It Came Out of the Sandbox

Next to my iconic RPG books by Gary Gygax and co., one of the coolest toys I had growing up was a sandbox. Role-playing games, wargames, and many newer card games (e.g. collectible card games) are just more mentally sophisticated sandboxes. While they may have rules, you have to create what you want to make them work. This sandbox is dedicated to exploring games of all kinds, what they teach us about ourselves, and how to get the most out of them.

It Came Out of the Sandbox

The (L)awful (Good) Truth, Part 3

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 04:53

Implementations and Habits
 

Anatomy of Game Design: Blurring the Lines

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Wed, 03/28/2012 - 20:31

Three installments ago, I attacked the concept of the magic circle.  My assessment wasn’t completely fair in that I didn’t fully disclose why I did so.  Eric Zimmerman wrote about attacks on the magic circle in a February 7, 2012 piece on Gamasutra’s website.  He argues that many of these complaints use straw men fallacies to establish the author’s position.  On a cursory read, I do seem to be using just such a tactic in how I approached the subject.&nb

Anatomy of Game Design: House Rules

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Wed, 02/29/2012 - 05:50

Say you are playing a game and you run into a situation that is not covered by the rules.  What do you do to keep the game going, default to the closest rule, disallow the action, argue until you are blue in the face, or create a solution?  The solution one chooses speaks as much about the situation as it does what those around the table think about the players involved to some degree.  Stopping in the middle of a game to adjudicate the rules is not fun.  Not only does it take players out of the social contract that defines the play space, such gaps in the rules mean the

Anatomy of Game Design: Kitchen Table Theater

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Thu, 02/02/2012 - 05:56

 
 In the last installment, I talked about the magic circle and its role in games.  I also mentioned there was a use in other performative ventures for the magic circle.  The truth is, games also have a performative element to them.  Players shift from focal point to audience as their turns come and go.  More importantly is what a player does or how he behaves.  Like actors, games take on roles; even if they are unaware they do so.  This is why games are kitchen table theater.
 

Anatomy of Game Design: The Social Contract/Magic Circle

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Thu, 01/26/2012 - 05:44

There is a persistent myth amongst theorists of a construct enacted amongst groups to explain the relationship between group members and the acts that unfold before/between them.  The concept is known as the “magic circle.”  It is an unseen and inexplicable boundary that can be traversed without movement.

Teaser for Castle Builder Vol. 2.

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 21:36

 
Now that Volume 2 has been released, I thought I'd share some supplemental material to whet your appetite and give you some insight into how I viewed the subject of manor houses.  Below is the resulting teaser. 
 
 

Vacation's over.

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Wed, 01/18/2012 - 16:23

Okay, so I haven't posted anything, let alone been seen logged in here for over three weeks during the holidays.  After a much needed two-week stint at my girlfriend's to celebrate the holidays, another trip to her place this past 4-day weekend for more fun (and some work), a glitch in my account, and new freelance offers from a couple of people, I just wanted to let people know I didn't fall off the grid or anything.  Things just got....complicatedly busy while I tried to sort out everything and feel I wasn't going to drown in new work.
 

Anatomy of Game Design: The Technology Involved

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Tue, 12/13/2011 - 04:44

Perhaps one of the most overlooked aspects of game design is the level of technology involved.  Whether we recognize it or not, this is a very technologically-driven job.  Game designers do not develop new technologies; they repurpose devices that already exist.  With this, they change our relation to the technology employed in the game.  The results are such that new applications may be found, which furthers the life of a device in fields it was not originally intended to support.  Games are a way of breathing new life into a concept as much as other more recognize

Anatomy of Game Design: A System for Every Occasion?

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Tue, 12/06/2011 - 00:54

A while back, I talked about a store visit I did in Oakland, CA.  That same visit, I was in a discussion with someone on the future of roleplaying games who took position that RPGs were growing more specialized and that the era of rules systems that catered to a wide audience had passed.  He pointed to the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons and the World of Darkness game systems as proof.  For D&D 4e, he claimed that the system was focusing on tactical combat given the specialization roles classes have that players must choose from at vario

The (L)awful (Good) Truth, Part 2

Submitted by Richard T. Balsley on Sat, 11/19/2011 - 04:33

 
The Hows and Whys of Choice
 

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