Games To Spur Creativity

I have a lot of friends who are authors. Some of them are poets, some of them write nonfiction, and some of them write a variety of fiction.

I'm constantly looking for games to sharpen their creativity or to provide them with prompts.

I may have mentioned Dixit before. The images in the game are extremely evocative, and can easily be used as writing prompts for any type of creative writing.

To be perfectly honest, it's yet another of those games I didn't think I'd like after reading the rules. But the art sold me, and - as mentioned - I think it has a role beyond that of "game."

A few weeks ago, I received Dixit 2. Marie Cardouat continues her excellent work crafting art which contains hundreds of small stories just bubbling below the surface. If you're a writer or a teacher, I heartily recommend it.

And now Repos Productions has a new creative game: Cyrano.

Cyrano is all about writing quatrains - that is, four lines with two rhymes. You can use the ABAB, AABB, or ABBA rhyme schemes. Your group may allow mid-line rhymes and half-rhymes.

But it's another game that I didn't think I'd like until I tried it.

The rules are simple: Each round, you are given two rhyme sounds and a theme. Asmodee's recent contest (which may not be over, yet ... hurry and enter!) used -ICE and -OVE as the rhymes, and "Being a Teenager" as the theme. Everyone writes a quick quatrain.

You get points for using rhyming words that other people don't. So if my wife and I were playing, and both used "Love" in our quatrains, neither of us would score points for that word. But if she rhymed it with "Dove" and I rhymed it with "Glove," we would score points for those words.

Then everyone votes on which poem is best. You get points based on how much you agree with the group (not based on whether your poem was best, which reduces the writing pressure).

I'll admit it: This didn't sound like fun to me. While I have been known to occasionally spit out a poem or two, it isn't something I thought could be fun in a game setting.

I was wrong, and I freely admit it.

Not only that, but this, too, can be used to teach and to sharpen creativity. A lot of really good books on driving creativity tell you to free-write the bad stuff out of your system first so you can focus on the good stuff. The Artist's Way pushes this with early morning freewrites.

I think that Cyrano can be used as this early morning freewrite. Wake up, draw a couple of cards, write a quatrain. Repeat several times until you're ready to focus on your writing.

Teachers can use it by restricting rhyme schemes or meter or both.

All in all, I think you'll like this one if you give it a shot.

Especially if you still need to finish your morning pages.

Is Gaming All I Think About?

After reading last week's post, a friend of mine had the following to say to me:

It's interesting, Eric. You tied all of the fiction you have been reading back to gaming. Do you ever think about anything else?

Yes. Yes I do. I spend a lot of time thinking non-gaming thoughts. But not when I'm reading. Even non-fiction keeps throwing game ideas at me.

For example, Salt: A World History. When I read this book a few years ago, it sparked all kinds of RPG ideas to the point where my wife and I are working on a setting using some of the ideas from this book.

When I read fiction, I try to figure out which game system will best model that story. Allow me to qualify this just a bit. See, I'm a firm believer that RPG's and literature (or, for that matter, novels) are two different animals.

Wolfgang Baur put it very well in The Kobold Guide to Game Design, Volume 1: Adventures:

The worldbuilding I do with these fiction writers tends to be all about the telling detail, building the world from the character out (or building the character from the setting), directing reader attention to just the parts that matter and so on. None of this works for gamers because, as a designer, your first audience is the DM, not the players.

There's more to it than that, though. You see, writers have to come up with dialog , and most gamers don't spend a lot of time talking - action is more central to adventure RPG's than conversation is. Players don't want to chat up the guard to find the clue he has - they want to knock him out and then bring him around and beat the clue out of him. But that's a much longer discussion for another week.

That said, however, when I read The Night Angel Trilogy, I was trying to figure out which system would best model the action (and magic) of the story. I wound up figuring it'd have to be something like Sorcerer, where the rules for what is possible are extremely flexible. But there are ideas in the book that I'd love to tie into a game of my own sometime ...

When I read Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania, and Other States That Never Made It, I was trying to figure out how to work this into a Deadlands game.

Even when I'm using Google Reader, I keep seeing links like this one, which I easily could work into a Call of Cthulhu game.

And sometimes, my reading goes from game to book - for example, I recently read that Cubicle 7 was doing a book based on The Atrocity Archives. So I checked out the Wikipedia entry, which intrigued me enough to download the sample onto my Kindle. I liked the sample enough that I bought the whole book. And the sequel. And I read the two short stories that are on Tor.com. And I added the upcoming third book to my wishlist.

Speaking of fiction-to-game:  the preorder for The Dresden Files RPG is up.  We preordered earlier this week.

So yes. If I'm reading a book (or my Kindle), odds are about 90% that my brain is still working on games.

Do you think that's a problem?

