'The GRCade Games Guru Competiton IX'

& when shall we be hearing your judgements, DML? Tomorrow?

Clarkman wrote:& when shall we be hearing your judgements, DML? Tomorrow?

I'm gonna try record it tonight. Failing that tomorrow.

Some opinions already in the boardgame thread as well.

the-elbo wrote:

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... =/

It's all clearly explained so I don't know how you couldn't understand it.

I get the feeling this will be the reason I can't get through this challenge.

Hardly any votage yet - could do with lots more coming in!

When do we have to vote by?

Tommorow at 9:30PM

That's plenty of time, at least. I'll have my thoughts up later if I can, like others have done.

I've read all the pieces at least once now... have a rough idea where my votes will be going... gonna give it a bit more time before I vote though.

Trying to upload my thoughts now.

Enjoy. Hope I've not been too scathing, although the way I express things runs away with me sometimes!

DML should do a radio show. He has a nice voice. Listening now.

*wipes brow*

Don't sing though DML. Ever. I've got to bury a hamster now.

Fair comments there, much appreciated. Glad it wasn't a total disaster. Feel like I've really pitched an idea to some big company, it's all very serious.

Fingers crossed I make it to the next task. Sweating now.

Dark Ritual: For when you need a demographic to be punched in the face!

I do understand the comments about interactivity by DML and lack of board issue. I did make a board, but it looked awful and such. Although I don't get SD thinking it's too much like Magic. (Although this might be a consequence of me playing it at a professional level and not really understanding how a casual/non-player sees it.)

Tragic Magic wrote:DML should do a radio show. He has a nice voice. Listening now.

He does

Hey! Someone else who plays Pandemic!

DML is a big fan of the roll and move dynamic then.

I don't think I've ever actually played a board game that doesn't use a dice... DML seems to be quite against them, so I'm dreading what he says about mine now

Even the Beetle Race game used a dice.

6 points from DML?



Thanks DML

Got to the end. Thanks DML.

My personal thoughts:

StayDead: My personal favourite here. When I write about Magic Design I'm all about flavour and things feeling as they should, and SD seems to have (from my research) made a game that feels like it's Stein's Gate, if that makes sense. It did take a couple read throughs but I think the actual game it's self is quite clever and unique, with the time travel aspect being a real winner. It needs tweaking (but all these games do), but it's something that if presented to me at a reasonable price, I would most likely be willing to part with my money.

Tragic Magic: This seems like a good idea in theory, but I think the execution is a bit lacking. It seems like it won't lead to balanced gameplay, which is a huge no-no for me. However it plays into the themes of the games excellently and feels a little different to the usual board game offering. Not a big fan of the alarm system, but I do like the idea of having some kind of countdown- perhaps X amount of turns would have worked better?

Elbo/Zeni/Deadpool/Eeveeite/Vapoeron/: This seems like a game you could play quickly and get a good laugh out of. There's not much I can really say about it. It needs some tweaks, but I would happily play it a couple times. That said, it does seem to lack a lot in strategy and some parts of it just seem too "feel-bad". Looking at you, Bullet Bill. Very flavourful though, ticking all the usual Mario Kart boxes.

Dalagonash: I'm in two minds about this. As I'll point out with a few others, I really hate "mini-games" in board-games. It just seems like a huge disconnect from the main aim and I generally find them unfun- singing, etc is the kind of thing I really quite like to avoid. (I mean, board games a re a social thing- and there's a card that requires 5 minutes of silence?) Otherwise a lot of it seems quite muddled and there's maybe too much going on. That said, the base concept is very sound and you've clearly put a lot of work into it, and like others, there's a lot of flavour running through the game.

Delusibeta: Theme Hospital was actually my second choice after Bioshock. I think you've got good basics and a decent foundation to build from, but things are a little confusing at points from my read-through. Also, the biggest problem I think there is, is that Theme Hopsital's main feature was it's humour- and I didn't really find that coming across, as most the funny bits were from the original game. Still, good foundations.

Clarkman: I strawberry floating hate mini-games. That said, it's actually only one of two issues I have, the other being that everything seems too simplistic and for fear of a bad joke, the game lacks spice). Top marks for it actually representing what I imagine a Cooking Mama game being. I think it's easy to get a grasp on, easy to understand with a subtle layer of strategy. I also award tops marks as you've made your own board and such- plus, the flavour boxes get ticked here. Little things like calling the central square "the hob" really makes me smile.

Drumstick: Funnily enough, DML said everything I would have about this. Third time- Mini-Games are bad.

Frank: I like that you've gone for a more obscure game, but again- I really hate mini-games. I just don't really find it all that exciting either, and although I think DML's gone a bit overboard on the dice-roll hate, in this particular game, it's warranted.