What Starcraft Does Right

In a word: everything.

Starcraft and Starcraft II are probably the best RTSs in history. I will usually refer to them collectively as Starcraft throughout this article, and probably Brood War (BW) or Starcraft II (WoL) when referencing one in particular.

What makes Starcraft so good?

• Responsiveness

One of the first things I immediately liked about the original Starcraft was how responsive the units were. Tell them to move, and they moved. It is surprising how many games screw that up; Dawn of War is particularly bad for this, where you can only tell your units a vague area to go to, and must rely on their (idiotic) AI to guide individual units.

Starcraft gives you pretty much perfect control over your units, allowing and even requiring you to position them individually for optimal play. 

• Racial Diversity

Starcraft is probably the most diverse RTS out there. It has three genuinely unique races, each with completely unique play styles and strategies. Each of their economies works differently, each aims for different types of engagements, each peaks in power at different points in the game - and above all else, each is balanced.

Even within each race, there are massive opportunities for diversity of play style. You can play aggressively or aim for economy; you can favour a tech-rush strategy, you can aim for mass units and production, or you can catch your opponent off guard with unusual technology and special tactics.

The sheer mind-boggling possibilities of the game speak volumes of the undeniable amount of time and effort that has gone into testing and balancing the game; the elegance of the design and the robustness of its systems.

• Economy

The subtle brilliance of Starcraft is hidden in its economy. I won't get into the individual race's traits in building and maintaining their economies, rather the resources as a whole.

There are two primary resources: Minerals and Vespene Gas. 

Minerals are the primary resource, available in abundance with a high capacity for mining and a relatively low maximum yield (at 1500 per field)

Gas geysers vary from BW to WoL; BW gives one geyser per base with 5000 gas, WoL gives 2500 gas in each of 2 geysers. They have a low variance, and can expected to be mined at a constant rate per base. (By this I mean they achieve worker saturation easily, and it is generally expected that you would max out your gas collection more so than your minerals)

There is also the tertiary resource of Supply, which is created by building the required buildings/overlords with your minerals.

Lower tech units require more minerals and supply, while higher tech units require more gas. Lower tech units are also more mobile, while higher tech units are much stronger but slower. Ultimately, the backbone of your forces is made of minerals, while the muscle is made from gas.

This creates the following economic metagame: early game, you expand regularly and build basic units with your minerals. As the minerals in your starting bases begin to die, you must expand to secure more minerals - however your original gas geysers are not expired yet, giving you proportionally more gas, which fits right in with your plans of advancing to higher tech.

You start off quite far from your opponent, which fits that the earlier units should be faster; however, as the game advances, your bases creep slowly towards each other as you expand over the map. The game then shifts towards a battle of positioning, with the slow late-game units besieging the more exposed enemy positions (as you get more bases, it gives you more area to defend, with slower units to defend it).

Seeing it explained like that, can you help but appreciate the brilliance of Starcraft's design? None of that is explicitly stated or coded anywhere, however, because of the incredibly clever way the game was put together, that metagame has shaped the way that people play Starcraft.

• The Races

I won't actually get into the races themselves, but I want to comment on how perfect 3 is for the number of races in an RTS.

Ignoring mirror matchups, the number of potential matchups scales triangularly (muahaha), so that even a single additional race would double the potential number of matchups. As anyone who has tried to balance anything should know, this makes things exponentially more difficult. 

Having only a single non-mirrored matchup gets boring pretty quickly, as anyone who played the first few Command & Conquer games found out (and probably why they moved to a 3-race format in later games). 

Having 6 match ups makes things overwhelming, as there is twice as much to follow, to prepare for, and to balance. Twice as many interactions usually means half as much balance, which isn't good for anyone.

• Skill Ceiling

Starcraft is great because it is playable and enjoyable, even for new players; but at the same time, you can (literally) play the game for 16 hours a day for years, and still not have mastered it. There is always some new facet to be explored.

Starcraft is the game that spawned the term APM (actions per minute); which measures your ability to command the battlefield. Good players usually have very high APM; 200 is a common threshold for skilled players to reach, while some players will go to 300 and higher.

Top-tier Starcraft players are in a world unto themselves; they have such mastery of the mechanics and strategies of the game that regular players don't stand a chance against them. Watching Pros is a great experience, and can teach you about how to improve your gameplay.

The skill ceiling is great because it gives you something to work towards without relying on the stick-and-carrot methods employed by RPGs. It also allows player to practise and improve without relying on avatar strength.

• Unit Diversity

Within each race, each unit feels truly unique. There is no overlap between units in what tactical role they fulfill. This goes a long way to giving each unit a distinctive feel and play-style on the battlefield.

 Starcraft employs a "rock-paper-scissors" approach to its unit design, which ties in very well to scouting. It is vital to the game that you keep tabs on what your opponent is doing, and you prevent him from learning too much about what you are doing in turn. If you see your opponent stockpiling Scissors, you'd best start building some Rocks, or else your Paper will get shredded.

This is better than most games, whose units tend to feel pretty interchangeable (C&C, Age of Empires); which tends to result in a monoculture of the best unit available, with the occasional smattering of support units.

By making various units "super-effective" against others, it forces diversity and interesting unit compositions to the fore-front of battle; also ensuring that the engagements themselves are involved and benefit skilled tacticians more than '1-A'ers, as the rocks seek to avoid the paper and gouge into the scissors of their opponent's army.

