A Kickstarter for a collection of eight tabletop games about human suffering. Could be interesting.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1019114683/the-misery-index-terrible-games-about-terrible-rea
A Kickstarter for a collection of eight tabletop games about human suffering. Could be interesting.
A Kickstarter for a collection of eight tabletop games about human suffering. Could be interesting.
I am afraid I need something a bit more uplifting right now. No more misery for me!
I am afraid I need something a bit more uplifting right now. No more misery for me!
Wow, these sound pretty intense.
Wow, these sound pretty intense.
Wow, thanks for mentioning this!
I’m one of the project’s creators, and I’d be happy to respond to any comments or questions you have.
Wow, thanks for mentioning this!
I’m one of the project’s creators, and I’d be happy to respond to any comments or questions you have.
William Duryea I think this is interesting. I’m one of the people in this Community who is a big proponent of the idea that games are a terrific space to explore very dark (even depressing) themes. But first and foremost, I’m a mechanics guy. I love to see a game’s mechanics reinforce the setting and theme. I think that’s especially critical when you’re playing a game that is dark and/or unusual.
My question: how much play testing have these games gone through?
William Duryea I think this is interesting. I’m one of the people in this Community who is a big proponent of the idea that games are a terrific space to explore very dark (even depressing) themes. But first and foremost, I’m a mechanics guy. I love to see a game’s mechanics reinforce the setting and theme. I think that’s especially critical when you’re playing a game that is dark and/or unusual.
My question: how much play testing have these games gone through?
William Duryea And apologies if the answer is in the video. I’m on vacation at the moment and can’t watch it where I’m at.
William Duryea And apologies if the answer is in the video. I’m on vacation at the moment and can’t watch it where I’m at.
Jason Cordova, mechanics are a huge priority for Rudy Johnson and me as well. It wouldn’t matter how well all the thematic stuff came together if the games had mechanics that failed to generate the experience they promise in actual play.
All of the games in the collection were play tested several times before we posted the alpha drafts on our websites, and continue to be play tested and refined every opportunity we get.
Several of the games were revised significantly based on the outcome of play tests. The Needs of the Few and Welfare Queens in particular went through several major overhauls before we felt confident that they were actually doing what we wanted them to do.
Even now, I can see a couple of the games (posibly The Oldest, Cruelest Sword and Welfare Queens) getting some serious revision before the collection is released. (That is, assuming that we’re funded.)
However, we are just a couple of dudes trying to get our games out their with very limited resources, so I can’t pretend that every game had been played by tons of different player under totally different circumstances. We’ve played them every opportunity that we’ve had, with everyone who was willing, but there still was a lot of uniformity there. A lot of the same players often played each of the games. So, full disclosure, you should keep that in mind.
That said, we’re hoping that putting the alpha drafts out there so early in the process will get us more outside feedback and give us even more information to use as we go forward towards the finished collection.
Jason Cordova, mechanics are a huge priority for Rudy Johnson and me as well. It wouldn’t matter how well all the thematic stuff came together if the games had mechanics that failed to generate the experience they promise in actual play.
All of the games in the collection were play tested several times before we posted the alpha drafts on our websites, and continue to be play tested and refined every opportunity we get.
Several of the games were revised significantly based on the outcome of play tests. The Needs of the Few and Welfare Queens in particular went through several major overhauls before we felt confident that they were actually doing what we wanted them to do.
Even now, I can see a couple of the games (posibly The Oldest, Cruelest Sword and Welfare Queens) getting some serious revision before the collection is released. (That is, assuming that we’re funded.)
However, we are just a couple of dudes trying to get our games out their with very limited resources, so I can’t pretend that every game had been played by tons of different player under totally different circumstances. We’ve played them every opportunity that we’ve had, with everyone who was willing, but there still was a lot of uniformity there. A lot of the same players often played each of the games. So, full disclosure, you should keep that in mind.
That said, we’re hoping that putting the alpha drafts out there so early in the process will get us more outside feedback and give us even more information to use as we go forward towards the finished collection.
William Duryea Sounds great! I’ll take a look at the alphas and put one of them on our Story Game Sunday calendar (we still have to round out October, I think). We’ll be certain to give you some feedback on it. The $50 pledge level seems like a great value, so I’m in!
William Duryea Sounds great! I’ll take a look at the alphas and put one of them on our Story Game Sunday calendar (we still have to round out October, I think). We’ll be certain to give you some feedback on it. The $50 pledge level seems like a great value, so I’m in!
Kerry Harrison Unless you want to put a play test game on the Friday One-Shot calendar.
Kerry Harrison Unless you want to put a play test game on the Friday One-Shot calendar.
Awesome Jason Cordova! Thanks!
Awesome Jason Cordova! Thanks!