ToSayNothingOfTheGame

Board game design, magic design and board game criticism by @PerryKleinhenz

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

Azul is a programming game not a tile laying game

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@stuffByBez This is such a cool idea!

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

Board games are certainly more than just arithmetic. But I think they’re quite similar to math. To me math is play within structures. We create a set of rules and then explore the implications of them.

[Dan Thurot @DanThurot]

Are board games Just Math?

Sure. In exactly the same way that books are Just Words, movies are Just Frames, music is Just Notes, and video games are Just Pixels.

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@j_weaves In the game Mental Blocks players are cooperating to assemble a structure but they each have a picture of the structure from a different angle

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

Games like Root or Kemet are sort of what I have in mind, but I’d like to learn about games with even heavier engine building systems (and potentially lighter interaction as a result)

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

What are examples of board games with satisfying interaction and engine building as a focus for individual players?

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@SamuelHBlack @TheZvi Both of the curves are parametrized by something like “days since a person started working out regularly again.” The comic is claiming that the longer people workout regularly the higher intensity workouts they will do and the less they will complain.

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@thegamesyoulike If Schadenfreude is joy in the suffering of your enemies then Leistungschmerz could be pain from their achievement

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

An essay about the urbanism of Tony Hawk games titled: Not Just Skateboards

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@Mark_Confidant Wrist curls or holding two small plates smooth side out are my preferred forearm exercise. If you're doing a lot of dumbell exercises using a barbell instead might make gripping easier too.

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

Every Magic preview card is its own little lyric game.

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

What possible advantage is there to a trust-less decentralized process to authenticate transactions?

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

I really don't understand any positive use case for permission-less blockchain technology in a video game. If you are paying money (of any kind!) into a game you need to have "trust" in the developers. They are a trusted central authority!

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@bigstuffedcat Garfield came up with a variant of Hearts that had scores recorded in Complex Numbers, this man loves bookkeeping

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@bigstuffedcat There's a way to delete videos from your watch history on YouTube and then it should stop messing with your recommended videos

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

Just played the new-ish Monopoly card game with my parents and aunt and uncle. It was ok. There were some rough edges that came from trying to reproduce mechanics from the original game and it didn't drive itself to a conclusion as quickly as it should've.

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@stuffByBez I'd love to hear your thoughts if you try it out sometime!

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

@GFTBen @stuffByBez My idea was that both players would be counting and guessing simultaneously, but doing it one at a time sounds totally reasonable!

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

This is because Magic sets are complicated and interlocking and consistently communicating themes is not as high a priority as gameplay or resonance. Overall the set engages with this theme but these competing needs prevent it from delivering a unified and coherent viewpoint.

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

Enchantments vs Artifacts representing the conflict between Tradition vs Modernity is a theme in NEO. It's a neat idea that makes a lot of sense on a mechanical and magic flavor level. But what does the set actually say about this conflict?

[ToSayNothingOfTheGame @SayNothingGame]

Brilliant Restoration and Kami of Industry further eliminate distinction between artifacts and enchantments interaction with the graveyard.