'The GRCade Games Guru Competiton IX'

Got back about 30 mins ago. Really looking forward to sitting down and reading through all of these! I'm very relieved to see that some franchise choices are not too distant in topic from mine. Yet to see if they have the more adult elements also.

I encourage all those who are voting to really read everything.

Nate K. You're the best!



b-but don't think this means I like you or anything. b-baka!

My feedback. Hoping to offer constructive criticisms. Please don't take things personally:

Dark Ritual: Though it seems complex, this is quite simple in essence. I liked it a lot. However, no real effort to recreate the feel of Rapture though. + no mention of room for expansion which seemed necessary and obvious.

Staydead: The game looks great, beautiful. I love the design of the board. However, the aim is a little foggy to me even after multiple read throughs. I imagine that to really enjoy the experience, you'd have to have a level of emotional investment in the story. I'd dare to say that videogames can achieve this, where board games cannot. You've ordered the rules in a way that made me jump around a little before I 'got' them, but I guess that's appropriate! The time jumping feature is sort of genius and very original. The events seem a little unimaginative though. I'd like to see the players being made to do something active to stay engaged. Regardless, I’m sure it would be fun to play if there was another person on earth to play it with.

Tragic: Your game sounds super fun; I love that it’s at a distance from its origin game. Importantly, there’s a reason to play this over the videogame. However, there are problems. Firstly, the attacking circumstances would be too rare and pendulum/defence poles system seems intrinsically flawed. I can’t imagine anyone not taking the rush tactic. Also, if the board is knocked – you’re strawberry floated. Finally, all the different dice numbers (more than 4, more than 6, etc.) are overly complicated – I reckon there should have been a 7 or higher standard for all luck-based results. The final result of failing the totem deciding roll and returning to the start of the game would also be infuriating. I would have a hissy-fit and quit if I got unlucky at that point. + No room for expansion.

elbo: Your design for Mario Kart seemed sort of unimaginative and maybe rushed. There's a whole load of potential and fun that could be had with the idea. I am very sure this game would sell no matter what, so if we're judging on that basis, great job sir. I would have liked to see the board as maybe a jigsaw to add some variety and replay value. A turned based racing game seems silly, I can’t imagine why I’d want to play this over the actual game. cards weren’t really explained either. Can you use it as soon as you draw it? Are all cards as common as each other? Again, no noted room for expansion.

Dalagonash: Firstly, I knew you’d make this game It might be nice if a player could pick their assassin rather than be dealt one. I love the incorporation of comedic elements like singing, alcohol consumption and the mission deck! Keeps the game fun and alive. Also adds good replay value. However, I don’t think the game will really work with less than 4 players. Your map is actually more open world like that the game itself, . However, it seems like the UAA player will have a significantly shitter time than everyone else. There does not seem to be a way for the UAA to really win in a satisfying victory. Also, this game will last AGESSSSS and the challenges that were once funny will grow tiresome. There’s also a game breaking tactic: build up a ton of money, let others kill all the UAA bosses, and wait until you can go kill the last one yourself (unless I’ve missed something). No mention of room for expansion. Regardless, a personal favourite of mine.

delusibeta: Theme Hospital! We're onto a winner. Great choice of game + the idea of a 3D board game is appealing. However, I struggled to understand this. The lack of images was a pity, since they would have helped to clarify the game. I don’t understand how you earn money outside your starting allowance to build things. It seems like the winning tactic would be to build the simplest hospital possible. I don’t understand where the competition comes from either if a player’s actions are independent from all other players. Maybe I just didn’t get this, but please note I did read through it a few times and I made the effort.

Drumstick: A game choice that surprised me, since the series was already based on the roll of a dice. The idea of a seamless transition surely isn’t what you’re looking for. Why choose to play the board game instead of the console? The game dynamics sound pretty flawless, but seems like it’s just Mario Party as we know it. Again something that would sell, but I was expecting something that might take advantage of its form.

Frank: I thought this sounded very fun and very simple. Obviously a larger board and greater variety in minigames would be desirable, but the core dynamics are very original. I might have liked to see the possibility for different player tactics though.

Thanks for the feedback, Clarkman. Much appreciated, although as in the "hints and tips" section, the timer can be sent for any time the player's like. So the attack sequences can be often or as little as you like. Fair comments though.

I'll get my votes in tomorrow evening. Won't have time to read through the entries til then,

Cheers for the feedback Clarky. I was going to add a bit about expansions, but as I'd included stuff about Bioshock 2, I realised Bioshock Infinite isn't out yet!