Reading, Prepping, and Playing

This post is basically just an overview of what I've been reading, prepping, and playing for the last few months. And I'm only going to talk about the ones I like. Fair warning: It's long, and I'm naturally a bit long-winded (as I'm sure you know by now).

Cyclades
I have been excited about this game since I played a prototype at GenCon last year. And now it's mine, received in my latest care package from Asmodee. It's also my wife's first print credit. And I've found that I really like the game. As it's distributed by Asmodee, you can find it at your FLGS, on Amazon.com, Thoughthammer, and Boards and Bits.

Mow
Another gift from Asmodee. I've been a fan of Bruno Cathala's games for a while, now. This continues the trend - it's fast-playing and simple. And oddly entertaining.

Heartily recommended.

Dixit 2
I honestly hadn't expected to like Dixit. I don't tend to like party games, you see. I don't like games with subjective elements most of the time, either. Just looking at the game, it looked like both of these.

I'm glad I gave it a shot, though. The art was totally enchanting, and the stories and fragments that spilled forth once gameplay started ...

This expansion is more of the same. Marie Cardouat continues her pattern of hauntingly beautiful story-drenched art which often tiptoes along the edge of disturbing.

If you liked the original, don't miss the expansion.

Ghost Stories
I'm still playing Ghost Stories. After playing it constantly for all of GenCon last year, I'm still playing. And the expansion has just improved things for me.

And no, I still haven't won on Wednesday. Soon. Soon.

Battleground: Kingdoms
I had a match a week or so that reminded me just how much I enjoy this game. Battleground: Fantasy Warfare is fun, and adding the campaign system from Kingdoms kicks it up a couple of notches in my book. Provided you and your opponent(s) can make your schedules work.

Dungeon Twister. Of course. I love this game, and need to write more about it. Especially since the XBox Live version is due in June.

Iconica
I just acquired this one. The game play is not hugely awesome, but it is entertaining. I think my issue is a lack of deep decision-making; once you've drafted your team, you only need to make one decision per turn. Well, two. Which of your characters will act (usually an easy decision), and which opponent to target. It reminds me a bit of Pokemon. It also provides an excellent segue into what I'm reading, as the designer published a book to go along with the setting of the game.

This one is currently only available from the designer.

The World Of Rynaga: Prelude
I've barely started this one, but I like how it's put together. The art is phenomenal, and it provides an excellent travelogue. And its laying roots in my head that I may be able to create an RPG setting for. I'd love to see an RPG in this setting.

Io9 has a Book Club. This month, the book is Infoquake. I look forward to the discussion - it's a Cyberpunk-genre novel with some definite posthuman elements to it. You could definitely run an Eclipse Phase game with this setting and a bit of tweaking, but it'd fit a Cyberpunk game better.

Speaking of Eclipse Phase, I'm also reading The Quiet War. This is a novel which reads as though it were designed as an alternate setting for Eclipse Phase. Characters are locked into a single body, but the main conflict of the setting has its roots in several elements, one of which is the fact that the "Outers" have significantly modified themselves to better survive in space. You could also use Blue Planet V.2 for this setting.

As a bit of an alt-history geek, I was excited to hear about a book, Lost States, on NPR recently. It's a very funny book, but has a great deal of fodder for alt-history geeks who want to incorporate one (or more) of these states into the game. And it makes me wonder, too: How would Congress be different if we had a state of Lincoln in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho? How would the various Dakota divisions that were proposed have changed the political landscape? The (beautiful) maps are just gravy on an already tasty feast.

I just recently read The Night Angel Trilogy. These books would not work as a D&D setting, but I think it could really shine with Fudge. Or you could use the Cyberpunk system (just rework the setting, of course).

The Kobold Guide to Game Design is the single best resource I own with regards to adventure building. Volume 2 is also very good, and, even though I'm not an adventure designer, I think it'll be useful as a tool for critique. And if I ever feel the need to publish, I'm sure I will find this invaluable.

A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying reminds me of Pendragon crossed with the Legend of the Five Rings RPG. In a good way (in both cases).

Speaking of Pendragon, that's the next one-shot I'll be running. Once I'm ready. I have a good group of talented roleplayers who are actually interested in both trying and actively engaging these one-shots. I'll admit that I have some concerns about a one-shot of this one, but that's a discussion for another time.

I'm also reading Traveller (the latest edition from Mongoose). It reminds me a lot of the classic game, with a few of the old rough patches ironed out. It's "on deck" for the one-shots. Unless I can talk someone else into running one so I can play.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be writing more about Dungeon Twister (especially with the XBox Live Arcade version due in June). I've got a guest post coming (at some point) from my wife about gender and gaming. And, of course, more randomness. Just like you have come to expect from me.

2010 Origins Awards: My Predictions

The 2010 Origins Award Nominees have been announced.

