A long time ago, when I was building Only the Strong Survive I created a series of articles about the basics of Wargame Design. This included looking at the Concept Phase, 4Ms, Activation Methods, Turn Sequence, Adding Chrome, Playtesting, etc. It was everything you needed to get you thinking about how to design your game. I have also talked a bit about what it takes to be a Game Designer, my own process, and Post-Production aspects of the process.
I like to think that some people are reading these posts and getting their games out into the world. Right now it is easier than ever to be a Game Designer. Since there seem to be a lot of Indie games and publishers out there now, I am heartened to be part of that community. I like to think this blog has helped a few people out. In theory, everything you need to get your game out of you head and onto the table exists on this blog. However, I do not think I have a post that puts it all together into one place.
So, who wants to make a game?
The Concept and Design Goals
I happen to think this is the easy part. Everyone has a folder of games they want to make. Perhaps it is historical, perhaps it is fantasy, perhaps it is big battle, perhaps it is Sci-fi. It doesn't matter. What matters is you have an idea of what you want to make!
It is no secret that I like Naval and Space Naval games. It is also no secret that I struggle with them for a lot of reasons. I spend more time thinking about this genre than I do writing for this genre, but today I want to fix that!
Concept: A Space Naval Game that is nothing like Battlefleet Gothic or Victory at Sea. Instead, I want to focus on how big Space really is!
A fine concept, BUT it tells me more about what the game is NOT going to be rather than what it IS going to be. This is where you start working away at your concept in order to build the proper design goals. I like to think about three things at this stage of the game before I write any design goals. They are:
- What is my POV
- What is my Hook
- What I think will make it FUN
Before You Write Anything Down
This is a Sci-fi game of the far future, so I won't have the luxury of leaning on a lot of scholarly works or primary historical sources to help me understand how this game is going to work. However, there are a lot of Sci-Fi space combat games out on the market, and a lot of Naval wargames out there too. Therefore, those will be my primary sources as I start to think about my POV or how I think this game should work. Since, I know a couple games I DO NOT want it to look like, what are games I DO want it to look more like? These elements will be my Hooks. Finally, I think about factors I think are FUN and if this game can incorporate those into game play.
POV: If you get a fleet in orbit above an enemy planet, the war is essentially over. The High Ground of Space theory will play a big part in how the commanders in this reality would think about strategy. Therefore, the game will be about how to interdict enemy fleets from getting into orbit around your planet.
Secondly, space is really, really big. Once an enemy fleet gets to your planet it is all ready too late. A Battle in your system would be devastating. Therefore, you have to stop enemy fleets from reaching your home. That means you have to find, fix, and destroy them before they get there. If you are attacking, you have to get your fleet to sneak into enemy orbit.
Finally, in this game everyone will be using roughly the same technology base. Therefore, no one has any super-tech that allows them to just insta-win. The specifics will vary alot, but in practice there is no easy "I Win" technology out there.
Hooks: Based on that POV, it is clear that detection and interdiction will be a big part of the game. Therefore, when I think about how this game will play there will be two components I will want to consider; Stealth (like Submarine games) and Strike/Defense Balance (Like Pacific Command). Games will be more like a Chess match, as once your Fleets are destroyed your Homeworld is open and the war is lost. A Fleet in Being is vital.
Fun: I know what I think is fun. I do not try to design for anyone else. So, here is what I think would make this game fun. Decision Making of where to go, when to engage, how to locate the enemy, and how to balance defend vs. attack will be key. This will be a game where having 2 vs. 1 match-ups will pay dividends, but setting up those types of plays is hard. This leads to playing to "find out what happens" when you implement those decisions, does it make sense to spread your fleets out to locate early? Consolidate them? Block and tackle? When is a sacrifice worth it? Finally, with such a dramatic win conditions, there is fertile ground for stories to unfold on the tabletop as the existence and independence of whole civilizations is at stake.
Design Goals
Now that our Pre-work is done, it is time to build some Design Goals that will be guard rails for our concept before we even begin write anything for real. I often will take this time to create a cover, a working title, and an Intro page about what got me interested in the concept in the first place.
Our working title will be Vastness of Space which will probably change and evolve as the game progresses. The cover practically makes itself with that title!
Based on our POV, Hooks, and Fun we can settle on the following design goals:
- This game will focus on how big and empty space can be!
- Therefore, this is not a miniature wargame, it is a game that miniatures can be used to play. The primary driver will most likely be cards for approximate locations of things. Think more Blucher than Black Powder.
- Space as the Ultimate High Ground Theory is in play, therefore the win condition is to get a fleet in orbit over the enemy planet.
- The focus of the game will be in detection and locating enemy forces, and keeping them away from your homeworld.
- Units will be groups of ships and not focus on individual ships, crews, or commanders. Individual ship capabilities is irrelevant, as is class size
- Balance Attack vs. Defense capabilities
- Abstraction will be at the fleet scale level with similar capabilities across fleets.