• Community

Part of what makes Starcraft so great is the community that plays it. Starcraft has a far better community than League of Legends (which is notorious for its troll-infested player base)

In addition to the generally nicer players, there are also dedicated community sites, such as Team Liquid, that provide forums for players to discuss Starcraft, or just life in general. It is also a great place to find player streams; professionals or otherwise who broadcast games.

Starcraft is a game great for both watching and playing. I heartily recommend it to anyone who is looking for an outlet for their creativity and dedication. It is not an easy game, but is fun and rewarding; even if is occasionally frustrating that you are not as good as the Koreans out there. But more on that later.

-Colin

What Diablo III Does Wrong

This is not a post to antagonize or to spread my hate of the game - if my previous posts have been any indicator, I am quite a fan of the game. So why am I writing this?

Because I feel that the game can still be improved, which is the unscratchable itch of every game designer (or maybe it is just me). I want to address non-balance issues facing the game - I have quite a lot of faith in Blizzard to balance their games, and every patch thus far has been a godsend to addressing outstanding balance issues facing the game.

• Lack of mass white minions

I long for the cow level. Whimsyshire is cute, but doesn't really fill that niche very well. What Blizzard has seemingly failed to realize is that killing huge numbers of average enemies is very, very fun. Forget about drop rates for a minute, and just remember the most fun you had playing this game. It was probably facing a particularly large mob of average white guys - and I am not talking about those stupid Shade Stalkers - but run of the mill mobs, packed shoulder to should numbering upwards of 50.

I want some area where you can just go to fight hundreds of enemies at a time; no ranged mobs, no bullshitty teleporting/burrowing/whatever abilities, no kiting - just massive numbers of regular enemies.

• Lack of meaningful distinction between armour pieces

This was my original take on everyone's complains that "there are not interesting enough uniques". It isn't that the Uniques weren't interesting enough, it was the item slots themselves were boring. Every item slot should have a distinct purpose to contribute to your overall character.

For example, in D2, your Shield served as a wonderful way to massively improve your resists (especially by adding Diamonds). In D3, a shield is a sort of generic survivability booster, that adds about 1000 armour, and is otherwise completely interchangable with chest armour, shoulders or pants.

In my mind, each slot should have a distinctive role. At the moment, only the Gloves and Weapons really have such a role. Gloves are excellent damage boosters, as most characters should have gloves with good rolls in two of the three holy trinity of glove attributes: Attack Speed, Critical Hit Chance, and Critical Hit Damage. Weapons are the defining DPS item, as you can have the greatest items in the world, but they are meaningless without a good weapon.

There is no such distinction for defensive attributes however. If you need to boost your resists, you basically need to get resistances on as many items as possible, rather than allowing you to focus on the "resistance" item. If you want more armour or health, just try and get better items - there is no "armour" slot (which rightfully should be the Chest Armour) or "health" (vitality?) item slot. 

If I were in charge, and could retroactively change the way item rolls were distributed, I would give each defensive item slot a distinctive role in keeping you alive. For example:

• Head - Mostly fine as is, I wouldn't mind seeing a viable helm other than Andariel's Visage; though I am sure more are coming in future patches.
• Shoulders - Would double or triple the resist all rolls, and quadruple or more the single resistance rolls; making this the primary "resistance" item - possibly including several cloaks or capes in addition to the current line up. If someone wants to improve their resistances, Shoulders should be the place to look.
• Chest - Would probably triple or quadruple the effect of the Bonus armour attribute roll. They should not come standard with bonus armour, but any "good" chest plate should have a very high armour value
• Bracers - Sort of a weird item, I am fine with their current state, though I wouldn't mind giving them some distinction other than the other armour piece you can get with crit chance other than gloves/helm. Possibly include pickup radius as a more common attribute here, as it is a fantastically great thing to have, although most people will never choose it over a core stat.
• Gloves - As is. I am happy with this being a primarily damage focussed item.
• Belt - Sort of a weird hybrid item, I am mostly fine with how it works now, as there are some interesting Unique belts. This would probably be similar under my direction.
• Pants - The primary health item - again doubling or tripling any vitality or % life rolls on them. If your HP is low, get new pants. I would also consider making Movement Speed a regular affix on them, as it should be possible to reach the MS cap without a unique item.
• Boots - Mostly fine as is, Movement speed is the focus here.
• Rings & Amulets - Fine as they are; they serve as an all purpose slot that can supplement your weaknesses or further boost your strengths.
• Hands (Weapon + Offhand) - Fine as they are. 
• Shield - Boring, but otherwise fine. I suppose I wouldn't change much about them, though perhaps boosting the resistance rolls significantly on them wouldn't hurt.

• Act 4 is crap

Sorry guys, but I really don't like Act 4. I have tried doing some runs, but I really don't see the point. The enemies are harder, the stacks are much harder to come by, the drops aren't any better - I want to like it, but you really aren't giving me a reason to. 

The first boss is the epitome of bullshit - he spawns hundreds of little minions and makes for a fairly unique fight, but it is literally impossible to have any stacks when you fight him - and he doesn't even give you a stack, despite being a quest boss. There is literally no good reason to fight him more than once (for the initial quest). He is also a bit of a game breaker, he is either very easy (almost comical for someone with my build that profits from killing enemies in mass numbers), or completely unbeatable for someone with an incompatible build.

• Spells not casting, or casting in a very stupid way

For any character with an "escape from death" spell, you know what I am talking about. Leap, Spirit Walk, Teleport, Smoke Screen, Vault - few things are more frustrating then hitting the key in time, only for it not to cast and for you to be pummelled into a fine red goo.'

