Rule of Carnage - Designing Better Miniatures Games

In this episode the guys talk about uncertainty. It may well be that uncertainty is an absolute necessity in the design of games, but what sort form should it take? Is it possible to create uncertainty by the means of complexity in a miniatures wargame, and if possible, is it a good idea? Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and...

In this episode the guys talk about turns, which players take during a game and rounds, which break up a game to allow elements to refresh and reset. They wonder if rounds are necessary, and what might replace them in your game. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometime...

In this episode the guys talk about where games choose to leave gaps for their players to fill out, options to choose and the like. This sort of personalization seems to have died off with games becoming more professional products, they wonder if its something that we're now missing. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Bil...

In this episode the guys discuss terrain, specifically rough terrain, specifically quite how much Glenn hates the standardized rough terrain rules. Rough terrain rules are often a fun sink in games, they chat about how and why games do this and what the alternatives are. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and...

In this episode the guys discuss look into close combat engagement in tabletop miniatures games. When two units hit in close combat they tend to lock in their positions permanently until the combat is resolved. Mike's game Hobgoblin doesn't do this, which might be a bad idea or not, but it certainly creates interesting problems. Here they chat about what those problems are, why games avoid them an...

In this episode the guys discuss abstraction. All games abstract parts of reality, arguably games are abstractions of reality, what you abstract, where and why will go a long way to defining your game. This is an examination of what it might entail. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about...

In this episode the guys discuss some elements around special rules surrounding moving a unit into close combat engagement range, commonly known as charging. Should it have special rules or powers, or not, and what do the rules we attach to it mean or result in? Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here the...

In this episode the guys go through the comments sections on their videos and answer some questions from their fans. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews. Check out Man O' Kent G...

Since its around the holiday season, the guys chat about designing special seasonal scenarios, in particular, Christmas themed ones. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and here they talk about how, why and sometimes if to design tabletop miniatures games with discussions, tips, reviews and interviews. Check o...

In this seasonal episode the guys chill out a little bit for the holidays and chat about the games of their christmases past present and future. Games that they reminisce about and feel nostalgia for, games they're working on right now, and games that excite them coming up. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns...

In this episode the guys talk about granularity, a term for the detail in a given game system, where it can help and where it can detract from a game. They also address crunchiness, the sense that a game has a lot to engage with, and why that might or might not be a good thing, how crunch and granularity are different from each other and how neither are the same as complexity. Glenn and Mike are t...

In this episode the guys continue talking about collaboration, in particular some things to do or ways to be that can make you a good leading partner in a collaboration and then, a good follower. Collaboration is sometimes vital, particularly when starting out, and these tips can help anyone looking to work with a partner on a creative endeavor. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respec...

In this episode the guys start talking about collaboration. Specifically, they talk about their own history of collaborating, how they started working together on the highly successful Gaslands and where they found common ground. They then move on to talking about Skulljacker, a lost game that suffered from more poorly defined collaborative goals and guidelines. Glenn and Mike are the developer an...

In this episode the guys talk about some projects they're working on, Glenn's projects Crash T.V. (a co-operative game where players are forced into competing in deadly gameshows in a dystopian future) and Pitch and Yaw (an asymmetrical game of high seas pirate boarding actions) and Mike's Berserker (a solo game with little random number generation about chaining kills in a hell dimension). Glenn...

In this episode the guys try to figure out exactly why they keep writing campaign systems for their games. Campaign systems are hard to playtest, tough to balance and rarely played, all of which are excellent reasons to never write another one, and yet write them they do. Why do they choose to do such a thing and why won't they ever stop? They're not really sure, but they're happy to talk about it...

In this episode the guys chat about what they like so much about Games Workshop classic game Man O' War. They try to figure out what clicks about this game despite its significant failings and why it holds a special place in their hearts, and a little bit about what that can teach us for our own designs. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands...

In this episode the guys discuss putting plot armour on your games. When players are battling each other they will often do the "wrong thing" in narrative terms. Without wanting to restrict player choices game designers will want to guide and assist them in creating a satisfying story, how to do that is what this episode is all about. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of g...

In this episode the guys discuss theme in game design, firstly they spend a while discussing a more accurate and specific definition of theme than is generally used in the description of tabletop games, extending it to include conceit, background and genre. Having more clearly and usefully defined their terms they go on to discuss some elements involved in creating more thematic rules and, in turn...

In this episode the guys discuss designing solo mode systems and tabletop AI. They chat about the differences between creating a set of scenarios and systems for a pre-existing game or a whole bespoke solo mode system. In the later part of the chat they talk through some of the issues and possible solutions for designing an AI system for a game, whether as part of a bespoke solo system or to drop...

In this episode the guys talk about activation advantage, the powerful situation where one player has more activations than their opponent in an alternating activation system. They suggest a handful of possible ways of lessening its effects while alerting people to its problems. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Bil...

In this episode the guys talk about using decks of cards for random number generation in your designs, they have a huge breadth of affordances and uses, despite being quite rarely used. They then go on to suggest some uses for cards other than just random number generation. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion...

In this episode Glenn presents the idea that most shooting in most skirmish games is basically not very good. He suggests that shooting is hard to make interesting and that a lot of games don't really bother, and that its almost always a long way from accurate as a simulation. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billi...

In this episode Glenn and Mike respond to a comment asking for their opinion on movement templates as opposed to movement based on measured distances. They talk about the use of templates in Gaslands and measurements in A Billion Suns and all sorts of other systems. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns and...

In this episode Glenn and Mike take a closer look at the army list building process in the game Mike is currently working on, Hobgoblin. As they do they talk about the nature of the designer and developer relationship, talk about defining the purposes of a design and consider who army building can or should work. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gasl...

In this episode Glenn and Mike talk about world building, creating a story to explain where your game is happening, and often why. They talk about why you might want to world build, what you should put in when you do and just a little bit about how to actually do it. Glenn and Mike are the developer and designer respectively of games such as Gaslands, Gaslands: Refuelled and A Billion Suns an...