Brand Game Development

NOVEMBER 20, 2017

The core engine is what’s left when you strip a game of mechanics and obstacles. The core engine is the bare minimum set of mechanics and concepts you need to have a functioning (but not necessarily fun) game. Game mechanics are how we bring the core engine of a game to life. What are game mechanics?

Mechanics 130

Mechanics Games Game Design Game Designer 130

Designer Notes

AUGUST 10, 2021

The big change that always gets mentioned when going from Civ 4 to Civ 5 is one-unit-per-tile (1UPT), which is interesting as 1UPT is purely a mechanical – as opposed to thematic – change. Generally speaking, opinions were divided over (although largely in favor of) the success of one-unit-per-tile.

Tile 40

Tile Point and Click AI Mechanics 40

Brand Game Development

JULY 22, 2019

So often, when we’re balancing our designs , it’s because we’re trying to nail down board game pacing. In each of the design diaries that I have written so far, I have focused on a specific game mechanic or isolated portion of the game. They have just a single Leader tile and their monster’s unique “personal craving.”

Tile 130

Tile Games Playtesting Balance 130

Designer Notes

MARCH 31, 2023

So, why should I go back to make a historical, tile-based 4X game? Here are some screen’s from the game’s prototyping phase. Civ inherited this mechanic directly from Empire, a game from the 80s which had much of the same tile-based, turn-based combat as Civ but without the scope of all human history.

Tile 98

Tile Point and Click AI Mechanics 98

PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

RimWorld is balanced around sitting on a single map, with everything easily accessible. Without it, rendering the 800.000 tiles that compromise the game map became problematic, so the team had to spend a week on optimizing that. Interacting with the wider world is entirely optional. Being a new engine, Godot is still rough in places.

Dev 117

Dev Development Prototyping Feature 117

Designer Notes

AUGUST 2, 2021

In the original version, one player discovered that the optimum strategy was to cover every fourth tile on the board with a city, a mind-numbingly boring strategy that was always the best choice. Namely, building an urban improvement and producing a specialist on any tile extend the city borders in all six directions.

Tile 52

Tile Build Mechanics Prototyping 52

Keith Burgun

JANUARY 4, 2023

For month after month, I tried fixing them with different supporting mechanisms, different ways that cards were obtained, different ways damage was dealt, and a lot more, but nothing really fixed the fundamental problem. Once I realized that we were going to have to ditch the core mechanism, that kind of meant something like starting over.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Game Design Game Designer Playtesting 52