These spells (and indeed most) *should* interrupt any standard attacks (and in many cases many stuns and knockback effects) and allow you to get away. It isn't adding any tactical depth by having them not cast, it is just frustrating and pointless. Please, just make the damn spell cast when I hit the button, no questions asked.

The second half to this is spells casting in a very dumb way. This is mainly a jab at how walls work in this game. Some spells can be cast through walls, others cannot. Some can be cast over low walls, but not others; and in addition, it is very, very unclear what constitutes each type of wall.

It is very annoying for me as a Witch Doctor when I cast Wall of Zombies against a Waller champion, only to discover that they got a wall off a few milliseconds before I did, and as such, my 20 second cooldown spell is now worthlessly mauling away at their wall instead of them. Would it really unbalance the game that much to actually let me cast my spells where I want to instead of arbitrarily blocking them?

My interpretation of walls:

• Solid walls - anything you cannot see through. Nothing should be able to cast through them.
• Movement blockers - includes anything that stops movement, but not vision or attacks; includes cliff edges (between platforms), water (especially in Whimsyshire), and jail bars. Spells should be universally not blocked by these.
• Short Walls - mainly just the ones cast by Wallers. These should block basic attacks and movement (so as not to disadvantage the monsters that make them) but should not block any spells that appear from nowhere, such as Zombie Wall or Hydra; or spells that come from the sky. For the most part it is fine as is, with just a few exceptions.

• Unintuitive Threat Assessment

This is a big one for me. If you had to choose which looked more threatening between a Skull Cleaver and a Demon Trooper - 

You would probably be wrong. The Demon Trooper is much larger and scarier looking, but is largely a joke; boasting terrible stats. The Skull Cleaver looks very much like many other skeleton type enemies, and does not stand out visually, but does a ridiculous amount of damage, often one-shotting some characters.

This is what I have a problem with. Enemies should *look* as threatening as they are. The larger an enemy is, the more damage it should do, and the more health it should have, and vice versa. Small enemies that blend into a crowd should not be the major threats. You shouldn't have to closely examine a mob of enemies to search for the one or two threatening types of enemies - the big threats should be so immediately obvious that even someone who has never played before should know to be wary of them. This also applies to the Shadow Clones that emerge when fighting Diablo; any player who has faced them knows that most of their deaths while fighting Diablo come from these little bastards, as they can 1 to 2 shot even the tankiest of characters.

I don't want to get into enemies that are just generally bullshitty, such as the Fallen Maniac and the Terror Demon, who are generally orders of magnitude more threatening than even champions of other types. Suffice to say that if they were to be removed from the game, I certainly wouldn't miss them.

• Pathetic rewards for quests

Most serious players don't bother doing quests. That is sort of unintuitive, given that one of the objectives of Diablo 3 is to have players commit to longer runs in order to get optimal drops. It sets the stage to make large scale questing popular, but falls flat on delivery. That is because the rewards for doing quests are pathetic. 

Most quests give about 800 gold for completing them. No experience, usually paltry drops, and 800 gold. Whoop-de-freaking-do. It is no wonder why people skip them. 

At the very least, give back the experience rewards; now that we have Paragon levels, experience matters again, and is a worthwhile reward. If you are feeling generous, give better drops and/or stacks for quest monsters (especially in act 4).

As a final note, do something about act bosses; it becomes stupidly hard to kill them on reasonable monster powers, even for a character that breezes through the rest of the act. Perhaps consider increasing the enrage timers, or not scaling their health the same way as regular mobs. It feels... wrong... to blaze through act 1 without any difficulty, only to get stomped by the Butcher when the entire bloody level is on fire at the same time. The drops you get for your troubles are not worth it; scale their difficulty to be similar to the rest of the act, and give an appropriately generous reward to those with the grit to fight and defeat them.

• Poor indicators of range/radius of enemy attacks

Generally, when players die, their first reaction is to call out "bullshit". This isn't because they are shifting blame for their own careless actions, it is because they are (usually) genuinely surprised and disappointed that they were killed by a situation.

Whether it is because of silly escape radiuses, or area of effect attacks that hit a slighly larger area than the game's graphics indicate, or an attack animation that deals damage before they seem to be making the attack (Unicorns - I am looking at you in particular) or that hit further than their model seems to (Mallet Lords); or worst of all what I call "arcane sniping". Arcane sniping is where you see a purple ball of arcane, and when it chooses a direction, it picks the worst possible one for you. It is not a good feeling, and can only really be avoided by avoiding the entire area that the arcane can hit, as their direction really isn't predictable; it is usually away from you, but not necessarily so. To alleviate this, perhaps make it take a second to reach out from its initial ball state to the full length of its attack, or force it to never point towards a player initially.

• "Mandatory" Rolls on items

This is a touchy issue with me, as I can acknowledge the importance of having a certain rarity of quality goods when dealing with the auction house. I can't honestly decide if this is a good thing or not.

Basically, the issue is that certain items outright *require* certain attributes in order to be worthwhile. For example, any decent offhand item should have at least 8% critical hit chance. If you fail to make the roll, the item is worthless, regardless of how otherwise good it would be.

I am undecided in the matter, however I want to perhaps raise the point that the odds of getting the "required" fields should be higher on level 63 items than their lower level counterparts.

• Lack of practical DPS test

I remember talking with someone about another game in which they had a "scarecrow" they could attack in order to test their DPS. Essentially, it had infinite health, and you could attack it as much as you wanted, and after you were done, it told you exactly how much damage each of your attacks did to it, and how much damage you dealt per second, how many attacks you hit it with, how many of those were critical hits.

