[Event] Boardgame Jam at Wits
Most game jams have a clear digital focus so I thought it would be awesome to have a jam that focuses on Analogue games. The current plan is:
* 12-13th January (Two weeks before the Global Game Jam).
* Start time: 8:30; End Time: 17:30
* At Wits Game Lab (This means tokens, dice, reusable boards and other analogue game bits will be provided).
* Games will be based on a selected theme or constraint.
* Any analogue game that subscribes to the theme may be jammed; this covers card games to pen and paper RPGs.
* Jam in teams or alone
I have spoken to @hanli about using the lab and she has given me the go ahead. I posted this early to both assess/encourage community interest and hopefully get someone at UCT to run a parallel jam.
If attending, would you be interested in having a follow up session the following Saturday to play each other's games and provide feedback?
Also, post your theme and constraint ideas! I'll compile a list and we will randomly select one on the day of the jam (probably using dice, 'cause, you know, it's an analogue game jam ;) ).
I hope to see some interest!
Themes/ Constraints (We'll pick one of the day):
* Short play: Make a game that takes at most 30min to play its finish.
* Movable play area: The play area may not be static (e.g. rotating board pieces, placing cards in different orientations means different things).
* K.I.S.S (keep it simple, stupid)" - Build a game that has at most 3 or 4 rules that in playing is much more complex, so that the game is easy to learn, but difficult to master.
*Not a chance: no using dice, drawing cards or random chances.
*Cloak and Dagger: Players must operate with "hidden" information.
* Same game, different mechanics: The mechanics of the game must change after a condition is met.
*Bonus Theme: Core & Expansion. Build a game and at least 1 expansion pack. (Build your main game with focus on the selected theme, but keep in mind potential expansions you could make to your game.)
All of the above themes/constraints are open to wild interpretation only if justifiable or the resulting game is awesome enough for us not to care :).
* 12-13th January (Two weeks before the Global Game Jam).
* Start time: 8:30; End Time: 17:30
* At Wits Game Lab (This means tokens, dice, reusable boards and other analogue game bits will be provided).
* Games will be based on a selected theme or constraint.
* Any analogue game that subscribes to the theme may be jammed; this covers card games to pen and paper RPGs.
* Jam in teams or alone
I have spoken to @hanli about using the lab and she has given me the go ahead. I posted this early to both assess/encourage community interest and hopefully get someone at UCT to run a parallel jam.
If attending, would you be interested in having a follow up session the following Saturday to play each other's games and provide feedback?
Also, post your theme and constraint ideas! I'll compile a list and we will randomly select one on the day of the jam (probably using dice, 'cause, you know, it's an analogue game jam ;) ).
I hope to see some interest!
Themes/ Constraints (We'll pick one of the day):
* Short play: Make a game that takes at most 30min to play its finish.
* Movable play area: The play area may not be static (e.g. rotating board pieces, placing cards in different orientations means different things).
* K.I.S.S (keep it simple, stupid)" - Build a game that has at most 3 or 4 rules that in playing is much more complex, so that the game is easy to learn, but difficult to master.
*Not a chance: no using dice, drawing cards or random chances.
*Cloak and Dagger: Players must operate with "hidden" information.
* Same game, different mechanics: The mechanics of the game must change after a condition is met.
*Bonus Theme: Core & Expansion. Build a game and at least 1 expansion pack. (Build your main game with focus on the selected theme, but keep in mind potential expansions you could make to your game.)
All of the above themes/constraints are open to wild interpretation only if justifiable or the resulting game is awesome enough for us not to care :).
Comments
Boardgames need constraints just as much as digital games as supposed to a theme. Designers need to focus on conveying and the interplay of mechanics than the trappings and theme of the game.
My suggestion for a constraint would be: Short play! Make a game that takes at most 30min to play its finish.
I got like 2 board/card game Ideas I've always wanted to put down and have been mulling over them in my head like cows regurgitating.
However boardgames require a different set of stuff to make a productive jam, if we can get access (sponsorship? Lol) to stuff like printers and cardboard and whatnot that'd be fantastic.
Or we could just bring our own board and draw all over them the whole (2) day(s).
Personally I dislike dice, but that's just me :P
Will we be allowed to team up with people?
My Constraint/Theme Suggestions:
- "Movable play area" - The play area may not be static (e.g. rotating board pieces, placing cards in different orientations means different things)
- "K.I.S.S (keep it simple, stupid)" - Build a game that has at most 3 or 4 rules that in playing is much more complex, so that the game is easy to learn, but difficult to master.
