In this lesson you'll learn about random events, why and how game designers 'stir the pot.' We also examine dealings between players through diplomatic interactions and how to cope with all that entails. Finally, we'll consider how to use sound design philosophy when approaching matters of artificial intelligence in games.
This week also features the second exam. It is worth 30 points which focuses primarily on the material from weeks 4, 5, and 6 (including the required reading sections for those weeks on this web site) along with some review questions from previous lessons.
The link below is the homework assignment due at the beginning of the next class session.
These links feature the supplemental material that you are responsible for knowing before the second exam (that takes place at the beginning of Week 8). Be sure to click on every link in this section!
Game Component: The Sword and The Stars Random Events
The player aid sheet is located on the back of the rules booklet for The Sword and the Stars. It has some interesting random events that both enhance game play and tell the game's story.
Game Component: Totaler Krieg! Political Events Tables
Totaler Krieg! is another strategic-level World War 2 game. Unlike last week's WW2 trio, Totaler Krieg! is more of a 'traditional' board wargame with an emphasis on random events so that the players will be as unsure of the political situation in Europe as their historical counterparts were.
Course
Textbook:
Chapter 5,
Characters: Creating the Identity by Jeannie Novak
While Chapter 4 on narrative and storytelling is required reading, you may well want to delve into the next chapter of our textbook is there is a writer inside you. Classic character archetypes can enrich you story and game, so this chapter is well worth a read.
Article: Moral Justification by Alan Emrich
After digesting all the heavy course material from this week, you could probably use a laxative. This humorous article will get you smiling at all the feeble excuses one can offer while conducting treachery.
Bibliography: General Course References
These are the games that we played and analyzed in class this week. If you want more information about them, see the links below:
I'M
THE BOSS is a triumph of design featuring the human element in gaming by
master designer Sid Sackson.
I'm the Boss is a game of deal making and negotiation,
where you are an investor just trying to make a deal. Through intelligent
negotiations, temporary alliances, and cutthroat bargaining you will rake in
millions. But watch out for the other investors at your bargaining table who
meddle in your affairs and try to take over your deals. As the boss, you stand
to gain the most, but you can find yourself quickly cut out of a deal. In the
end, the winner is the investor with the most money.
Sid Sackson is famous in the gaming world for creating a myriad of brilliant
game designs and I'm the Boss is certainly one of his very best. This
popular classic was first published in German as Kohle, Kies & Knete back
in 1994 and was nominated for game of the year (Spiel des Jahres Nominee 1994).
I'm the Boss has been out of print for nearly a decade but is now
available for the first time in English. This English reprinting includes all
new art, rule translations for German, Spanish and French languages and
additional 'house rules' created by loyal Sackson fans over the years. If you
enjoy a free wheeling game full of turbulent negotiations and fast-paced deals,
this game is for you.
Game Contents:
GUILLOTINE is another one of those simple, wacky-themed strategy card games that keeps selling out and being reprinted over and over again. Since every Action card and many Noble cards feature their own random events and special powers, there is a lesson to be learned by playing it.
Here's some information on it straight from the rules:
For
two to five players.
Components: A 50-card noble deck (the cards with one Guillotine logo on the back) and a 60-card action deck (the cards with two Guillotine logos on the back).
Background
Story: Heads are going to roll--lots of them--and you want to earn top
bragging rights back in the guillotine operator's locker room. If you behead
Marie Antoinette or King Louis XVI everyone will be impressed, but who's going
to care if you lop off a palace guard's head? So make sure you collect the most
prestigious noggins and you'll be head and shoulders above the rest!
Object: Collect the most points by beheading important nobles.
Overview: Play is divided into three "days." On each day, 12 nobles are lined up to await their turns at the guillotine. Players take turns playing action cards from their hands (possibly rearranging the order of the line) and then collecting nobles from the front of the line. At the end of the third day, whoever has the most points wins.
Where can you get these games?
