Mystery Coconut

You are not feeling the love. You keep looking at your creation in the iPhone’s screen, and is not clicking. Your best friend has been checking it out over your shoulder, and be keeps chugging his beer without a word. Finally he mutters something about it not being that bad, then goes to check out what’s all the excitement coming from the table in the back of the bar.

Not that bad! You cover your eyes. “Not that bad” is the kiss of death in the freaking App Store! You can already see your game  disappearing into the tide of forgotten apps, maybe get a few downloads when you finally make it free and it gets featured on Krapps.com. And the thing is… you don’t know why! Why is it so bad when it has all this cool stuff in it?

You remember when you started it. You were dating that daycare teacher, and inspired with how her sweet voice was always punctuated by the sudden screech when catching her rugrats doing something behind her back, you added to your game dinosaurs farting rainbows while juggling baby’s heads. That didn’t work out; actually, she got a restraining order. But the next date was such a great cook… you added the fire meatball shooter. Then it was the gothic girl (you added the fatty lipid-vampire), then the one in the military (the terrorist-skewer flag poles), then the veterinary (bi-headed chickens), then the farm girl (beheaded chickens)… Is all there on the screen in all its full-color animated glory.

You turn the iPhone off (for some reason is always running out of battery lately), and go after your friend see what’s up with all the laughing. What the…! Is that a gal wearing a mask that says “Evil”? Oh gosh, they are playing a board game in your bar! Disgusting! You knee your friend and point to the door, but is already too late; he is in perpetual snorting/chuckle mode now. You hurry out before it gets to you.

Wait a moment there buddy! Are you saying you don’t like board games? Aren’t you creating a video game? Not the same, eh? You sir are missing out! There are so many games out there with many interesting mechanics: board games, card games, dice games, role-playing games… They have been around for a while too, so I think they can probably teach you a thing or two about how to make your iPhone video game better, you know. Ah, now you are listening! OK, let me just explain you a few things about board games that can be applied to your designs.

The components tell a story

On a good board game you can look at the board, the individual pieces, the cards, the dice, and the box it all comes in, and before reading a word of the rules you should know what the game is about. You have pieces of an island, people screaming and boats, marine monsters, and a big whirlpool in the middle of the board! You must be playing Escape from Atlantis! Or you have a long icy track with a start and a finish line, wooden pieces of trees, cards with illustrations of dogs… this must be a sledge race! Snow Tails! Even if some pieces are abstract cubes, everything works together to support the theme and create a powerful image, and a promise for a experience that will be remembered.

The players know what their options are

At any moment, a player can look at the board and see the whole state of the game. He can see what tunnel his Space Marines are in, the blip in the next hallway that may reveal some violent Genestealers or be fake, just a trap to misdirect his resources. He knows he will have to open the door to find out, advance, and fire, with his limited action point supply; with all that info, he can more or less calculate the odds of the flamethrower guy frying whatever is there before one to six 4-arm aliens with razor claws get to him.

Players learn as they go

Some players like to get into the game and learn the rules as they progress. Even simple rules can combine in unexpected ways, and even experience players learn a lesson at every game. After all, nothing teaches you faster to close all those portals to another world than to have your city overrun by tentacled monsters.

There is a clear goal

Maybe the players are not on top of all the rules, but there is at least one thing all of them will want to know from the very beginning: how can I win? Does the player that kills the dragon win? Or is it the one that stole the most gold and got out while the rest were fighting the dragon? Different goals make for totally different strategies, and making clear what those goals are is of the utmost importance. Making it easy to guess who is getting ahead at any moment also enhances the game with ever-changing conflicts.

Quality components make a big difference…

Games with good components, even if they have terrible rules, are a pleasure to play. The click of the stones in a wooden Go set, the thick lavishly illustrated cards of Magic the Gathering in your hand, or a battlefield full of painted metal miniatures and props in a Warhammer 40K battle. Yes, you could play Go with bottle caps on a note pad, or Warhammer with some cheap plastic cowboys and indians and a few cardboard boxes. The rules, the gameplay, would be the same. But would the experience be the same?

…cause physical items are cool

Players like to roll the dice even when is not their turn, listen to them bouncing playfully on the table. They like to play with the pile of plastic coins by their character sheet. They like to organize the little wooden fences around their farms and set the animals in random patterns inside. They like to move their figurine with rhythmic little thumps over the board, one square at a time. The tangible nature of the pieces, being able to move them around, listen to the many different sounds they make, adds to the enjoyment.

Nobody wants it to take forever

Let’s be realistic, the number of players that enjoy going through the ASL binders is really small compared to the ones that like to pull Ticket to Ride out the shelf and start playing. This is clear too when you invite non-gamers to play. First question usually is, how long does this one take? As more and more euro-style games get published the trend is clear: simple rules and short play-time sells more, because people enjoy a 30 minute one-shot every now and then, but they think twice before getting into a 3 hour deal.

Even for gamers setup time is also an issue. I look at my collection, and even for games I love I have to stop and think… do I want to spend the next half hour setting all the little pieces? Setup time and complicated rules are both barriers to entry.

The experience is bigger than the game

Look at those people in the bar. They really seem to be having fun. But wait, the people watching them play, your friend included, seem to be having fun too. The question is then, is the game itself fun? Or is all the goofiness going on around the table? You know what, is both. After all, a boring game would not propitiate that kind of behavior! At the end of the day everything those people will remember is having a great time with their friends. And next time they see that board game sitting on a shelf somewhere the memory of this evening will bring a smile to their face. Just remember you want to be associated to those happy moments and not to the frustrating ones!

And that’s all for today buddy! Not get out of your video game shell and go play something else!

Most images were taken from the excellent BoardGameGeek.com. Go visit the the site to learn about board games you are planning to buy, or find excellent gaming aids for the ones you already have.