Things gathered in board games...

wayde

Hey

Anyone know of or have any ideas of things that can be collected/gathered in board games... usualy it's some kind of resource like wood or iron or something. I'm looking for something different for my game, something that will make sense in a semi war/discovery game... It's a fantacy game set in the dark ages with a twist...

Thanks in advance:)

Tuism

There are many many many, it really depends on what you're making with them. In fact just go on amazing the rest of your game and call them anything (gold is a good generic one) and revisit what to call things later when you have a better idea of what your mechanics represent.

Naming and theme is like art for a game. You can do them early but it's more than likely that it'll change over the game's development, and if you spend too much time on it and change it then you've wasted time.

wayde

Good advice, thanks! I have a theme and a pretty cool storyline with ample space for future expansion.

I had a bunch of regular things like wood, iron, leather and so on... They were used to build weapons, but this all just seemed so ordinary and in a way boring, although the way it was done was quite unique... It just started feeling a little like Catan. I don't want that. So I figured if I could see what else was being collected in other games, or if peiple had some ideas, it would help with moving forward:)

Tuism

Theme and storyline is pretty much on the same level as what to call your resource. As long as your game mechanic isn't finalised, and fun, all those will be changed in the future. And so your putting time into them now will be a waste of time in terms of making a game.

If you wanna make a game, make a game. Work on mechanics. Playtest. Make a game.

If you wanna write stories, then by all means, write stories.

Working out "what to collect" means nothing if you don't have a game. You can collect crystals, boogers, cards, batteries, blades of grass. None of that means anything if you don't know what your mechanics are first.

dislekcia

If you've got mechanics up and running for your game, but are looking for interesting ways to skin them, try subverting or otherwise twisting "boring" stat systems. The brilliant Sunless Sea does this, replacing otherwise boring Con, Wis, Dex, Str, blah with something a whole lot more atmospheric.