This sounds like an awesome feature. As is, Diablo feels like a number-crunching game, to determine if your DPS would benefit  from attribute X or Y more, and numerous sites, spreadsheets, and apps have arisen to accommodate this need (and Diablo's refusal to provide an EHP stat).

I, for one, would love to have a nice friendly scarecrow to actually put numbers to these things, to show that a certain combination of skills gives about 30% better burst damage than another; rather than the current method of experimenting with what can only be called way too many variables.

• Creep Blocking

When I said that your "not die" spells was one of the most frustrating ways to die, here is the other: getting creep blocked.

Creep Blocking is when you are surrounded by creeps and cannot move to escape them. It does not happen very often, but it is beyond frustrating when it does. It is especially bad for the Monk, who lacks a good all-around escape spell.

It generally isn't an issue, but it will make you want to rip your hair out when it is.

• A lack of a "shut the hell up" mode

For those of us grinding the game, I would really appreciate an option that automatically disables or skips any and all quest related dialogue and cutscenes. Honestly, it wasn't particularly interesting the first time, and becomes less interesting and relevant with each iteration. 

• A particularly annoying bug regarding Monster Power

For some reason, my option to enable the Monster Power mode keeps disabling itself. Almost every time I start a game, I feel that it is too easy, only to realize that my settings are messed up (yet again) and have to quit the game, forfeit whatever stacks I have, re-enable MP mode, and the remake the game on the appropriate difficulty level. 

I am not sure if this is just me having this issue, but it is really damn annoying. Would appreciate a fix, as this cannot be called anything other than a bug; thanks Blizzard.

I want to reiterate, this is not a post bashing Diablo. I think it is an excellent game, and Blizzard is doing an excellent job improving it with every patch. If it comes off as harsh, just consider it to be in the style of Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee; who bashes everything, and anything not mentioned can be considered fine by exclusion (that being said, his review of Diablo is pretty much worthless, as he didn't even beat the tutorial (i.e. the first 59 levels of the game)).

Those are the issues that I can think of, again, excluding balance issues. The only thing else that I want to mention is that playing the Monk is perhaps the most profoundly boring experience you can have in this game. It is the most passive-oriented, boring class. But more on that later.

-Colin

Resshi

Resshi is a game brought back from death. It is a video game. This is its initial description:

This is essentially a game idea for a problem-solving based ninja RPG. It has a linear plot, though it has a pearl necklace style to it. You can solve one of several puzzles first, but have to beat every quest to progress to the next level.
You are Resshi, a young apprentice in the Hitokage (shadow) ninja village. Your ninjutsu are based light and shadows, stealth and illusion. While most are required for the completion of the game, a few techniques are bonus for finding secrets or doing optional quests. You are special for a reason initally unknown to you, you are actually the descendant of another order of Ninja, the Fuusou (frost) clan; as a matter of fact the first born child of their clan leader Arashi, given up as part of a surrender treaty from many years ago. The Fuusou clan was decimated by another rival clan, the Gouka (hellfire) clan. Only you and your sister survived. She joined the Araki (wood) clan. You can learn techniques from the shadow, frost, hellfire, and wood clans; giving you a distinct advantage over the other ninja, who only have abilities from 1 class. An outcast Gouka by the name of Zokushi will teach you his clan abilities, though he only knows the simpler techniques.
There are definite barriers and indefinite barriers. Definite barriers require a specific item or ability to get past, while indefinite barriers require a sufficent combination of strength, skill, and persistance to get past; they can include bosses or puzzles.

 Sounds reasonable enough right? I was never happy with it, for a few key reasons

• The controls seemed clunky - 
• the Ninjutsu casting system was lacking
• the way to aim several spells was not clear
• many of the spells were redundant or unnecessary except that one is more complicated to cast
• I could never picture it clearly. This is very important. As the sole designer, I should be able to picture the game and all its components and gameplay in order to know how the game is going to turn out. I had no such picture in mind. I was vaguely picturing a 3D rendered world filled with shadowy corners, but I could never come up with a cohesive picture of the game
• The "Japanese" factor was a bit overkill; most of the names are just things I looked up in the dictionary, and if you've ever played a Japanese game where the characters' names are random English words, you know how awkward that can sound.

I had written the game off as a failure.

Until one day, I got an idea for it; an idea that would ultimately save this project. I was able to come up with a clear picture in my mind for this game.

Rather than making the game 3D, it would actually perform a lot better as a 2D platformer/adventure game. It would vastly simplify the controls and camera (two of the most important factors in any game), and allow for a much cleaner casting system.

Below is the complete "Rewrite" document:

---

Okay, so I'm taking a second look at this franchise. Basically, downplay the story somewhat, and make it two dimensional. That should simplify the puzzling significantly.

In addition, it will probably play something like a fighting game, using your ninjutsu in combat against your opponents.

Ninjutsu will be broken down into two categories -

• Simple
• Advanced

Advanced Ninjutsu use a formal casting system, where you must use a number of seals to cast the spell. They take longer to cast and are more powerful than simple Ninjutsu.

-note that you cannot heal yourself in combat.

Simple Ninjutsu do not use the formal casting system. Instead, they use various combinations of buttons and directions; for example, double jump is a simple Ninjutsu that is used by pressing the jump button while in midair.

You have two vital statistics to watch; your health, and your qi. Health is a measure of your physical well-being, and is indicative of the amount of damage you can take before dying. Qi is a measure of your stamina, and its maximum is based on your current amount of health (usually 10 times). Qi is used for all ninjutsu, and typically more for advanced ninjutsu. Charging up also costs Qi.

