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Robinson Crusoe; Board Game

Trapped on our own islands of loneliness, we seek a way out. In this game, you can sate that desperation by escaping the clutches of wilderness. I first heard about Robinson Crusoe the board game from my friend’s history professor. He, like many others, was looking for games to play at home.

One of the several draws of this board game is the ability to play by yourself. Robinson Crusoe has a Single Player option and a Multiplayer one, up to 4 players total. The Game is Published by Portal Games, and is available here.

The Game is based off of the classic book Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719.

Resource-gathering game that included cards, dice and tokens. There are many different paths to victory, which allows for replayability, especially if  you have a dislike for repetitive games.

Get through the scenarios and escape the island! From coopboardgames.com

How to make a card game with tokens and extended gameplay

Step 1

Brainstorm!

Decide on a theme, idea or concept that you want to explore.

Step 2

Decide on a Game end goal/ how one wins the game.

This is where counters come in. How many does one need to win? Are they part of winning, or do you use them to retrieve other cards?

Counter examples: Health points in  Pokemon, a way to get assets in Netrunner, A way to count round victories (and bets in general) in Mahjong.

For the game I’m creating as an example, A certain number of each kind of token (Division and Romance) is needed to win the game.

Me trying to figure out the end goal + playstyle

Step 3

Balance in these kinds of games can be tricky.

I suggest using existing proportions from other things as a guide. For example, using the way currency is divided as a basis for card-to-token ratios. Nickels to Dimes to Quarters (20:10:4), as token type 1: token type 2: total cards, if you don’t mind having numbered tokens (or just a whole pile of them).  For the Example, to figure out how much of each type of card I wanted, I played off of the  average number of fic tags on any one work, and decided that balancing between 7 and 12 might do me good. Again, there’s no need to worry; play time with the game will help figure out the kinks, or even talking about the design with other potential players.

Handwriting,,, ugh
A look at me trying to figure out what I wanted the proportions to look like, with some name brainstorming at the top

Step 4

Design the cards.

The key to games that require reading is to make sure your font is legible for all your players. Using Dyslexic-friendly fonts, and making sure that the text is at a good size, especially if your players are on the older side.

Color-coding your cards can help distinguish them. Since tokens are involved, it can help to add any symbols on the tokens to the corresponding cards.

I used excel to help me with this step!

Color coding

A sampling of card names + some descriptions-in-progress

BOXES
The ruler on the top of this page was especially helpful in designing these

 

Hacker vs. Corporation: the Card Game a.k.a. , “Android: Netrunner”

While researching Magic the Gathering (I had heard it was a fun play), I came across something else that piqued my interest: an extinct game by the name of Android: Netrunner.

At the Brain-dead hour of 4 am, the fast-paced commentary on the Netrunner U.S. Nationals 2019 The Cut was a pleasant listen. From what I’ve gathered on a brain full of sleep soup (probably better known as melatonin), I’ve gathered that it’s a combination of Magic the Gathering and Poker.

The game runs as follows: You and another player oppose eachother; one plays a corporation, and the other plays a hacker. Each team has to get 7 “agenda points”. Hackers gain them from taking the cards from the corporation, and the corporation from completing agenda card requirements.

Entertaining, or at the very least, compelling!

This game involves Resource management, and much like our own monetary system, there is some complexity. The game involves 6 kinds of tokens, most of which are double-sided to signify different things.

The Artwork is lovely as well!

An Example of the art
“The Personal Touch” Card Art

For those who want a true cyberpunk experience, this is the game for you.

Since it was cancelled in 2017, there’s no chance of getting new cards, but there is an online deckbuilder/play site here.

How to make a Feats-Based RPG

What are Feats?

Feats are, boiled down, unique actions or abilities that one can do/have. A game that relies on feats over anything else generally has less reliance on stats or items, and is more about the imagery that comes from a more verbally-based adventure. Some videogames have them as part of a “talent tree”, in that feats have to be unlocked in  a certain order. In these games, some trees are blocked off if you’ve chosen a certain role or path. Games can use feats to boost base skills, or allow more flexibility in the actions your character can take.

Why Feats?

Feats let players do another level of customization, and lets them use something that isn’t for numbers, necessarily. Feats can allow for more fun and can create unique Interactions between other characters and the environment around them.

How do I make ’em? 

Feats tend to have limits of their usage in a certain time frame. That can help with balance in your game. A much stronger/ impressive feat will be given a longer time between uses than some thing simpler/weaker.  One can also have a limit per game of times each feat (or all feats as a whole) can be used.

