Wednesday 16 October 2024

Game Design is Chains and Axes

I've been using my favourite tool again.


And it feels good.

The Knights are safe. This time it's the MACs who have been suffering under the hatchet.

I make fun of myself for always writing in sets of threes, so naturally MAC Attack originally had three weapon ranges, three types and three subtypes that could be applied on top of them.

Later on in development I wanted to experiment with some advanced types and subtypes, with the intent being that players would add them into their arsenal after familiarising themselves with the core three of each.

Some came naturally. Others were a little forced, but I think that can sometimes be a good thing.

Forcing yourself to come up with that third thing can lead you to places you wouldn't have naturally found. Extra types were easy, but extra subtypes were harder to balance, as they needed to present both an advantage and disadvantage, all while being viable to combine with each of the six main weapon types and respecting my goal of tactical counterplay.

They changed a lot with each revision, sometimes reworked, sometimes reinvented. While the core types largely stayed the same, the cauldron of advanced variants bubbled away like primordial soup, evolving through the pressures of playtesting.

A thought kept returning to me. Is this too much? Sure, it's fun to say "there are a billion weapon combinations in this game" but after a point it's all bluster. I should look at these and pick the best three of each, chopping them down to the best of the best, avoiding the weirdness of having half of them gated behind an advanced rules section.

So now I'm going to shock you.

I've taken those six types and subtypes and trimmed them down to...

Four of each.

I know. A disgusting number. Why not three?

Because it doesn't need to be three.

I've put myself through the wringer by writing them in sets of three, and now I'm reaping the rewards. This set of weapon types and subtypes feels well tested (albeit not finalised) and each of them has fought for their place at the table.

Restriction breeds creativity, sure, but once the creativity has happened it's okay to turn your axe on the chains that you've made for yourself.

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