Your Qi capacity should be generous, allowing you to fight a battle without having to micromanage it, but should also be something that you wouldn't want to outright waste. This will probably be a tricky balance to strike, but is important to the game.

Charging up increases your movement speed, attack speed, jumping ability, and grants several other abilities based on your ninjutsu. The way I'm thinking of it working now, for each press of the button, it will grant you 0.35 seconds of charge or so, forcing you to concentrate and mash to work up a decent charge or press it while doing other activities (such as running) to enhance them.

Due to the complexity of this game, I'm considering making a "Ninja School" out of necessity, in order to grant players a location to learn their skills and master the finer points of combat. It would never be mandatory, but always available.

Controls (based on the XBOX360 controller)

LB – Advanced Ninjutsu

LT – (simple ninjutsu) Dodge

X – Attack

A – Jump

B – Throwing Attack

Left Stick - Move

• Left/Right – Move
• Down – Crouch
• Up – Press against wall / (simple ninjutsu) Cloak / Interact
• Click in – Change camera zoom level

D Pad – Quick Items; each direction can be set to a usable item

Right Stick – Free Look

• Click in – (item) Grappling Hook

RT – Alternate Throw

RB – Grab

Y – Charge Up

Simple Ninjutsu

Name (element if applicable)

Condition – Trigger [Buttons]

Description

Dodge

Normal - [Dodge]

Your character will dart backwards suddenly, in an effort to dodge an incoming attack. Has a 1.5 second cooldown. Note that this does not dodge shuriken.

Cloak (shadow)

Low Light – [Move: Hold Up]

Renders you invisible. It takes a few seconds to hide. You may tilt the stick to move slowly, but if you tilt it too much, you will be revealed. You will also be revealed if exposed to light, or if you perform actions, such as attacking or using ninjutsu.

Double Jump

Midair, moving upwards – [Jump]

Allows you an additional jump while in midair. You can only use one jump though; until you land on solid ground, you will not be able to jump again. Also note that you can only use the second jump while you are still traveling upwards in the air, not while falling.

Slam

Midair – [Attack] + [Down]

Drops straight down in an attack. Doing this from greater heights will deal bonus damage, although there is a limit on the damage.

Assassinate (shadow)

Sneaking, target walks by you – [Attack]

Ambush and kill an unwary target as he walks by you. It takes a few seconds (during which time the target is helpless, L4D hunter style), and can be averted if interrupted.

Take Hostage (shadow)

Sneaking, target walks by you – [Grab]

Ambush and takes hostage as he walks by you. Having the hostage works exactly as the Take Hostage ability below.

Firebolt (fire)

Charged Up – [Throw]

Adds fire damage to your throwing attacks. If you have no ammo, it will still throw, but will only be the (relatively small) bonus fire damage.

Waterwalk (frost)

Walking on water - [Passive]

Allows you to walk on the surface of still water like a platform. You can dive into the water if you wish, in the same manner as dismounting a platform.

Ensnare (wood)

On solid ground – [Down] + [Grab]

Sends out vines to grab the nearest target on the same patch of solid ground as you in the direction you are facing. Takes ~1 second to use; the vines last for ~3 seconds. It can also be used to grab items, and if an item is the closest target, it will grab it and bring it back to you.

Immolation (fire)

Charged Up, have at least 3 seconds of charge – [Passive]

Deals fire damage over time to enemies near you and acts as a light source. Will extinguish when your charge runs out (at 0 seconds left, not 3)

Climb (wood)

Walk into vertical wall – [Move: diagonally-up into wall]

Allows you to climb a vertical surface. This cannot be used while falling, although you may jump into it (you have to be moving upwards rather than downwards). Once attached, you can also use this to climb down as well, and will cling to the wall until you release from it.

Treetop Perch (wood)

Stand in front of tree – [Move: Up]

Allows you to climb up into a tree. You are hidden while up there. Takes a few seconds to climb up, depending on your skill. If you are hit while climbing up or in the tree but not hidden, you will be knocked out of the tree.

Treetop Ambush (wood)

Hidden up a tree – [Throw]

Jumps out the tree and throws a salvo of projectiles. If you are short on projectiles, you will throw a number of seeds equal to the number of shuriken you are short.

Treetop Traverse (wood)

Perched in a tree, another tree is in range – [Move] + [Jump]

Leaps from one tree to the next. While in the air and for a few seconds afterwards, you will not be hidden. Note that if you are hit in midair, you will land on the ground rather than the tree you are aiming for.

Treetop Strafe (wood)

Doing a Treetop Traverse, have shuriken – [Throw]

Throws shuriken downwards as you sail through the air.

Leech Seed (wood)

Normal – [Hold Grab] + [Throw]

Throws a seed which deals very little damage. If it hits, it will restore an equally small amount of your health.

Toss forward

Grabbing an enemy – [Alternate Throw]

Throws the opponent bodily in the direction you are facing. Damage is low, but it can be used tactically to put enemies in a bad situation.

Toss backwards

Grabbing an enemy – [Dodge]

Throws an opponent bodily in the direction opposite to that you are facing. Essentially the same as the forward toss, except opposite in direction, and takes a short time to recover from it (for you).

Take Hostage

[Grab an enemy from behind]

This puts the opponent at your mercy; any incoming missile attacks will hit him first, and you can execute him by pressing the [Attack] button. You will lose the hostage if you get hit from behind though.