You can bring Balance to your game through keeping things consistent, watching the usefulness of the feats, and allowing the feats to have in-game importance. Consistency can refer to the description used; keeping the feats at a similar level of power and/or versatility will help keep the players at a compatible level. Usefulness is also a factor in balance and also, consistency. Are your feats tied directly to the gameplay? Are they more for Aesthetic purposes? How you choose to integrate those will be based on the type of play you and your players are looking for. A more light-hearted game for comedy reasons may choose to have silly, more aesthetic-based feats, that do more for conversation than plot, because that is what players are looking for. 

Themes:

Themed around subject: What is unique to the chosen genre? What can only be done or be seen in the genre you choose? What tropes do you enjoy that can be integrated into your game?

Themed around the character’s species, for example, if the character is a merperson(triton, mermaid, generally aquatic),  a feat can be “Once a day, the player can issue a command to nearby lake or sea creature. The creature must do a wisdom saving throw of at least 15 to resist”. The feat is unique to the specie’s upbringing and environment, and can lend flavor to an encounter.

Themed around the character’s job. Things that only that particular class can do, even split into subgroups of effect types. For example, a wizard. A Wizard feat could be being able to duplicate a spell, or change the effect type from fire to ice. Subgroup examples include: feats that effect weapons, feats that affect the Player, feats that affect other players/NPCs, feats that effect the environment.

Your game can be themed around the players. People enjoy things that are unique to them; it makes them feel empowered and even loved! Including something specific about those that you care about can be a way to make that connection be brimming with joy, adding a sparkle in their day!

What do I actually write down?

At the heart of it, you want a name and a description.

The name should be an accurate summary that piques the interest of the player.

The Description should be clear and concise.

It can be helpful to add in any identifying traits (like if the feat is specific to the species/job) beside the name.

Good Society: a Jane Austen RPG

From Kickstarter project to off-the-shelf popular enough for a reprint, “Good Society” has come long way.

First released in 2018, funded by $154,774 Australian dollars from 2,677 backers,  it included a hardcover rulebook, between 20-36 cards (depending on how much you gave), and Pdf versions of the above.

Now, on its Storybrewer’s page, it offers one of its expansions in hardback as well, along with various expansion cardsets. The 280-page rulebook includes art and accompanying material.

The game is heavily focused on role-playing, which can be seen in it’s lack of numbered stats, and its LARP version that is also available to purchase. The traits used to navigate the game are the role you’re given, your family, desires, and your relationships.

Some unique aspects of the game:

    • NPCs printed on cards
    • Having a Game Master (GM/DM) is an option
    • Numerous Expansion packs ranging from servants to magic

Blaseball’s Boom

Musicals and Music video, fan animations and artwork…. for a fantasy baseball browser game?

It’s indeed the case!

Blaseball is an absurdist online baseball game that was split into “seasons” (a la Apex Legends) with a rulebook with chunks that are redacted for the player. There’s a shop with in-game items purchased with in-game money won by backing teams, similar to various irl fantasy leagues.

The trick with this game is the unusual stats, the ability for you (as a player) to vote on actions of the teams or rules of the game, and “blessings” (random powerups) get randomly assigned to the blaseball players on the teams, like “performance enhancing demons” and “bloodlust”.

The trick is both in choice making, and knowing the players enough to decide which teams to bet on.

For fans, the joy is in the story telling, the characters, the competition, and the eagerness of waiting for your team to win.

DnD for Dummies

Part 1: Character Creation

When you are asked to join a Dungeons & Dragons adventure, it is rare to go as the persona you present in day-to-day life. Instead, you’re given a plethora of options for race and class, and are asked to give your Dungeon Master (DM) a backstory by the end of the week.

If you’re lost and don’t know where to begin, I’m here for you!

There are a few ways to start thinking about this problem:

  1.  What does your party need?
  2. What does your heart and soul want?
  3. What would be fun?

What does your Party need?

If you’re creating characters with everyone else in the party, they can give you fun tips on where to go with your character. Party composition (how a group is organized based on class) will depend on the kind of game your DM wants to run.

A more easy-going adventure won’t depend on perfect stat arrangement, but rather on how characters get along. For this kind of game, make sure that your character can establish a rapport with at least one other member of the party, through shared ideals, gods, race, or backstory details.

