Category Strategy

I feel the beginning of a month is a good time to announce something like this.

We are going to make a game.

Chris Jones Gaming is going to make a game.

What kind of Game?

Science Fiction – or SciFi.

I have a short story that will be published soon – I’ve been saying that for a while – but it is happening.

It will for sure be a PC Game, and we’ll discuss Console versions.

Update Sept 19, 2022 – The Short Story has been released on Amazon – Click this!!!

Heading up The Ultimate Universe Mod starting in 2007 was a fantastic experience, and I believe it to be the time right to create something brand new.

There’ll be more on this as it progresses.

Excited for the Future!

Faraland has exquisitely digital collectibles created with blockchain technology. Each collectible is matchless, genuine and varies in rarity. The Faraland Universe has many different races – such as human, orc, angel, demon, dragonborn, elf and fairy which are waiting for you to discover and collect.

Faraland is also a multiplayer RPG NFT GAME that lets the user engage in the combat arena and profit from battles.

Kinda Kool, Huh?

Check out this video voiced by Dee Alvis.

Starting with…

The World ready!

The easiest way to determine factions would be to simply split them by location, or world history.

Then, the conflict could revolve around gaining or maintaining territory, and that could include groups being pushed out of their original territories and then trying to take them back.

You can also split it by the each of the area’s history, using previous conflicts to shape the factions, i.e. political ones.

The Characters ready!

Build your factions around your characters’ core beliefs.

What do your characters care about? What is their worldview? What about the opposite?

With a focus on the characters, the creation of the factions can become integral to your OC’s story...

Video Games have long graduated from simple fights between good and evil. Games are now tied with intricacies and multiple sides, each believing that they are the ones that are correct.

The question now becomes “How do I put that into my game?”. As with my other articles, there are multiple ways to go about this!

It is best to begin at the beginning!

I want to start with the factions…

The Question to ask here is “Why are there factions in the first place?”

Usally a group splits over an arguement; as creator, you decide what kind of disagreement causes the breakup.

What do people believe in enough that their goals and ideals split? Is it something simpler, like a land disagreement or a family squabble? Are the factions gunning for power, splitting politically? Are the fa...

Filament (released back in April of 2020) is a sci-fi Puzzle game with a story thread running throughout.

In Filament, you explore the ship and its crew while solving delightfully colorful puzzles.

The game is known for its notorious difficulty, but even as those that review it flounder, they insist that the story and aesthetics make the game worth it.

Filament looks gentle on the eyes, the brightly colored (and titular) filament and the poles are high-contrast, and don’t get lost in the background.

Hostage Chess:

Any piece taken by you becomes your piece. You can then drop onto your side of the board in any free location, at any point in time.

Difficulty: Just above average chess; 5.5/10. The difficulty is now in placement and knowing gthe consequences of losing a piece.

Fun: 10/10!!! Rub salt in your enemies wounds by using what they lost. Adds an additional boost to eating and really reinforces the consequences of losing pieces.

Edits to be made: Have an extra set of pieces set aside for use.

Dark/Fog of War Chess:

Your opponent’s moves and pieces are not visible...

This Upcoming game on Steam has all the cuteness of a mobile game paired with the dungeon crawl adventures found in early MMOs.

Vivid Knight fits its name and reunites the modern gatcha with it’s fantasy-based ancestor (the MUD).

It’s character designs (varied and colorful as the name implies) works well with the graphics that accompany the randomly-generated dungeons that are the base of the game.

Mixing and matching the crystals that represent characters let you fight mobs and move through the dungeon, moving your party and the story along.

Vivid Knight’s building on the respected genre of dungeon crawler may revive the fun that nerds in ages past have enjoyed for themselves, and bring the 8-bit style of game into a new era.

Overall Aesthetic: The gems and art style are c...

For a relatively simple game, Jury box (published in 1936 by Parker Brothers) has earned itself a spot in game history.

It’s a game for any number of players, and is relatively simple. You (and your fellow players) act as jury to the cases provided in the box. There is photo evidence, an illustrated case file, and what the “correct” answer.

In play, after the case is read by a selected player, the players write their verdict and idea of what happened: points are awarded to those with the correct verdict, and to those whose solution behind what happened comes closest. The person with the most points after all the cases are complete wins.

Jury Box is the precursor to modern variations of LARP and murder mystery games.

The action of pretending to be a person, and the whodunnit na...

Sometimes, research turns into something else entirely.

Yesterday, as I was researching more historical board games for a few other artcles, I came upon a website that sold a few dozen physical variations on chess. It not only caugfht my eye, but also sent me on a fun wikipedia dive.

Today, I’ll be rating different chess variations by aesthetic, readability, and how much they made me want to play that particular variation.

3-person chess (Hexagonal)

Aesthetic: 10/10 a blast to boggle at. The squares merging in the center is incredibly pleasing.

Readability: 10/10: clearly readable!!! Lovely.

Want to Play: 10/10 YES. Wish I knew more people IRL who liked chess to play this version of the game!

3-person chess (circular)

Aesthetic: 10/10 a joy to look at, mak...

History:

This game from 6th century India is believed to be the ancestor of chess and other games (worldwide!) like it.

There are a few things that set Chaturanga aside from modern chess. For one thing, unlike modern chess, this game can be played with up to 4 players. In 750 CE, this version of chess reached China, and by the 11th century it had come to Japan and Korea. It went through Persia and into Europe around the same time.

The theory of the game’s spread revolves around the Silk road, an ancient trade route spanning from Italy in Europe to Xian in China. This trade route moves through land and sea, and facilitated trade of all kinds.

It’s due to the silk road that it can be hard to determine the origins of chess, as pieces simular to what we know have been found all ...