Wall Kick

Midair impact with wall while moving upwards – press [Jump] on impact or hold [Jump] while in midair and have [Move] in direction of the wall.

Jumps off a wall; does not restore your double jump, but does not use it up either.

Ledge Hang

Midair impact with ledge – hold [Grab]

Will grab onto the ledge. Once on it, you can use [Move: Up] to climb up to that platform or can use [Jump] to wall kick off of it. Let go of [Grab] to just drop off.

Aim Shuriken

Free-looking – [Throw]

While free-looking, you will get a reticle at the centre of the screen; any shuriken you throw will be aimed at this reticle. This can be used in conjunction with other throwing abilities, such as firebolt.

Aim Throwing

Free-looking – [Alt-Throw]

Like aiming shuiken, you can aim your other throwing attacks as well. They are much more affected by gravity though, and have throwing power to be considered as well.

Controlled Breathing

In poisonous gas – [Passive]

You will automatically resist breathing in poisonous gas as a trained ninja. Note that this takes qi over time, and will not work if you are channeling qi (eg. to use ninjutsu), or if you run out of qi.

Fortitude

Taking damage that would reduce your current Qi – [Passive]

If you are dealt damage that would reduce your current Qi (by reducing your maximum Qi to below your current,) that damage is divided between between your Qi and Health, effectively reducing the amount of damage you will take.

Boomerang

Normal – Hold [Throw], use [Free-look]

Throws a boomerang that will follow a path traced by the free-look. If it hits an object or character, it will return to the thrower before it completes its path. It will not hit or damage any object on its way back. If it hits an item, it will return to the thrower and bring the item back.

Grappling Hook

Free-looking – [Grappling Hook]

Throws a grappling hook that will cling to the first surface it hits. It cannot grip to all surfaces. You will maintain a weak hold on the rope, but will only really grab onto the rope when you press [Grab], and will hold onto the rope until you let go of [Grab]. Once you do, it will disappear after several seconds of non-use. While you are on a rope, if you are hit, you will lose your grip on the rope, although you can regain it by pressing the [Grab] button again quickly.

While on the rope:

• [Move: Left and Right] – Swing on rope
• [Move: Up and Down] – Move up and down on rope
• Let go of [Grab] – Let go of rope
• [Attack] – Attacks an enemy as you pass by him in the air
• [Grappling Hook] – Throws an additional grappling hook, you will grab that one instead of the one you are currently on.
• [Move: Up] – If multiple things that you can grab onto are present, you will grab the other instead.
• Controls as usual:
  • Free Look, Throw, Alternate Throw
  • Note that anything you throw has a default angle based on your momentum.

Flying Kick

Midair, facing same direction you are moving – Hold [Move: Backwards]

Puts you into a flying kick that will damage anyone you hit. You must hold move in the direction to that opposite to which you are moving/facing. Bonus damage is dealt if you time it so that you press it at the time of impact. If you are still holding the button when you land on solid ground, you will skid to a stop. If you are still holding it and run into something that cannot be kicked, for example a wall, you will take minor damage and stop outright.

Advanced Ninjutsu

Illusions (spectral)

Creates a number of copies of you. They will act on their own. Their stats are based on your own, however, they are much weaker than the original, and only last a limited time. Duration effect.

Each element is slightly different;

• Frost – can walk on water, regenerate over time and use some special attacks
• Fire – copies will imitate you rather than act on their own; they deal no damage and die in one hit
• Wood – has much better stats and duration than average, but only produces one copy
• Shadow – increases the number of copies, but each dies in one hit

Ice Shield (frost)

Creates a protective shield around you. It has a certain amount of health that drains quickly, expiring when it runs out. Any extra damage that it cannot absorb is dealt to you. This shield is vulnerable to fire, but resistant to frost damage. In addition, it will drain much slower in cold environments. Duration effect.

Silence (frost)

Renders all nearby enemies unable to use advance ninjutsu for a short time after casting. This can interrupt opponents' abilities. Note that it does not affect simple ninjutsu.

Blizzard (frost)

Chills the area and makes it snow. While it is snowing, all frost attacks will deal bonus damage. Has a limited duration. Duration effect.

Wall of Fire (fire)

Sends out a tower of flame in the direction you are facing. It will move quickly and damage any target it hits. It will only continue as far as the platform you are on, and will not work on water. Duration effect.

Barkskin (wood)

Reduces the damage you take by half. Has a limited duration, which is decreased by taking damage, especially fire damage. Duration effect.

Natural Allies (wood)

Summons a host of animals to your aid. Creatures summoned depends on location and level of ability. Creatures will only stay for a limited time, and are more inclined to leave if wounded.

Panacea

Removes negative effects from you. Does not negate any damage taken, but does dispel any damage over time effects. Note that this cannot be used while silenced.

Heal

Fires a healing projectile, which will restore a moderate amount of an ally's health. This can heal enemies as well, so use it carefully.

Shadowken (shadow)

Duplicates one shuriken into many, throwing them off in a spread pattern. Note that once released, they are affected by gravity.

Panther Form (wood)

Turns into a panther. While in this form, you cannot use regular ninjutsu, but have much greater movement speed, jumping ability, and powerful melee attacks, including a tackle attack. The panther has its own control scheme. Duration effect (halved drain).