Yeah, np lads. I wanted to be a little more detailed, but there's no need for a litany on every aspect. My feedback is purely a personal response. I'm by no means the expert that DML is.

When I was hurrying to get my ideas down, I kept trying to stay focused on distancing myself from the core dynamics of the actual videogame while maintaining a thematic link + making sure that a group of people could have some real fun together. I felt that Dala's was close to my own aims, so Perhaps that's why I was drawn to his efforts most.

I'm going to go through the entries at lunchtime and make my notes.

Clarkman wrote:elbo: I would have liked to see the board as maybe a jigsaw to add some variety and replay value.

As mentioned (but not shown due to lack of time to make more) there would be more than just the one board (aka map) included in the box allowing for variety. The board I put in is just to give an idea of what to expect (shortcuts and alternative routes would differ from board to board).

A turned based racing game seems silly, I can’t imagine why I’d want to play this over the actual game.

Err... it's for people too poor to buy a console...

Actually I don't think it's really to be chosen over the video game. It's basically just a board game, but instead of simply moving around the board there's Mario Kart inspired items to alter the game.

cards weren’t really explained either. Can you use it as soon as you draw it? Are all cards as common as each other?

My bad, was meant to explain how the cards were split into common/uncommon/rare but forgot too. As for the first part you can use the card as soon as you draw it as long as it complies with the rules (i.e you haven't used a card already that turn, and the card is one that is allowed to be played after the roll).

Again, no noted room for expansion.

The extra boards/maps count as expansion... mibs...



Tbh it was a bit rushed. Between moving house, decorating and life I didn't really manage my time well enough when it came to doing the write up for this...

Cheers for the feedback anyways.


Gonna have a proper read of the other entries now, only skimread them last night.

Expansions? Pah! What is this madness!?

Seriously, I've not played an Indie boardgame. Ever. (unless Munchkin counts. It counts? Oh ok, I've played that).

But yeah, could fly in with the UAA expansion that adds more to the ranked fights and gives them more than a simple corridor to play with, buy traps, new minions and what not. Jazzy. In fact that could be the 'Pizza Butt' expansion which could add a third strand if so wanted.

Or the Akashic Point expansion that sees more supernatural beasts come in to mess things up, potentially starting random fights, I dunno, I haven't thought this through.

Also RE: the character sitting around, the intent would be that other, faster, more active players should be in a better state statistically and indeed could enter the ranking fight with the lazy player and stab them in the back. Badabing.

I shall read through the entries today.

Let me give my two cents on all of them.

Dark Ritual - I like the idea, it seems a little bit too much like Magic however and if I'm being totally honest, I don't really get how the board is supposed to work. Maybe it would have been better with a diagram to show the board, but unless there's a really small amount of squares, moving one square at a time makes it sound like it could take ages. I really like the idea, but as I don't understand how the board works properly it's hard for me to judge accurately.

Tragic Magic - Tied with Dala I think yours is by far the most "enjoyable" board game on the list here. It reminds me for some reason of Mouse Trap (or at least the putting it together part), but the mechanics seem really fun and I think it'd be a blast to play with your friends. I could see a lot of ganging up on one player happening while playing this.

Goat - I'm not sure about this one. Much like someone else said before I don't really see how a racing game could turn into a turned based board game very well. You didn't explain the items too well in that initial post so I was rather confused how it all worked. I think I'd much rather play something like a Mario Kart Scalectrix set rather than a board game version.

Dala - When you explained it to me at first I was a bit confused by the whole idea, but after reading the rules I think it sounds like it could be a lot of fun to play and due to the characters being given out randomly, it would lead to a wide variety of playstyles to surface. It has a lot of choice and I'm sure it'd be really fun to play. I really like how it's quite far away from a traditional board game and it's more of a "party game".

Delusi - I love this idea, but much like Dark Ritual I'm finding it really hard to understand without a diagram of the board. From the rules it sounds like it could be really awesome to play, but it's just a little bit confusing as to how it all works. Definately do love the idea though and I love Theme Hospital so that's probably swaying me more to like it.

Clarkman - I also like yours, seems very simple to understand and the board is very Trivial Pursuit like (not that that's a bad thing). I love the effort you made with it, you even got a picture of yourself playing it! Seems like it'd be very fun and with a few people it'd be great to play. It's not too complicated so I'm sure many serious boardgamers might not see the merit of it, but it fits the theme well and I think I'd enjoy playing since it seems so involving.