A more intense adventure (one more based on survival or monster-vanquishing) will need careful arrangements of stats. Take care to note what each class requires for use, and if this is a first time endeavor, pick an easier class to learn, like Fighter, Wizard or Barbarian.  Many Races in DnD have stats or abilities that can help with specific classes.

 

What does your Heart and Soul want?

What did you want to be when you were a kid? What characters did you want to be, to dress up and pretend to be them? Who do you envy, what parts of them do you want to emulate?

Is there any part of yourself that you wan to explore, that never gets to go out and play?

This character can be your chance to try on different genders, different mannerisms, to be a little more dramatic than usual, to do something new or unusual.

 

What would be fun?

What character concepts have you thought of that you think would knock people’s socks off? Is there a character that this group of friends finds entertaining?

You and the DM can also create a character made for their world, one that holds secrets, or carries the plot, or has aspects unique to the campaign.

 

Communication is what makes any group sing, and character creation is no exception.

 

For additional character creation tips, the official DnD site is https://www.dndbeyond.com/

Dyson Sphere Program

Dyson Sphere Program is a simulation strategy game where you are tasked with building an intergalactic factory system. The game was released to Steam Early Access on January 21st. The 5-person team of developers, Youthcat Studio, anticipate that they will continue to work on the game for about a year before it receives its full release. Gameplay currently consists of collecting energy and resources, then designing complicated production lines. Eventually, you’ll turn a relatively small workshop into a galaxy-wide industrial empire.

A colossal Dyson Sphere is a sight to behold.

A Vast and Unique Universe

If you haven’t already heard of it, a Dyson Sphere is an incredible theoretical megastructure that orbits around a star and harnesses its energy. This would let an intergalactic civilization survive across multiple planets. A Dyson Sphere is just one of many late-game goals for a player once they get their industrial empire going. The game starts the player off on a planet with a mecha (a controllable robot) where you need to harvest resources and use them to start your factory. As your facilities grow, you can expand further into the procedurally generated universe and fully exploit the galaxy’s resources.

The game’s factory construction system is reminiscent to other factory building sims.

The Sky is Limit

The ultimate plans for Dyson Sphere Program are very ambitious. The developers plan to add a great deal of content into the game at some point. They claim that there are already hundreds of hours of content in the game with much more to come. There are plans to add more customization options for buildings and mechas, more types of structures to build, more types of planets and celestial bodies to discover, more cosmic events to unfold, more music and sounds, and even alien monsters to defend against. Although the graphics look great, there is still a lot of polish needed before the game is complete. There’s also still plenty of room for improvement in translating the game to English. But, all in all, Dyson Sphere Program shows promise as a simulation strategy game in space. If you’re interested, it’s currently on sale on Steam until January 27th.

#Indie #Space #Simulation #Strategy

Ultimate Universe

Ultimate Universe Mod

The Ultimate Universe is/was a total conversion modification of the PC Game, Star Trek: Legacy (released in Late 2006). It is a collaboration of many individuals driven to make the best of Star Trek Legacy. 

 

You MUST start with a Fresh Clean unmodded Legacy install. If you try installing over UU1.0 or 1.5 you will CERTAINLY have problems! This is part 1 of a 2 part installer. Be sure to grab Part 2 of 2 as well, both are required!. UU2.0 is a FULL INSTALL.

Now that’s out of the way. You will find a new menu structure, more
races, enhanced missions, the new Vs Armada, and Instant Vs modes. As
well as the new “Exploring History” mode which is a mostly non combat
mode that explores Earth and Mars development from the NX-01’s time to
the NCC-1701F.

Great new intro, loading screens and main menu
graphic by Mindwipe. Three interviews with the CoWriter of the Stock
Campaign Derek Chester done by Mindwipe himself and a TMP Theme music
vid with Mike Shaw. Rebuilt main menu by Muldrf. Enhanced Explosions and
weapon effects by Miri as well as some nice new glow work on some of
our favorite starships.

Here’s my Favorite Miri Explosion sequence!

New Terran Empire ships by Nix and new Section
31 by Gan as well as some other offerings. Additional ships by Maxloef.
New Map Editor menu structure with easier navigation setup by Tjoz with
nearly all flyable 2.0 ships as well as the stock components.