I will add more suggestions when they come to me.But I agree with having constaints as well as a theme.
For me, theme just allows for boarder interpretations. Inherently, the jam structure forces a focus on mechanics anyway. With theme, jammers might focus on the produced aesthetic -in terms of what the mechanics elicit in a player- rather than simply fun/ interesting mechanics. :)
@Tuism As I said in the OP, the games lab has boards with grids on them. You can either submit those or print yourself once you've prototyped significantly.
@edg3 Teams are allowed. :) Added to the OP.
I love the constraints - I'm with @aodendal on the time restriction being "as short as possible" though, a friend of mine once made a card game that took about 40 seconds to play if you were good :)
The idea of stealth as a mechanic doesn't make much sense to me. If I have cards in my hand like Poker or Blackjack, that's stealth because the other players don't know what I have. I think this could be turned into a better constraint by saying players must operate with "hidden" information. 2 Easy example are Cluedo and Battleship where the goal is to uncover hidden information from the game or from another player. BSG uses hidden information handed in from players to resolve situations and adds another layer by adding a saboteur to the group.
Night & Day has me confused if it means if the physical game must played at different times of the day. But what I really read into this theme is the constraint the mechanics of the game must change after a condition is met meaning the way you play the game at the beginning isn't the way you play at the end. This is an interesting challenge and I can't think of a game that switches between mechanics. The closest I can think of is something like 1830 that switches between stock buying rounds and train operating rounds. They're different parts of the same game but your actions are different and each affects how the next round will take place.
I'm not trying to kill themes, but show how constraints influence the mechanics of a game and get developers thinking outside the box than coming up with any mechanic and just putting on the right window dressing.
@aodenhaal Your point on stealth as a mechanic is a good clarification, it is better at communicating the core idea. I included it because having information hidden from players has potential for some awesome game play. Hidden information is frequent in digital games, but I find the way its used in the analogue format is often not very creative or effective - but that's just my opinion. :)
Again with your second point: great idea! That's a better expression of the idea I had. The theme stemmed from one of the first games the groups made for Wits game design where the board was split into day and night sides which affected movement, attack and other variables. Your constraint still covers this idea though.
Also, +1 for writing a post that critiques rather than criticises. These posts are the types I enjoy taking feedback from :) .
That was actually my thinking as well. I was just wondering if it would be possible just in case. Thanks for the info. :)
Ultimately the games industry is about making money and one way this is done is to release new content for existing games; it keeps the game refresh and in the headlines. Besides new pieces, boards or cards, expansions include new mechanics or rule changes and often have their own theme which enhances the game. Example include expansions for Arkham Horror and Thunderstone which introduce thematical monsters and items. Each army in Warhammer 40K which includes it's own codex of units, special rules and play strategies.
As for playing each other's games, my impression of analogue game jamming is that testing each other's games is a much larger part of development than digital games? We can, however, formally set some time aside to play each other's games because reflecting on and critiquing each other's games will make the jam infinitely more valuable.
This is the first time we're doing this though, so we'll have to play it by ear - it'll depend on everyone's progress in finishing their games. But 3-5 on Sunday should be more than enough? Especially if we end up with the 'short play' theme :).
The master game of hidden information: A:Netrunner +1, and also a game called Coup (by La Mame, really good). Many other games has to a certain extent hidden information (whatever's in your hand, as rightly pointed out), like Magic, and even Munchkins, etc.
Mechanic shifts are very interesting - there's this game I read about called Fluxx, where the whole game is about players playing rules into the game, so the core mechanics change constantly depending on what has been played.
Anyone going who plays Android: Netrunner? Not suggesting we turn it into a game day, just wondering :)
Go in through the boomed gate, turn right, park on the right if you can, its the building on the right (not the one where a security guard sits behind a gate).
(or Im going to the wrong place :P)
BTW me and @aodendaal chatted and we will have a guillotine available and sharpened courtesy of him - THAT is going to help a bazillion (I like cards)
Might be a bit late for you guys but you could cubmit the best games of the weekend.
Thank you to @hanli who sacrificed her weekend so we could have the jam :).
We will upload the games to the Wits Game Jam Tarts site and then post a link here :).
I have messaged you @Besonance about the game I made (still undergoing some refinement), check it out, looking forward to seeing everyone's games! I saw some really fun stuff, would love to see how they all turned out :)
Once a year seems very col - heck more than once a year would be awesome too :) A few of my friends who're boardgame junkies was very sad they couldn't come to this one - they hear about it earlier but had made plans previously, so they say :P
Again, Looking forward to everything!
All thumbs up!