Congrats, NOW you can start writing your game.
The 4Ms
There are 4 things you need to be able to do in every wargame. That is where I start to think about how the game will play. In a game like this, the "Units" will be fairly cookie-cutter to start with, so no need to worry too much about what makes up a fleet or army yet. Instead, we can think about how they will interact at the higher scales.
Movement: The hardest part of this game will be how to keep movement hidden. I have some experience with this in White Star, Red Star. Therefore, I will likely steal some of the ideas from there. I also want space to be VAST! Therefore, fleets won't "move" in a traditional sense in this game. Instead, they will "Jump"! Here are the two forms of movement to match my design goals:
1. Hidden Movement - Fleets are not deployed on the board at all, and may essentially be anywhere until detected. There will have to be some guard rails here to keep Fleets from simply appearing in orbit over an enemy planet. Discovered fleets will also need to be able to become Hidden again within the rules.
2. Jump - Fleets that have been detected and are deployed on the board will be able to "Jump" a certain distance. They will literally be picked up and moved to the new location. Fleets will not be able to jump through obstacles or other fleets in a straight line. Jump distances will be limited.
Melee: This will be how fleets will fight when they get up close. In this case, we can assume they are using Drone swarms, missiles, torpedoes, and direct ship-to-ship weapons like gun batteries. This will be abstracted with simple die rolls that reduce capabilities until a fleet is scattered. Capabilities will be abstracted by a depleting dice pool.
Missiles: This one will be similar to Melee, except at a greater range. Again, simple opposed rolls between detected fleets only. Allocate dice to attack vs defend and make opposed rolls with reduced capabilities until a fleet has no capabilities left and is scattered.
Morale: In this game, Morale will be abstracted at a high level. Once an enemy fleet comes into contact with the Homeworld card, the game is over. The Planet and their civilizations gives up the fight in fear of being annihilated from orbit. Fleets scatter when their capabilities are reduced to 0, and they can no longer fight effectively.
Turn Sequence and Activation
Now, we have a general idea of how the main operational unit of the game will function, how do we structure the game into a playable method? How do players hand-off action between each other?
A normal turn sequence needs to be able to do the following, but not necessarily in this order:
- Who gets to take actions first i.e. Initiative
- Who gets to move when
- Who gets to fight when
- Wrap up before continuing play in the next turn
One thing is for certain, this game will need a special section of the rules for Detecting enemy fleets. Since most actions can not occur until a Fleet is detected and placed on the board, this seems like it should occur early in the turn sequence. Perhaps, even before initiative is determined?
Perhaps something like this:
- Detection Phase - Place any detected Fleets on the board per the Detection rules
- Initiative- Players determine who can fight and act first?
- Missile/Melee Phase - Fleets can interact with other detected fleets
- Scatter- Remove Scattered Fleets
- Movement - Fleets can try to move away or Evade enemy after action
Initiative for this game could pose a question. By default, you want to be stealthy. Therefore, having detected fleets is bad. Therefore, how do we create rewards for having your fleets off-board still? The easy way is to let the player with the fewest detected fleets activate and attack and/or move before the other player. However, this could be too much of an advantage? Make a decision and let playtesting figure it out! In our case, we will have the Player with the fewest Fleets be able to declare melee/missile attacks first and the second player to respond. Most melee/missile results will be determined at the same time with a single opposed roll. Combat will take the least amount of time in this game compared to maneuver and deployment decisions.
Unit Profiles and Resolving Dice Tests
At this point, they can be very basic. For example, we could give all Fleets a simple base of 3 6-sided Dice for all dice tests. The target number of six will determine a success.
Therefore, we know all rolls are opposed. Two fleets engage in a melee so they each roll 3 dice looking for a 6. Fleet A rolls 1 success and Fleet B rolls 0. Therefore, Fleet A reduces Fleet B from 3 dice to 2 in capability. You could actually just keep the dice on the card for any given fleet to track damage as well.
Missile would be a bit different, as Fleets in a Missile Duel would declare how many of their 3 dice they defend with vs attack with. Fleet A defends with 2 and attacks with 1, Fleet B attacks with all 3. The Defender rolls their defense dice first, and any 6 reduces the attacker by 1. The Attacker then rolls their Attack dice to score hits with a 6. In our example, Fleet A rolls 1 6 to defend and removes Fleet B to 2 Attackers. They roll 1 six and reduce Fleet A's total dice by 1. Fleet A has two dice back but scores no hits.
Why did I choose a d6 and a 6+ target number? I choose a d6 because it is easy to have a lot of them. However, and argument could be made to use different dice mechanics here. Ultimately, the dice mechanics themselves do not matter all that much, it is the result that matters. These can be tweaked in playtesting, as you tinker with target numbers, dice types, mechanics, etc. What we see now gets a result.