Drumstick - I don't know where to start on this. I don't want to sound harsh but I really think this is the laziest out of all of them. You've literally taken the level from the game and the mechanics from the game then put them on a board. I just don't think I could possibly vote for it as although I love Mario Party, this just feels wrong... It doesn't feel "indie" to me as you haven't really changed all that much, just done pretty much a complete port of something someone else has done on a different format. This is going to sound a little OTT, but there's no way I could vote for this one, it's not creative like everyone elses is. Sorry :/

Frank - Once again, another really creative example and it's unlike anything anyone else has done. Sounds really cool and fun to play. It wouldn't really transition well into a board game due to the cost, but the idea sounds awesome and with a little tweaking could make a cool game. If anything, you could just have the first game with the sleepwalker and the dog and that'd make a fine mini-game. The other games are just extras. ^^

SD, it's no problem, mate. I had a feeling someone would take that line with my piece. However, the task was to produce a board game based on a license of your choice which would appeal to hardcore gamers and people that play board games. This fulfils the criteria, and at least in my view would appeal to all kinds of gamers, and therefore, sell.

It's also rather simple, and easy to understand as a result. Whilst I appreciate some pieces are more creative and it's clear that a great amount of work was done to put the game together, some have focused so much on trying to get the rules of their game across that they've neglected to actually write much about their game to try and sell it.

I suppose it's all down to how you interpret the task. We all worked toward the same goal whilst going different ways about it and focusing on different aspects. To outright call someone lazy, though, when it's clear that a lot of effort went into each piece, is extremely unfair, not to mention incorrect.

I've done my marks now - I shall be translating my thoughts to you when I can through the FORMAT OF AUDIO. Was hard getting them in order, because some are under-developed, some are over-developed but bad ideas - but I'm happy with the order now.

Are you going to be doing your usual impressions of each contestant through the FORMAT OF AUDIO?

With regards to my game: you earn money by curing patients. The specific amounts depends on the patients in question (for example, curing someone with Bloaty Head will get you 7 moneys). As for the diagram of the board, there isn't really a "board" as such, as you have to independently build your own hospital and staff it, so your hospital might be U-shaped and your competitor's might be L shaped. I suppose that yes, I probably should have put more pictures in there, especially describing the build mechanic, but still.

Also, I forgot to mention how to expand your hospital after the start.

Win Conditions: The winner of the game is the first person to return to the Delta world line by completing the time extrapolater and sending the correct divergance number via d-mail.

I've tried reading Staydead's one a couple of times now... I'm pretty sure he's written the whole thing in Japanese because I don't understand what I'm reading... =/

DML wrote:Was hard getting them in order, because some are under-developed, some are over-developed but bad ideas - but I'm happy with the order now.

Drumstick wrote:SD, it's no problem, mate. I had a feeling someone would take that line with my piece. However, the task was to produce a board game based on a license of your choice which would appeal to hardcore gamers and people that play board games. This fulfils the criteria, and at least in my view would appeal to all kinds of gamers, and therefore, sell.

It's also rather simple, and easy to understand as a result. Whilst I appreciate some pieces are more creative and it's clear that a great amount of work was done to put the game together, some have focused so much on trying to get the rules of their game across that they've neglected to actually write much about their game to try and sell it.

I suppose it's all down to how you interpret the task. We all worked toward the same goal whilst going different ways about it and focusing on different aspects. To outright call someone lazy, though, when it's clear that a lot of effort went into each piece, is extremely unfair, not to mention incorrect.

I'm not calling you lazy, I'm just saying what you've actually done is a rather lazy idea. There's plenty more you could have done and this seems like the easy way out. I don't personally feel yours would appeal to hardcore gamers as if you're a video gamer you'd just go play the video game.

About Tragic's piece: Pretty cool idea though I don't think the attacking method would really work very well if it was actually made. And I reckon most people would just rush to the top (maybe trying to build a hut or 2 on the way) to roll for a win.

Drumstick wrote:Are you going to be doing your usual impressions of each contestant through the FORMAT OF AUDIO?

P'raps. Kinda depends.

DML wrote:

Drumstick wrote:Are you going to be doing your usual impressions of each contestant through the FORMAT OF AUDIO?

P'raps. Kinda depends.

No perhaps about it, Jimbo.