Wargame Design: Designing Games is Playing with Legos

 

For those of you searching for the keyword Lego..... welcome!  Take a look around and I hope you enjoy your stay.  However, as you can see by the image above we are actually going to be talking about wargame design, specifically miniature wargame design.  Thanks for stopping by though!  

There is nothing new under the sun.  Every idea has all ready been thought, and as those of you that have been reading along on this blog, you know that I think Innovation is Over-rated.  However, there is a world of mechanics and design techniques out there just waiting for you to discover them and use them.  Therefore, when I design a wargame I am not staring at a blank page and trying to innovate

Individual mechanics and ideas are building blocks.  Your mind is all ready littered with building blocks.  There are mechanics you have seen in other games, ideas from other genres, and concepts from other media.  Your brain is littered with these blocks, like a toddler's room is littered with Lego. 

Therefore, when it is time to design I am not looking for inspiration.  Instead, I am taking various Lego blocks and putting them together to see what I build.  Sometimes I build something that is functional, but most of the time I build a block of other blocks that doesn't look like anything.  That is not a problem at all!  I can always deconstruct it and start again.  

Restless Sun

Sometimes, I start by just putting random blocks together.  I ask myself, "what if I just combined the Bag Activation of Bolt Action, with the Chit Pulling damage mechanic of Battlegroup, and the card-resolution mechanics of One-Hour Ancient Skirmish?"  Then, I push some tokens around and see what happens.  

However, most of the time I start with what is in the Lego booklet.  I use my design goals, my POV about what I am trying to create, and cross-reference what my idea of Fun is to create a rough idea of what I want the end result to look like.  It is like looking at the instructions or the back of the Lego box where is says "With this set you could also build" and it shows a rabbit made out of Legos.  You are no longer just randomly putting bricks together.  Instead, you are trying to find the right bricks to make your creation look like the rabbit on the back of the box!  

Homer's Heroes

Of course, looking at the image of the rabbit tells you that a brick with goggly-eyes on the side is needed to complete the rabbit.  Therefore, you go digging through all your bricks looking for that one piece to make your Lego creation look like a rabbit.  You could put in another and it would work, but your rabbit look a bit less defined, less like a rabbit.  The right brick in the right place makes the whole concept of the rabbit work better.  

The more you use suboptimal bricks, the less the finished product looks like the rabbit.  If you keep putting in sub-optimal bricks, eventually you might have something that looks more like a goat than rabbit.  Now, when you are done you might look at the goat and decide that is what you actually wanted to make.  You might decide that you like the way the goat looks is better than the rabbit you started with.  However, there is no denying that a goat is not a rabbit.   

My goats!

As the builder, it is your job to figure out which Lego brick does what you want it to do best.  You are focused on the outcomes.  Not all bricks will provide the proper outcomes.  Googly-eye brick provides googly-eyes, a red brick with no googly-eyes does not.  If you want eyes, you need to use the googly-eye brick.  The red will not do the job.  However, it you decide that what you are making does not need eyes, than the red brick can do the job!  

Therefore, as a game designer is not much different than playing with Lego.  Your job is to know your goals, POV, and definitions of Fun.  That is what guides the outcomes you want.  Your second job is to know what bricks you have.  You need to have a feel for an array of game mechanics and how they will work in play.  Then, as the wargame designer you need to pick the right mechanics that will lead to the outcomes you want and drop them into the design. Simple but not easy. 

Men of Bronze

In addition, wargame design is an iterative process.  I.e. each piece builds on the next.  Lego is the same, as each block is needed before you can put the next block in place.  Each game system often builds into the next.  Some core elements can be carried over between designs.  That means, if a designer likes the way terrain works in one game, it may carry-over to the next.  This can lead to a designer having a Type.  Each design builds off the learnings and discoveries from the previous design.

Therefore, if you like building with Lego than you just might like trying your hand at miniature wargame design! Until next time!    

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