party game released last year. The inventor of Spontuneous had never played Encore when he designed the game, yet Spontuneous solves the "Endless back and forth song battle" by limiting the challenge to one singer: either whoever can belt out a song first, or if no one can, the "Tunesmith" who came up with the challenge word ("Trigger word") must prove there is a real song with that word in it. By singing at least five words of it, one of which must be the trigger-word. As in Encore, inventing a song is prohibited, but unlike in Encore, the rules recommend making any chosen song "commonly known or recognizable." (More on that in a minute.)

As with any singing game, you will need some players who aren't afraid to sing. You don't have to be Edith Piaf, but at least be Bob Dylan - get something of a melody out, even if it's off-key and your voice is cracking. For the shy, Spontuneous still works wonderfully well with family groups and close friends. An interesting facet of the game is how different people's experience of music is - I recently played with four other players, all women, who were experts in show tunes, country music and hymms and spiritual music. I myself am based in quirky early-1990s singer-songwriters. So as you can guess, we were stumping each other quite a bit. This is where the balance of the "commonly known or recognizable" song rule comes into play. If you disregard this rule, a lot of stumping will happen and multiple people will end up at the finish line and the game will never end. If you follow the rule too closely, and the trigger words trigger songs that are TOO easily thought of, the same problem could occur. As the rules say, "Players judge; majority rules. " The game FAQs suggest that players should remember it's only a game, and invites them to use Google to settle disputes "if you must."

I have been waiting for a game like Spontuneous for a long time. It solves the "Endless battle" problem and makes for a quick and fun romp around the board. The fact that it's a race to be the first to get a song out (rather than a long silent period of time with everyone thinking) makes it more fast and fun. There are even cards that cause random things to happen when you land on a "music note" space. I can heartily recommend Spontuneous to anyone who loves the joy of music and singing. If you've ever burst into song when someone said a certain word, you know where the inspiration for - and fun heart and soul of - Spontuneous comes from.

Review: Morphology

2011-04-17T07:44:00.000-07:00

In linguistics and biology, morphology is the study of the shape, structure, color, pattern and form of component parts and how they fit together. In the game world, Morphology is a fun twist on Pictionary that has you composing visual clues out of beads, popsicle sticks, rubber o-rings, wooden pawns and other colorful bits. It's a great game for people who can't draw, but it's also a great game for anyone who wants an exciting building-and-guessing challenge.

A simple "lily pad" game board serves as a scoring track, and some cool plastic frogs serve as the player tokens. One thing I like about Morphology is almost any number of people can play - you just form up into teams. Unless you have a really packed party, you'll probably want to play with two teams, but you could play with as many as 20 people (five people each in four teams) if you don't mind the game taking longer. Once you've got your teams and your frogs, the game begins.

The first two lily pads are "play" spaces, that is, you just play the basic game with no variation. This is to get you warmed up. The next six pads are "roll" spaces, meaning you roll the 6-sided die to determine what play variation you will use:

Everybody Plays - like an "All Play" in Pictionary or a "Club Cranium" in Cranium, the other team gets to play at the same time and maybe steal your point.
Eyes Closed - you'll be using all the components to build your word, but you need to do it with eyes closed, so make sure to arrange the stuff so you can find it
Weak Hand Only - do everything with your non-dominant hand, which for must of us is our left hand
String only - You only get to use the string. Luckily, the string is the most useful and versatile piece in the game.
You Pick Five - Choose five pieces to build your word (probably one of the five will be the string.)
Interception - If you can't get your team to guess correctly within the time limit, the other team gets a chance to confer and guess once after your time runs out.

The ninth and penultimate pad is a "Pick 3" space, meaning you choose only three items to build your word. This extra challenge gives the other teams a bit of a chance to catch up. Make it past Pick 3 to the FINISH pad and you win!

Playing Morphology is an absolute rush. The clues are challenging - each card has an "easy" and "hard" word, and even the easy ones can be tough (one card, for example, has "Monster" on the hard end, and "Nose hairs" on the easy end) - your success here will depend on what pieces you have to work with. (The different difficulty of the game variations might frustrate some players, but adds a good level of randomness to the game. Each successful round moves your frog forward one space, which is as it should be.)