Detection is Chrome
Detection for this game is Chrome. It is what makes this game stand-out from other similar games on the market. It is a unique mechanic. As written so far, this game could function using the 4Ms, but Chrome is another layer of rule mechanics beyond the 4Ms that give your game its own soul and flavor.
In our game, we will make it simple. In the Detection Phase, both players roll a d6 per fleet that they control that has not been scattered. On a 6+, they have detected an enemy fleet and it must be place on the board. Fleet A has three fleets in hiding, so rolls 3 dice. Fleet B has 1 fleet detected and 2 in Hiding and rolls 3 dice. Fleet A gets 0 and Fleet B scores 2. Fleet A has to deploy 2 fleets to the board.
A Detected fleet must be placed within the "detection zone" anywhere by the fleet commander. The Detection zone will be an area that slowly expands inward from the table edge a set amount every turn. I.e. let's say it starts out 6 inches in, and every turn it expands another 6 inches onto the board until eventually it would encompass anywhere on the board. As the game progresses, hidden fleets are slowly infiltrating your space unless they are detected. They could even place them in missile attack range or Melee range of an enemy fleet.
We can also place some other guardrails about a ship must be detected X distance before it can enter orbit of the Homeworld, and other rules. However, such details can be fleshed out in Playtesting.
More Chrome
This game has the potential for a lot more Chrome to flesh it out and make it unique. These items can not be put in place until you have a firm understanding of the basics game functions though. If you do not know how the core mechanics operate, Chrome will be ineffective at building out the game in a usable way.
Some sample Chrome for this game:
- Since Fleets are used you could base them on a playing card, and make all measurements related to the length of a playing card.
- You could allow a player to customize fleets with advantages and disadvantages as racial or tech differences.
- You could add obstacles and more objectives with colony planets
- You could add rules for repairing fleets, and gathering new fleets based on the objectives above
- Adding a campaign or experience system
- Planetary defenses
- Scenarios other than Total War
- Multi-player or Solo-Play rules
Fleshing It Out
You do not have a fully playable game yet. There are a lot of smaller elements that are needed to flesh the game out. For example, how big of a play space are you allowed to use? Are there rules for setting up the play space? How many fleets per player? These are details that turn a game into something fully playable.
For this game, I think it would play on a 3x4 up to a 6x8 board. Players would place their Homeworld card in the center of a short table edge. I think the size of the table would impact the number of fleets per side? Perhaps, 1 Fleet per square foot of table space being used divided by 2? So a 3x4 table would have 6 fleets per player?
You may want a duration to timebox and limit the game length, or you could just go until a homeworld is taken. Much of the areas that need to be Fleshed Out will become obvious when you try to play-test for the first time.
Playtesting
You are now at a point, where the game is ready to hit the table. I usually recommend just playing it yourself first and see where there are big huge gaps, note them, list potential solutions, pick one, and keep playing. You will then go back to your draft document and fill in the gaps, and play again.
Once you have filled in the gaps you can see, then it is time to let someone else try it out with your tutelage. Repeat the same process as above. This time a new set of eyes, ears, and fingers will reveal gaps that you have unconsciously papered over. Brainstorm how to fill them, choose one, and keep going. Add the solutions to the draft. Once your partner and you do not see gaps, it is time to move on.
The next group of playtesters should be fresh eyes who try to play it just from your documents. They will reveal gaps. Follow the same process as above. Choose solutions and tweak solutions and then have them play again. Do this until the gaps are filled.
However, as you expose your game to new players keep in mind that ultimately this is YOUR game. you do not need to follow any of the feedback they give you. Ultimately, you have the vision and final say on what it looks like upon release.
However, sometimes you have to kill your own babies. Simpler is always better than complex. It is easy to add complexity and detail, but your goal should be to strip out complexity and streamline your game to the simplest functions possible to get the correct result that matches your Design Goals.
Post-Production
So, you think you have a game? Now comes the hard part! How are you going to make it look good? You have to take that draft document you have been tinkering on, scribbling in the margins, and editing with version control and turn it into something someone would actually want to pay money for! That requires a lot more work.
You will want to make some decisions about lay-out. Do you want images in this thing? Of course you do! The question is are they going to be art pieces, models in action, diagrams and charts to ease play; or some combination! Of course the answer is YES to all. Now, you have to source them and pay for them. This is where Game Design gets tricky and can take time. Often times, you can design and build games but can't also do all the other aspects of the job like editing, lay-out, artwork, etc.
Final Thoughts
Wow, you made it all the way through the process. If you are lucky, it only took you a few months. However, it normally takes me between 2-5 years per game. Some game designers it takes even longer! However, the first one is the hardest. Once you have that one done you can start building off the materials and work you have done previously. You start to develop a certain process and style of game. The third is even easier.
Remember, to be a Game Designer you only need two things:
1. A finished game
2. People who play it
Good luck out there! I hope this helped you see how to go from a simple concept all the way to a finished game. You too can be a Game Designer!
Until next time!
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