Some of these categories are not a big deal to me, but there are a few surprises buried in there. Here are my thoughts in the categories I pay attention to:

Card Game:

Martian Fluxx? Really? I guess there weren't a lot of good card games this year. It's also worth noting that Poo is no longer a Catalyst Game Labs product.

I'd like to see The Stars Are Right win this one, but I suspect that Thunderstone will take it.

Board Game

I don't have a lot to say here, oddly. I hope Steam or Endeavor take this one, because I strongly disliked Small World.

I suspect that the winner here will be Small World.

Children's Family, or Party Game

I was disappointed not to see Dixit on this list. That said, Pack and Stack is my favorite on the list, but four of these games are worth playing.

My bet for the winner? No clue, but, since I have to guess, I'm going with Pack and Stack.

Roleplaying Game

Eclipse Phase is amazing. A Song of Ice and Fire is phenomenal. Supernatural Roleplaying Game is tried and tested. Dr. Who: Adventures in Time and Space is much beloved of geeks.

I don't know FantasyCraft, but I should look into it.

I'd like to see A Song of Ice and Fire win this, but my money is on Eclipse Phase.

Roleplaying Game Supplement

Big Damn Heroes is the only one I've read from this category. I know Pinnacle did Weird War II originally as one of the best d20 Products on the market. I suspect it's just as strong, now.

My guess (and this is a total guess) is that Big Damn Heroes will squeak this one out.

Miniatures Figure or Line of Figures

No clue on this one. No real comments I can add, either.

I'd like to see Monsterpocalypse take this one, but I suspect that the Skaven will win it.

Miniatures Rules

Battletech: Strategic Operations is good, but my money is on Warmachine Prime, Mk II in this category.

Game Accessory

Knights of the Dinner Table is still in print? Excellent! I used to love that comic. Somewhere, I have a near-complete run from issue 3 through about 80.

Somehow, I don't see a dice set winning this. Nor do I see a poster map winning it.

Unfortunately, I think the winner will be Games Workshop with their Fortress of Redemption.

Game-Related Book

This is always an interesting category for me. Unfortunately, this year it's five books I haven't read. Sorry, guys. But I have heard about a few of them.

So my wild guess for a winner: Cthulhu 101.

Historical Board Game or expansion

Some strong contenders. My money here is on Conflict of Heroes, Storms of Steel. I like the system - it's more approachable than a lot of wargames are. And make no mistake - these are all wargames.

Historical Miniatures Figure or Line of Figures

Another category that I am unfamiliar with. The odd man out here is the Wings of War Albatross D.III - it's for a board game, and is pre-painted plastic.

Since I have to pick a winner, I'll go with the 15mm Ming Chinese from Old Glory. I've been impressed with their minis in the past.

Historical Miniatures Rules

Is Wings of War, World War II: Deluxe Edition really a miniatures game? I guess it is ...

My expected winner is Flames of War: Open Fire

And the last category on the list: Historical Miniatures Rules Supplement

Again, as I'm not a hardcore miniatures gamer these days, I have to go with what I've heard of. In this case, it's Flames of War: North Africa.

So there you have it.

Congrats to all of the nominees. We'll check back this summer to see how I did.

The Doctrine of Appropriate Food

My wife and I went out to dinner the other night at a place she had previously disliked but was willing to give it another shot. When I asked her why, she explained to me her relatively new Doctrine of Appropriate Food, and it makes a lot of sense.

In short, what you order at a restaurant - regardless of what is on the menu - should depend on what that restaurant is and where it is located. For example, you wouldn't want to order pasta at a Mexican restaurant; have a fajita or a burrito instead. Swordfish in Montana should raise eyebrows, but the steak and burgers are bound to be pretty good. And, even if they start making one, don't order the filet mignon at McDonald's.

So what does this have to do with gaming?

A lot, actually.

You see, I get occasional e-mails from people asking why I like Dungeons & Dragons, because they just don't understand what I see in the game. These are people who would walk into McDonald's and ask for the filet mignon.

The primary comments I get from these people are:

How can you like such a bad game?

Is it a bad game? Sorry, I was too busy killing things and taking all their stuff while laughing with friends to notice.

D&D is the big kid on the block, so it's cool to hate it and uncool to actually enjoy it. And sneering at the new edition? Definately cool, because "it was better in the old days." But, as a roleplayer, I have no problem being uncool.

And yet, 4E is more approachable than any earlier edition was. I occasionally miss THAC0, it's true, but the new system makes more sense.

Yes, they reduced classes to lists of powers - but (and let's be totally honest here): It was boring to play a fighter in 2E, especially compared to Wizards and Rogues who had actual choices to make every level.

This was one of the huge changes 3E made: Suddenly, fighters were more interesting to play because of the Feat selection and customization it provided.

And now, with 4E, every class is equally interesting. Only instead of a "Leaping Spin-Kick" Feat, you gain the ability to choose the "Leaping Spin-Kick" power.