[Move: left/right, down] – same

[Move: up] – vertical stand

[Jump] – Jump

[Jump] (while crouching) – High Jump

[Jump] while running – Long jump

[Attack] – slash (2 hit combo limit)

[Attack] while running – pounce

[Attack] while crouching – pounce

[Charge Up] – growl

[Grab] – bite, hold for the ability to drag target, will not change direction while dragging

[Grab] + [Alt. Throw] – toss, throws the target a short distance and knocks him over

[Free Look] – same

[Quick Items] - disabled

[Advanced Ninjutsu] – human form

Summon Trees (wood)

Creates several trees in the area surrounding you. It cannot make trees unless there is sufficient solid ground nearby.

Frost Dart (frost)

Fires a projectile that splits after a short time. The particles can split again, the time between splits is randomized. Duration effect.

Thunder palm (fire)

Imbues massive damage into your next attack. Will dispel if it misses or you perform another action with your hand. It should be noted that it makes a great thunderclap sound effect if it hits, and passively has some associated lightning sounds. Duration effect, or lasts until hit.

Piranha School (frost)

Summons a vicious school of fish that will attack any enemies that go into or above the water. Will summon piranhas on all bodies of water on screen. They will jump out at enemies, even if that means definite suicide. They will disperse after a while, swimming off-screen or simply fading away if no way off-screen presents itself. The number of piranhas summoned is proportional to the amount of water on screen.

Barrier (wood)

Creates a wall out of solid ground in front of you. It can block almost all attacks, but is breakable. It will dispel after several seconds. It is vulnerable to fire.

Lightning (fire)

Fires a bolt of lightning out in the direction you are facing. It flies quickly, but does damage over time to anyone who stands in its path. It is also a light source.

Meteor (fire)

Drops a fiery meteor down on your enemies. It takes several seconds before impact, but has an area of effect. Damage varies depending whether the meteor itself hits you or the blast from impact.

Death Fog (shadow)

Creates large amounts of poisonous gas. Also, renders you immune to poison for a few seconds. After that, you are vulnerable to the poison created by Death Fog. Duration and fog density depends on the environment.

Inferno (fire)

Creates large amounts of standing fire. Renders you immune to fire for a few seconds. After that, you are vulnerable to the fires created by Inferno. The duration of the fires will depend on the environment.

Eclipse (shadow)
Robs the world of sunlight for a period of time. This will usually make it much darker, however light sources other than the sun are unaffected. Duration effect.

Flash Step

Moves insanely fast directly forwards, potentially getting behind enemies (or running off a cliff or into a wall). You will turn around at the end of the step, so that you face where you started. Will dodge any shuriken en route, but some other attacks will still hit you. If you hit a wall, you will be stunned and take damage.

Firebomb

Fires a ball of fire which will explode after going a certain distance, or if it hits a target. The explosion will not go as far underwater, and will not pass through solid walls. Targets hit directly will take slightly more damage. Long cooldown.

Iron Boots

Causes you to sink underwater and walk on the bottom like it was a regular platform. It also has the effect of making you walk slowly on land. Duration effect.

Items

Throwing Items

Note that with the exception of shuriken, all throwing items are assumed to have stacks of 4.

Shuriken – a standard throwing weapon, undoubtedly a staple for any ninja. The standard throwing weapon, these never become obsolete. Stacks of 20.

Caltrops (throw) – thrown in clusters, these deal damage to those that walk over them and dissipate after a single hit. They have relatively low damage, but are more for tactical advantage than damaging power.

Flashbang (throw) – when thrown, the flashbang makes a loud noise and bright flash on impact. If someone is hit by this, it will temporarily blind and deafen them. It does a small amount of damage as well.

Poison Grenade (throw) – Creates clouds of poisonous smoke when thrown. Note that you are not immune to the effects of its poison. The poison will dissipate after a while.

Smoke Grenade (throw) – Creates clouds of smoke when thrown. The smoke has the effect of acting like darkness for its area of effect (e.g. you can conceal yourself inside them). Note that the smoke is temporary, and will dissipate after a period of time.

Utilities

Lockpicks – used to open locked doors, consumable – one used per attempt, stack of 10

Piano Wire – required to take hostages, is consumable – one used per grab, stack of 5

Grappling Hook – can be used to get to otherwise inaccessible areas, consumable – one used per shot, stack of 20

Weapons

Claws – the shortest reach, but the best attack speed. It can deal lethal damage in a very short amount of time, but getting in range will prove difficult for inexperienced ninjas.

Katana – the katana has a slower attack rate than most weapons, but has the best reach and damage.

Chain and Scythe (kusarigama) – the chain and scythe is unique in that it takes up both your weapon slot and your throwing slot. The mace end of it is thrown which can ensnare an opponent that it hits. The scythe end works like a regular melee weapon.

GUI / HUD

The in-game HUD should display all relevant information for the player without being too intrusive.

Critical Fields Include:

• Health
• Qi
• Ninjutsu on cooldown (each gets its own icon, disappears once it is available again)
• Shuriken count (graphically, not numerically)
• Throwing item / count
• Utility item count (when applicable)
• Advanced ninjutsu formulas (when applicable)

Lock Picking Minigame

You will be presented with a series of sound effects that correspond to various button presses in sequence. Once completed, you will have to enter that sequence. If you start entering it too soon, it will stop playing the sequence. If you get the sequence wrong, you will fail and have to try again. If you want to hear the sequence again, you may elect to do so, and it will play from the beginning.

Locked doors will appear with keyholes on them for sides that require them. Often times, this will only be on one side of the door, as it can be unlocked freely from the inside.

Duration Effects

Several of the advanced ninjutsu are described as "Duration Effects". This means that they will last so long as you maintain a charge. Note that this means you cannot use Immolation while using any Duration Effect ability, and cannot use more than one at a time, and do not gain the regular benefits of a charge. Also note that some abilities do not use the regular amount of drain, and will drain your charge either faster or slower than normal.

