Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends!
So…a couple of weeks ago I wrote:
“I guess I could tease out that we do have an “event” coming up in June!”
Well….see below for details!
If you are in the greater Attleboro / Providence / Taunton triangle….then drop in and see us…
Also the guys from Mech Deck will be there Demostrating their game, so come on down and give this very cool game a try.
Hope to see you there!
Steve R
Everyone who has made or is in the process of making games has probably asked themselves this very question. Different creators will have their own reasons for designing games. Some want to see if they can make something others will enjoy, while some may do it for the recognition. The most driving reason, however, is the desire to play. Without this desire, there would be no need to make games in the first place.
The desire to play is not unique to humans. Many animals also exhibit this quality, especially among the young. Play promotes companionship and teaches many important life techniques, whether they be hunting and defense skills for the animals or math, critical thinking, and sportsmanship for people. Unlike other animals, however, most people tend to get bored playing the same games day after day, stemming from our longing for the newest and greatest. This longing has led to the evolution of games from the dice and cards of early history to the multitudes of games today.
Not all games appeal to all types of people, so in an effort to make them more appealing, rules are changed, added, or removed. Sometimes the pieces themselves are changed, such as from dice to cards, cards to boards, and boards to electronics. Each has its own style of game-play favoring a combination of chance, skill, and strategy, appealing to different audiences. Games with high chance factors appeal to those who like to gamble and enjoy uncertainty. Games of skill appeal to those who enjoy the physical aspect, often as a test of strength or dexterity. Games of strategy appeal more to those who like to be in control of their actions and outwit their opponents. Few games will focus solely on one aspect over the others as this can lead to the outcome of a game being known early during play or even at the outset, removing the fun for most. At the heart of it, games are made so we can have something new to play.
-James McLean
Another week, another article!
And here I sit; scratching my “follicle-ly” challenged pointy head as I try to think of something to say that will be interesting and newsworthy to you all!
Y’know, the two biggest problems with writing these weekly “state-of-the-business” missives is that:
A. It is hard to write about something that has yet to be released to the general public…and…
B. I have no idea if my words are reaching anyone!
I mean I am not trying to go for some deep world-changing existential prose here. I am not writing the next War and Peace. I am just trying to keep you all informed on the state of MR20….and this week I hit a roadblock!
I guess could tease out that we do have an “event” coming up in June!
Or that we may be an actual legal company in the very near future!
And that it seems our Facebook page is finally gaining some traction…
Or that, so far, most of the folks who have playtested our first game have actually liked it enough to the point that they even want to playtest it again!
And that having Mr. P at my beck and call is as fun as it seems it is!
(I live to serve, Mr. R.)
Or that all of us here at MR20 are having a blast developing our games, despite all the work that has been and is yet to be done!
Oh well…stupid roadblock…maybe I will just go and re-write War and Peace!
Until next time….stay frosty!
Steve R
So I saw this come across the feeds today, an Indiegogo funded game that claims the people who have played the Beta Test say “It’s better than “Cards Against Humanity“. I’m dubious. For all the copy on the games fundraising page, the only way to figure out how the game is played is to watch the promo video. The game is called “Crazy Mix ‘Em Ups” and it looks like a cross between a college drinking game and the “Dare” part of “Truth or Dare”. Some of the challenges on the cards were “>Blank< and >Blank<, switch tops.” or “>Blank< play the rest of the game topless.” or “Everyone make a tinfoil hat.” The video includes lots of pictures of young men and women playing the game in their underwear and drinking shots presumably playing the game.
Here’s why I doubt the better than CAD claim; I don’t think a game like this will have the same mass appeal. Where CAD allows you to say horrible, politically incorrect things in the frame work of the game, it’s quite a threshold to cross to reach the point of actively doing the physical act described on a card. Last holiday season my wife and I went to a house party thrown by her boss (who was a V.P.) with co-workers and spouses, and we played Cards Against Humanity and were coming up with completely inappropriate combinations for the black cards, but everyone had a blast, because the game gives you license to do so. I don’t see that scenario playing out with this game, no matter how much the game gives you permission to act out, it’s a big step to cross the line from verbal to physical.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just a grump, but check it out and comment below with your thoughts.
-Mr. P
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4-7COtpslg
Not much to report from the business side if things this week. Legal stuff still in the pipeline, art work still being drawn, playtesting continuing, Mr. P still answering to my every beck and call! (Always a pleasure to be of service, Mr.R.)
So for this week I have been contemplating ‘flavor’ and gaming. We are striving to have a game environment that is rich in its history and pageantry. We want our world to feel alive. I want it filled with interesting characters and quirky personalities.
Now, coming from a D&D background, I can see where I developed this need, but I am not always this way. When I am playing Magic for instance, the background flavor of the plane I am battling in means very little to me. The same goes for games like ThunderStone and Ascension. I love the gameplay but ignore the flavor.
The games that I do play and enjoy the background environment tend to be in universes that were flushed out in different mediums. Games like X-Wing or Legendary Aliens would not be as enjoyable for me without all the rich history that came out of their franchises. Of course, the great gameplay in these games is essential, no matter how good the flavor, if the gameplay is lacking then I will not enjoy the game.
So I guess my question to you, the great internet masses, is this: How much does flavor matter to you in a game?
Until next time….stay frosty!