A fair number of ships by MRJohn have been added. And lets certainly not
forget DJ Curtis’s beautiful Century and Vivace Class starships.
Enhanced UUTools utility and the new LMTools Modding Utilties have been
released as well, also the Legacy Mission Editor is included although the
LMTools has full mission building abilities built in. I have included
the Modinstaller for good measure for any aspiring modders out there
who might find use for it.
Ultimate Universe 2.0 - Part 1

————————————-
Nov 27th, 2009 – Part 2 of 2
You will find a new menu structure, more races, enhanced missions, the new Vs Armada, and Instant Vs modes. As well as the new “Exploring History” mode which is a mostly non combat mode that explores Earth and Mars development from the NX-01’s time to the Ncc-1701F.

Great new intro, loading screens and main menu graphic by Mindwipe. Three interviews with the CoWriter of the Stock Campaign Derek Chester sone by Mindwipe himself and a TMP Theme music vid with Mike Shaw. Rebuilt mainmenu by Muldrf. Enhanced Explosions and weapon effects by Miri as well as some nice new Glow work on some of our favorite starships. New Terran Empire ships by Nix and new Section 31 by Gan as well as some other offerings. Additional ships by Maxloef. New Map Editor menu structure with easier navigation setup by Tjoz with nearly all flyable 2.0 ships as well as the stock components. A fair number of ships by MRJohn have been added. And lets certainly not forget DJ Curtis’s beautiful Century and Vivace Class starships. Enhanced UUTools utility and the new LMTools Modding Utilties have been released as well, also the Legacymissioneditor is included although the LMTools has full mission building abilities built in. I have included the Modinstaller for good measure for any aspiring modders out there who might find use for it.
Ultimate Universe 2.0 - Part 2

————————————-
April 7, 2011 – Hosted by Moddb
Ultimate Universe 2.2 Update (Build 2) – This release includes updates to a fair number of existing ships to add features to them such as breaking nacelles with plasma effects, animated bussards, reduced torpedo circling, bump maps, and some torpedo circling prevention work. There are also a number of new ships, Wagaugusto’s Olympic Class. Phoenix’s TOS Proxima which was released to public in December is now included. The ole Marauder from BC ported by Muldrf with Acidfluxxbass’s take on it’s textures and Miri and Gan’s effects and weapons. Galaxy X (Evolution) Class, The Icarus Class. There are also numerous ships by Rudianos. Additional texture work by Gan and Acidfluxxbass on various ships. Great new effects work by Miri as usual. New Destruction Damage work by Gan making it a bad idea to get to close to a dying ship..

Ultimate Universe 2.2 Update (Build 2)

Please note that this does not represent (yet) the full extent of the mod. This site will, when time permits, contain credits and readmes for the many great talents involved in the making of the mod.

See the Full Mod with more notes at MODDB!

Thank you for years of Support!

Ultimate Universe
Click for BIG Picture!

 

Chris Jones Gaming - 2008 Logo
Ultimate Universe Mod by Chris Jones Gaming

Transformers: Battlegrounds

Transformers: Battlegrounds was released on October 23rd for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. It’s published by Outright Games, known for publishing family-friendly games across a range of titles from Ice Age to Adventure Time. Transformers: Battlegrounds is an XCOM-styled strategy game. The player controls a team of up to six autobots that include fan favorites like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. In each fight, the player will battle decepticons in turn-based combat using coordinated strategy. The game also features an overarching story about the hunt for the allspark and the fate of the universe.

Optimus Prime
The player can take control of a range of classic autobots.

Autobots, Roll Out

Transformers: Battlegrounds features an original story with a familiar plot. Megatron is invading the Earth in his hunt for the allspark and the autobots need to stop them. The battles will take you to maps across the Earth and the transformer planet of Cybertron. On Earth, fights will unfold in desserts, forests, cities, and even Cybertron itself. Plus, each controllable autobot has a unique Ultimate ability to be unleashed when their Energon meter is full. After you complete the story mode, the game also features local multiplayer. You can team up with a friend and play in co-op mode against the decepticons. Or, you could go head-to-head in battle against each other.

Screenshot of battle between transformers
Different autobots have different specialties in combat.

Fights against the Decepticons

Transformers: Battlegrounds features 3 difficulty modes to facilitate fun for players of all ages. The digital deluxe version include four skin packs and Cube mode. Cube mode is a capture-the-flag styled battle where the autobots and decepticons fight for the control over the allspark. All-in-all, Transformers: Battlegrounds is straight-forward in what it provides to the audience. If you enjoy the XCOM series or are a fan of turn-based combat, then you might enjoy this game. It’s definitely unlike any other Transformers game released in the past.

#Transformers #Battlegrounds #Outright