Because you feel extra smart when you finally come up with the perfect, brilliant way to arrange the pieces to represent the word and your team guesses, you'll be high-fiving when that correct guess comes just in time. The corollary to this is things might get a little intense if you're playing with the sort of competitive folks who tap the sand timer while you're playing, just to make sure the sand is moving through expeditiously. But this is a game you'll remember - I'm still proud of how I finally managed to represent "dot" and "ladder" using just the string.

The components in Morphology are good quality wood, glass and plastic. The sand timer works well and there's no need to tap on it. And best of all, it has frogs! I had a small issue with one of the pieces, and Kate Ryan Reiling, creator of Morphology, was kind enough to assist me in making it right. I heartily recommend Morphology to anyone who likes creative, fun party games with a guessing component. But don't just take my word for it - it's Time magazine's #2 Toy of the Year for 2010!

Learn more about Morphology at http://www.morphologygames.com/

Worst. Game. Ever.

2010-11-28T15:15:00.000-08:00

I was trying out "Google Patents" and this item came up in a search for board games.

"A board game apparatus is provided which is intended to facilitate communication between parents and children regarding facts and attitudes in the area of human sexuality and to provide learning experiences which will lead to improved communication between parents and their children and adults."

This just seems like a bad idea. Awkward all around, especially if the adult gets a lot of questions wrong (or if the kid knows much more than expected.) This patent was awarded in 1980, though; I suppose kids in 2010 learn about this stuff from the web. If parents in that era wanted to off-load the responsibility of teaching their kids about sex, the game makers should have made a game for kids to play without adults, and mitigate the embarrassment factor. But the game doesn't seem to have anything to recommend it - there's just a plain track of squares on the board, the only concession any kind of styling is a lone sperm on square 25.

How about you - what's the most awkward, broken or just plain unfun game you've ever seen?

Dealing with Cards

2010-11-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

Having recently been working on a couple of party games, the idea got into my head to look and see what the expectation was as regards how many cards should be included in a game - or at least, what the reality was of how many were generally found in games. Here's what I gathered.

Apples to Apples: The mother of all "play a card and everyone plays a card in response" games has 321 red cards, 107 green. Expansions have 216 green and 72 red. The "Party box" and wooden "Apple crate edition" each have the same 749 red cards and 249 green ones. Interestingly, the Party box and Apple crate are advertised as having "Over 1000 cards" but 749 plus 249 is, by my count, NOT more than 1000.

Dirty Minds: 304 "Clean answers" plus three "Dirty clues" for each.

Say Anything: Doesn't say in the instructions how many cards, but I count 80 with 5 questions on each, total 400 questions.

Cranium: original game had 800 cards, 200 of each sub-game activity. "Cranium Wow" had 600 cards, other editions had varying numbers

Wits and Wagers: 100 cards with 7 question each = 700 questions. Expansion Pack 1 has an additional 700 (better) questions.

Loaded Questions: original game has over 1000 questions. Booster pack has 128 cards with 4 questions each (about 500 questions.) "Loaded on the go" has 250 questions, "Adult" loaded questions has 300, the other editions have only 200. (more specific focus)

Trivial Pursuit: The crusty bewhiskered granddaddy of the modern party game takes the prize for most cards, as far as I have found. The original had 1000 questions. Newer version had 432 cards (72 of each category) with 6 questions on each card, total 2500 questions.

Time's Up: (commercial version of the "Celebrity" charades game) The original game had 432 cards with 2 names on each (864 names total.)

As an additional note, I discovered many games (A LOT of games) put more than one question on a card (wits and wagers, say anything, loaded questions, trivial pursuit, hummmble, encore, etc) - they put more than one question or game element on a card. This makes sense from a practical standpoint - it's much cheaper to print (and ship) a game that has a few cards with lots of content, than loads of cards with one item each. It also mitigates the problem of encountering a card a second or third time - if there are other items on the card, there is less chance of an already played element coming into play (a game buzzkill if there ever was one).

An additional note: SR wrote in with the following comment, which rings true: "The expectation of the players should have a lot to do with the number of cards. e.g., a game such as Monopoly has relatively few cards. But it is interesting that the meanings of the cards changes with accumlation/strategy. A simple "one-shot" type game where you just answer a question needs lots of questions to keep the variables/newness to a level to keep the interest of the players. however when the cards work with synergy than less are needed. Thus strategy games require fewer cards overall and are less entertaining to the A.D.D. crowd in general I would imagine."