Steve R
So…what’s new this week you ask? Well, let’s see what I can disclose out to the public without incurring the wrath of our legal department (and their endless supply of >REDACTED<)!
We continue to move forward with playtesting on our first release called >REDACTED< (What really? We can’t have the name in print yet! Oh well…) We have made a few small last minute rule changes and add-ons and are now making sure that they improve the gameplay through playtesting. We have also made a few more tweaks to the awesome art that is being drawn up just for us, as well as some card re-designing that will make >REDACTED< (oops, sorry!) look as good as it plays!
Speaking of playtesting …we would like to start taking our first (but not last!) game on the road for some playtesting. So if anyone out there reading this missive has a favorite haunt that may want to participate, then please feel free to drop us a line via out “contact us” link. Maybe you can be added to the growing ranks of play-testers that have tried >REDACTED< …at the very least you’ll be able to find out what the game’s name is!
Until next time….keep >REDACTED<!
Steve R
Believed to first being invented by the Chinese, then traveling to the Middle East via India, playing cards may be the second oldest gaming tool in the world after dice. Despite the centuries and the adaptations and changes made to the playing deck by many cultures two things have remained fairly constant, they are Suits and Face Cards.
In early decks the face cards were all male with the Knight, the Prince and the King. It was the French who shuffled things up by added the Queen card to the mix, demoting the Prince and putting the Knight out of business. There are many stories a to whom the face cards represent and it’s hard to know which ones are true, chances are the face card represent personas unique to each culture and there is no one true origin storey to the identities of the Jack, Queen and King of each suit.
Each culture throughout history has modified the deck to suit its own needs, the biggest change to the european deck was after the French Revolution. Back when the aristocracy ruled, the highest valued card in the deck was the King; however, that didn’t sit well in a post-revolutionary France where “liberty, equality and fraternity” were the new slogan, So they took the “1” card, already called the Ace, and made it the trump card of the deck. The idea actually went back to the original Chinese deck, that had both a one card and a trump called the “Dragon” card.
The popularity and widespread acceptance of the playing card deck was largely due to its portability and wide variety of games of skill and chance that could be played with it. The first historic record of playing cards in in western Europe is in the 14th century, when the king of Spain outlawed them. Chances are they had entered a Spanish port via a Mediterranean merchant and caught on significantly enough to gain royal notice. Clearly his ban did not stifle the popularity of playing cards, and probably, as in most cases where something is banned, just fueled the desire to have them.
The interesting variant is the Tarot deck. I’ve seen some articles that claim that the playing cards are descended from these tools of divination, and while I admit that my research is far from extensive, I believe that Tarot cards came either after Playing cards hit Europe or the Arab countries or may have been developed on a parallel track.From the standpoint of a travelling fortune teller, cards could be more easily hidden from the representatives of the church who would likely not look kindly on a person partaking in such activity.They would also be less obvious than reading the bones of dead animals or searching through their innards for portance of the future.
Regardless Playing cards introduced more of an aspect of skill into games of chance than dice allowed for. Calculating odds, misleading strategies and bluffing added more challenge to the games and an almost limitless variations to established games.
I have finally gotten around to writing an introductory hello here at our website (who knew that designing games would be so time-consuming!). If you have been here before, thanks for coming back…and be sure to spread the word about us to all your gaming friends. For those of you who are visiting for the very first time, WELCOME! I hope all of you stay with us for the ride, as we have what seems to be a challenging and exciting rest of the year ahead.
We have not one, but two games on the drawing board even as we speak (but don’t ask for details yet, more news will be forthcoming!) and I may even have one more surprise on the way for my gaming partners in crime! We have signed on some artists do some design work for us…and let me tell you, the stuff I saw looks fantastic (Hey, Mr. P, think we could get some sample pics up here soon?).
We have also signed on a writer to work with Rob L to begin writing some background flavor for the fantastic world that we have created for our games.
Playtesting continues even as I write this, meetings are being held, plans drawn up, paperwork being signed….well, you get the idea….things are very busy here at Move Rate 20 Games!
So stay with us for the ride folks…it may get a little bumpy, but it will sure be fun!
Steve R
(By your command Mr. R! Here are the rough sketches we received from Chris Bennet. -Mr. P)
The Wall Street Journal On-line posted a video that covered the benefits of teaching your kids to play card games at a young age; and while they focus on traditional card games, I couldn’t agree more.
In recent years card games have fallen out of favor with the modern family as our personal devices pull us away from the social interaction that a lower tech diversion can provide. When I was a kid I have great memories of playing Rook and Miles Bourne with my family on camping trips and New Year’s Eve, and clearly as an inspiring game designer I feel strongly that card and board games have a place in the home. I also agree that such games help develop social and life skills that a developing child will find incredibly valuable, including how to win and lose gracefully, how to read people and how to think strategically,
The first game we are developing is something that definitely could be a family game and we will have more details about it as we get closer to a release date. It has math, symbol recognition, tactics and long term strategy. But in game you could find to play with your family, either on-line or at your local gaming store there’s Munchkin, Love Letters, the Adventure Time card game, or the old stand by of Uno. For those with older teenagers there’s King of Tokyo, Settlers of Catan and many more.
There are a lot of options available to you as you set out to plan a family game night, the challenge is keeping it happening so it has a chance to become a tradition in your home.