Is there an optimal way to create characters for 4E? Probably, but you'll lose some of the fun if you just munckin.

But you can't roleplay in D&D! It's all Hack & Slash play! There are no rules to support actual roleplaying!

Dungeon Master's Guide 2 has a paragraph that you may have missed. It says that you should award players XP for every fifteen minutes of RP as though they had overcome a challenge of the appropriate level. Meaning that the higher the level you are, the more XP you received for RP.

And 4E supports roleplaying better (to my mind) than 2E did. Seriously. Read through a few of the 2E books some time. They're filled with arcane formulas to figure out what you can hit and how hard.

Also: Take a look at some of the other games on the market. Look at how much time they devote to combat rules vs. roleplaying rules. You'll find that even some of your favorites are probably disproportionately in favor of combat, rules-wise..

My friends would never play D&D.

Even by e-mail I can hear the pretentious sneer in this one. My wife often accuses me of being a game snob, and she's right. I am a snob. But I have a section of my shelf set aside for SPOG.

SPOG meaning "Steaming Pile of Game." Most of the time, it's games that had potential to be great and then ... weren't. Or games that didn't even have a chance for greatness because the designer was completely insane. Some of them are games with great settings and bad systems. Some of them are bad settings married to ... less bad systems. And some of them are transparent ripoffs of other games.

D&D doesn't live on this shelf. World of Synnibarr lives on this shelf. Deadlands d20 lives on this shelf. The Everlasting lives on this shelf.

But D&D ignores the story-driven mechanisms developed by other games over the last 25 years!

So?

Seriously. At this point, you're asking for a Filet McMignon. You need to understand that D&D is what it is. It doesn't pretend to be more than that or less than that. It's a game that is honest with itself - and I appreciate that.

Do I like story-driven games? Yes, absolutely. I very much like the trend towards including tools which give players more and more control over the story. At the same time, I don't tend to like the GM-less model of play. I should talk about both of these some time.

I also need to talk some time about Your Game vs. Literature, and RPG Books vs. Genre Lit. But that's a rant that'll take some time to spin out fully. For now, realize this: Your game? It's not literature. And the more you think it is, the more likely it is that you're wrong.

Maybe I should go work on that rant now ...

My Weekend

I don't normally write much about my real life and how that goes here, because I have other places to write about that.

But I just had an awesome gaming-related weekend, and the vast majority of it was gaming-related.

Friday, I had a chance to meet with Derek Chinn, who designed Telepathy. I had a chance to play a couple of unpublished prototypes, as well. I hope to write more about this later (say, once one or more of the prototypes see print, or if I have news to spill - and I do hope to have news to spill). Mike - the district manager at Uncle's Games set it up for me.

After that, my wife and I went to a game night hosted by a friend of one of her co-workers. We had a chance to play Werewolves of Miller's Hollow a couple of times. It's always fascinating to me how many variants people use when playing this one.

Saturday, we went to play D&D at Phoenix Games to celebrate the release of Player's Handbook 3.

Following that, we headed to The Airlock for boot camp. You see, The Airlock has two pricing tiers. Members pay less than non-members, but to become a member, you need 50 missions and a Boot Camp. The Boot Camp was useful, as there were one or two system-related things I still had questions on.

I also learned a bit more about the Catalyst Game Labs situation. ICV2 had an article about it, and then Catalyst responded again on their official blog ... After reading everything I could track down anywhere, I suspect that Catalyst will eventually be okay. Some products may be delayed - but gamers are used to that by now, right?

Sunday, I received a message from CROC about a scenario I wrote for Claustrophobia. He'd found a rather glaring error in the copy I sent him that made the game unwinnable for the humans.

AND I finally ordered my subscription to Spielbox, because they are about to start publishing in English.

Spielbox, by the way, was the first home of a lot of small game expansions. In the past, I've ordered several back issues so I could get the Minotaur, the Guardhouse, and the Carriage.

Three of these four weekend events are things I hope to write more about later. I also need to write more about game stores, but that will wait at least until after I"ve visited Gamma Ray Games (another local game store).

Catalyst Game Labs

Short post today, because my birthday is this week and I was planning to take the week off from posting.

But I thought that this was worth breaking in for.

In short:

Catalyst Game Labs may or may not be in financial trouble. Or, more accurately, they are in trouble but they think they can work their way through it. At least, that's how I read their press release.

I could be wrong, though.

Even though they publish both Board and Role-Playing games, I'm more concerned about their role-playing lines than their boardgames.

It helps that they are the current publishers of four of my favorite games - two classic tabletop properties (Shadowrun and Battletech) and two newer properties (Cthulhutech and Eclipse Phase).

I keep saying this, but I really need to write about Eclipse Phase sometime.

Purple Pawn has an excellent overview here.

Interestingly, they just shipped the new edition of High School Drama.