2010-05-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

This amusing diagram, sent to me by the Queen of Catan, summarizes the downward spiral of geekdom in several popular geek categories - with the notable exception of games. Therefore, I am taking it upon myself to create the game geek hierarchy, as follows:

Socially acceptable, even somewhat cool: the usual party games - Cranium in a metal tin from Starbucks; Taboo; Guesstures

A little geeky: the "lite" Euro games like Settlers

Pretty nerdy: Playing Settlers once a week; the more hard-core Euro games

So nerdy, your social life with normal people will be impacted: being a game group organizer; designing your own games

The loss of all shame: Don't be ridiculous - games are fun! Nothing to be ashamed about.

Designing a Party Game: A Case Study

2010-04-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

Great piece here by Phil Harding on his recent game, Caption if You Can. CiYC is a neat looking, simple game of coming up with funny or clever captions for odd photographs. It's an idea I had myself, but he beat me to it! There's a video review of the game at The Dice Tower.

"Quip it" is a similar idea, in DVD form, by the folks who brought you the DVD movie game "Scene it."

That Settles It

2010-04-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

In about 2005 I had a chance encounter that - while it did not change my life - changed how I look at table top games. I'd read in the year 2000 about the mania called "The Settlers of Catan" that was sweeping the USA even then (five years after its debut in its native Germany.) The premise seemed a little boring - building little wooden roads and villages? What makes this fun? And in truth, my first couple games didn't win me over. Luck was not on my side, no one ever seemed to have any need for the resources I had to trade, the dice were misbehaving, my long road was not the longest road. It was an exercise in frustration, but when I went to bed that night, the hexagonal and randomized board was there behind my eyes, and my brain was still going over each wooden piece placement, trying to figure out where I had gone wrong. That night, I dreamed of the game. Though I had not enjoyed the game per se, I was hooked - I just didn't know it.

Settlers is the killer app of light strategy gaming - it is, more than any other, the game that starts the addiction that leads to massive amounts of time and money spent on board gaming. It bridges the gap between party games and "Euro" games by being interactive, social, a little mysterious, and fun. The more you play, the more you like it, because it is a game that, while the basics can be explained in ten minutes, it's deep enough that you can play for months or years and not grasp all the possibilities and tactics. That's the challenge - figuring out the game itself and how your friends play it. A friend of mine had a weekly game for a while, and a member of his group won over twelve times in a row - and they have never figured out how he did it; they all were experienced and good at the game, and this guy wasn't playing any obvious strategy. There are a lot of subtle details to the game, however, and learning those helps you improve. Learning is a big part of what makes games fun, and this one is no exception. It's already sold over 15 million copies, and for good reason.

(Pictured above is a photo found on the web by my friend Lapsed Cannibal. It depicts the Queen of Catan and her loyal henchmen. Actually, some hard core Settlers players dressed up like the artwork from the "Catan Cities and Knights" edition.)

Read more about Settlers: In Silicon Valley, Settlers is the New Golf

Twistering the Sheets

2010-03-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share these bedsheets I found randomly on the internets. I think they are neat; one female friend advised against them, however.

Review: Truth be Told, by Buffalo Games

2010-01-29T14:45:00.000-08:00

I recently acquired a new party game intriguingly entitled Truth Be Told. I was interested to play this game because I have long been a fan of the "everyone writes an answer and then the person whose turn it is reads them all and everyone laughs" style of game. Think Balderdash, Malarkey, Say Anything, Loaded Questions etc. Because the game has made quite a splash in my group, I wanted to share my impressions.

The game materials are of good quality, the dry-erase markers work well and the dry-erase boards come fairly clean when wiped with a paper towel or tissue. The quantity of question cards is excellent - each card has four questions on it (differentiated by color) so if you use one color at a time, (that is, use only the green questions first until you have gone through all the cards, etc) you should have many, many games without duplicated questions because it will take a while to use all the cards four times each.

The gameplay is simple and easy. Players can learn the game in under one minute. Whoever's turn it is reads a statement off the card, for example "Truth be told, one time in gym class I ____." All players write on their rectangular dry-erase boards a plausible conclusion for this sentence as regards the player whose turn it is, who then collects all answers, looks at them to be sure he or she can read each without squinting (or laughing, or otherwise reacting in a way that shows it was not the true answer) and everyone then votes for the one they thing is the true answer. This gets very, very funny with some questions like "Truth be told, something that is in my nightstand is _____". (The questions are suitable for all age groups, but some can be interpreted in naughty ways depending on the players.) I could see either friends, families, or a mix of disparate people enjoying this game. It's fun with people you know well and people you just met, though knowing people will give a slight advantage. In any party game, of course, it's having fun that counts, not who scores points.

The scoring system is simple and easy. As in similar games, each player gets a point for each person who chose their answer (including the person taking their turn who wrote the true answer.) And everyone who picked the true answer gets a point for that too. The points are tallied on a dry erase board with circles 1 to 15, and the first player to 15 points wins.

What I like about this game:

It rewards honesty. The active player is to be truthful, not to fool players like in some other games. This is refreshingly different
The game inspires and rewards creativity, but there is little to no barrier for those who are often intimitated by "fill in the blank" games, since the questions are so simple and universal
It's quick and easy to learn and play
Under their "Green" initiative, Buffalo Games uses 100% recycled paperboard for the game and packaging
Because it plays on the personalities of all players, you're guaranteed to have fun if you play with fun people

The only down side is if you play with people who are not as fun, it's possible the game will not shine as brightly, but that's not the fault of the game.

BONUS: For added frolic, fill in an alias or funny made up name on your dry erase board under "Truth be Told, my name is ______." (Obviously, you will still have to own up to your answer when your phony name is called.)

I give Truth Be Told my highest recommendation. My group has requested replays of this game repeatedly, and there is no better measure of the value of a party game than people asking to play it.

You can learn more about Truth Be Told at Buffalo Games' web site.

So You Want to Design a Game

2010-01-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

What makes a game great?

Should it offer a level starting field with all elements visible at all times, like chess? Should it be more random, like Candy Land? Should it have mystery and psychological elements, like Werewolf, Poker, and the venerable Stratego?

I've asked this question of people I've met over the years, and I never get the same answer twice, which seems to say something about either games or the people who play them. To me, what makes a game worth playing is simply how enjoyable it is. No one is going to spend their leisure time in an activity that is not fun, so if you aspire to create a game, bear this in mind. As a wise man once said to me, the value of a game is in the playing. You should also be sure to work at making games only if THAT process is enjoyable to you - it's worth noting that a lot of the big names we all know - like Trivial Pursuit - failed the first time their creators tried to bring them to market. Almost no one gets rich creating games. But if you enjoy thinking about, creating, and playing new game ideas, then it's time well spent no matter what.

The best way to be inspired with an idea for a new game, is to play a lot of games. Play different styles of games and play games often and with different people. Think about what you like about a game that works - what makes it stand out? Conversely, what doesn't measure up in a game that you try and then put back on the shelf because it didn't interest you?

Once you have an idea that excites you, start brainstorming. Maybe you've come up with the name first - you have a clever pun that suggests a funny party game idea. Or maybe there's an aspect of everyday life you think could translate into an enjoyable game. Whatever your muse, write down everything that pops in your head and sort it out. Beware of getting too hung up on ancillary game concepts like the board, any props or parts, and the point scoring system. No matter how cool these things seem to you, no one plays a game for its pieces - they play it for its core play mechanic, the crucial interaction between the human participants and the game itself (and each other.)

Also take care not to over-complicate your game. A great example of a game boiled down to its core essence is the game Curses!, by Brian Tinsman. Very early in his career as a designer, Brian created an elaborate game of exploring Egyptian tombs. His dog, Draco, attacked the game and chewed it to bits, and Brian was faced with the choice of starting over or giving up. As it turned out, the canine critique was a blessing in disguise, as Brian took the opportunity in his second draft to focus on what worked best about the game - the "curses" players could play on each other - and ended up with a simple and very fun party game that became very popular through word of mouth alone. The person who told me about it laughed just thinking about when she'd played. Brian has described the original version as "terrible" and with its added complexity, it probably would not have been nearly as memorable or viral. Anything added to your game that does not make it more enjoyable, is actually subtracting from your game's appeal.

The rules need to be extremely simple too. Have you ever tried to learn a new game from its instructions while you're with a rowdy bunch of gamers? No fun. Keep it short and sweet. (As a game teacher, consider reading up on your new game before your guests come over, too.)

Once you have a game you feel is worth playing, get some trusted friends together and play it. Make sure your friends are not too easy on you. Have them tell you what works about the game and, much more importantly, what DOES NOT work and needs to be improved or removed. Once you've played it a lot with your friends, play it with strangers, play it with anyone you think could be part of the audience for your game. Make sure people are brutally honest and listen to what they say. Take notes or record the audio of the session.

Finally, when you have a well-tested prototype, decide if you are going to market and sell it yourself or send it to an existing game company to see if they want to publish it. The first way will cost you an immense amount of money and time, (you will essentially be starting your own game company) but is the only way you'll get more than a pittance in return, unless you are extremely lucky. Letting another company do all the work will still get your game out there, though, and remember, the fun of a game is in the playing!

So to sum up:

Keep your game really simple. Concentrate on fun.
Keep the instructions as short and simple as possible. Keep the information in cohesive "chunks" like "Setting up," "How to Play," "How to Win," etc.
Don't obsess over your game board and props. Keep everything as streamlined as possible.
Don't try and create a smooth, finished product. You are going to be constantly refining and changing things anyway. Don't even send a slick product to the company when you're ready to publish. They will see your prototype and assume you're going to be impossible to work with because of your perfectionism.
Test your game many, many times, including with people who don't know you. Test again whenever you make changes. Test your instructions by having someone read them then try to lead the game with no help from you.
Have fun.

Good luck in game creation - it's a really fun ride.

A few online resources:

Board Game Designers' Forum

No Fluff Design Method, by Rolf Hendricks

Board Game Design, by Sloperama Productions

This book, by the aforementioned Brian Tinsman is the best I have found for advice on what is needed to create and sell your own game. His site also has great info on chocolate milkshakes in the Seattle area.

Games that don't need Games

2009-09-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

One of the niftiest trends in the contemporary Game Night world is the shift towards noncommercial games, or games that you can just play with pencil and paper (or with nothing at all.) Two super popular examples are Celebrity and Werewolf. Celebrity has been released commercially as Time's Up and The Name Game, and even as Celebrity the Game. But my friends and I know it simply as Celebrity, the game where each person writes down 5 names on slips of paper, you throw them all in a bowl and play three rounds: 1) Describing each celebrity or character as much as you like; 2) Using only ONE descriptive word, but also charades and 3) Using only charades. It's amazing how fun this still is after so many plays - something about the challenge of the lateral thinking needed in a limited time, combined with the inevitable humor of wacky charades.

Werewolf is a variation on the social-interactive game Mafia which originated in the Psych department of Moscow State University in 1986. Andrew Plotkin, an associate of Looney Labs, gave the game a Werewolf theme in 1997; "Are you a Werewolf?" was the first of many such variants.

Some recent commercially released games have introduced concepts that players can re-create on their own. Check out Chain Game by OTB Games, as well as Cineplexity by the same company. These games simply use cards to play with various elements - although Chain Game does include some nifty chain links and a honking horn for the "human timer." Players could re-create games like this on their own. With the right group, they're great fun.

For more paper and pencil noncommercial games, see:

1000 Blank White Cards
Exquisite Corpse
Eat Poop You Cat (aka "Paper Telephone")

DiceCapades

2009-01-27T14:09:00.000-08:00

DICEcapades: a party game by Haywire Group for 2 to 6 players age 12+.

Dicecapades is a simple and fun game similar to Cranium in that it combines various disparate activities into one package. Depending on what section of the game board your pawn is in, you will be called upon to perform mental challenges, physical challenges, or answer trivia questions. The big selling point of the game is the 133 dice that are included. The weakness of the game is the fairly limited number of cards included - there are actually more dice in the game than cards! Another flaw is the box design; it is made to show off the dice, but there's not really any way to easily store the dice in the box as presented. Despite these shortcomings, creative gamers will find ways to use the dice to expand this game and even create new ones.

I've played twice and enjoyed myself a lot (despite a slight muscle pull when arm wrestling a fellow player during one of the physical challenges.)

Recommended for those who like Cranium, Pictionary, or dice in general.

There is also a version for young kids age 6 and up.

Other dice resources:

Uno

2009-01-27T12:20:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my first post in this blog!

This will be a blog about games - playing them, inventing them, collecting them, et cetera.

"Spiel nacht," in the URL, is from the German for "Game Night" (or more literally "play night.")

More fun to come....