Effects of Charge

• Improved movement speed
• Slightly improved damage
• Slightly improved attack speed
• Improved jump height
• Minor damage resistance

Swimming

When you are not using Waterwalk or Iron Boots in the water, you will swim around. Swimming is done mainly horizontally; as you naturally float, and therefore mainly traverse along the surface.

While underwater, you will be required to hold your breath (requires qi).

Controls:

• [Move: Left & Right] – Swim left and right
• [Move: Down] – Dive
• [Move: Up] – Surface
• [Jump] while underwater – Surface
• [Jump] on surface – Jump
• Regular Controls

---

Overall, I was very happy with the redo. The controls create a comprehensive system of movement, simple enough to be accessible, but powerful enough to pull off incredible things, and able to accommodate a variety of circumstances and puzzles.

The idea of making "simple" ninjutsu was key, as it allowed you to do interesting and tactically important things without breaking the key game flow. The idea that it should control well is crucial to any game.

There are minor things that I have left out, but contained here is basically everything important to the series. Note how I am focussed almost entirely on gameplay; story is minimal, graphic style is almost unmentioned, sound is not adequately described.

This is because I believe video games are primarily about gameplay; the easiest way to ruin an otherwise impeccable game is to introduce either sloppy or unintuitive controls, or have the camera control badly. The reason that Halo did so well is that it controls extremely well. Every other reason is secondary; it was tailor-built to be a great console shooter. But more on that later.

-Colin

A Revelation

I have come to realize that there are two types of board games: slow, quiet strategy games (Type A); and loud, fast party games (Type B).

Type A revolve around strategy; they require a certain amount of knowledge of the game to do well at it; they have a lot of strategic depth; the amount of players can vary, but most veterans prefer playing with only 2 players (or 2 static teams) per game; they do not rely on any physical skills; politics among the players is minimal, non-existent, or managed by the rules; chance may play a factor, but strategy is a far greater one.

Type B games are more socially oriented. They are simple to learn, quick to play, and rely heavily on player interaction. The ability to read the players is as important as knowing the rules; they generally favour a large number of players, often requiring at least 3 players. There is usually large amounts of chance involved, mitigated in some way by player interaction.

Many games have properties of both; you end up with a spectrum of games. The purpose of this article is to make you aware of this spectrum, and to induce mindfulness of it into your design ventures. It is also useful  to note when hosting a gaming party, as it allows you to pick the right kind of games for the social atmosphere.

In crowds where lots of the people do not know each other very well, type B games are usually preferable. This is especially true of large groups, or groups including lots of casual or inexperienced gamers. It allows everyone to interact and get to know each other, and allows everyone to have a good time without making a rift between veteran gamers and newbies.

In a group where everyone knows each other, and everyone has at least some experience with gaming, type A games come into play. They are usually what you want to play when you meet regularly, as their depth and variance game to game allows them to remain fresh week to week. They are also often popular when made into computer games when you can find an opponent on the internet (i.e. dominion); as it allows skilled players to come together quickly and conveniently. If you have a dedicated group of 2 to 4 players, you will probably find some Type A games that you really like.

The Spectrum: (a list of my games sorted from A to B, divided into sections)

Super Heavy Games:
These have enough depth to require some amount of experience in order to enjoy it. You can spend years learning all the aspects to it and perfecting your play.

• Go
• Shogi
• Game of Thrones (the card game)

Enthusiasts only:

These are complicated enough to scare away newbies, but very approachable for experienced gamers.

• Puerto Rico
• Dungeon Lords
• Space Hulk
• Hive
• Blokus
• Thunderstone
• Chaos in the Old World
• Axis and Allies
• Samurai
• Chess

Middle Ground:

These are the hybrids, they are fun for new players and veterans alike. These were the most difficult to categorize, but generally speaking, they are very easy to understand and enjoyable for new players and veterans alike.

• Dominion
• Othello
• Bananagrams
• Pandemic
• Forbidden Island
• 7 Wonders
• Citadels

Introductory Games:

These are the right mix of easy to play and socially interactive that tends to appeal to new players.

• Settlers of Catan
• Carcassonne
• Munchkin
• Ticket to Ride
• Small World

Party Games:

These are games that are incredibly easy to teach, support a large number of players, and involve social interaction in some way. 

• Boggle
• Incan Gold
• Balderdash
• Pictionary
• Cranium
• Taboo
• The Resistance

Having presented the spectrum as so, you must ask yourself: where does my game fit into this spectrum? And what type of games do I generally prefer? Such things can make decisions easier for you, as well as tell you about yourself; but more about that later.

-Colin

How to Develop an Idea

This post examines taking an abstract idea and turning it into something useful. It is a many-step process.

1. Record the idea. Depending on the idea, make a note of it, or put it into an appropriate media (sound file, drawing)
2. Examine the idea. 
• Is it viable? Is there some simple thing that makes it unworkable?
• What type of idea is it? My game-related ideas generally fall into one of two categories: World and Mechanics. World ideas include characters, settings, and plots. Mechanics are the specifics of how a game works.
• I will be focussing on Mechanics-related ideas in this post. World ones will be done in a future post (probably)
3. Flesh out the idea; build on it until you have something workable. Start as bare-bones as possible - what do you need in order to get through the first turn of the game?
• Using Shadows over Japan as an example; I needed all the pieces to set up the board, as well as the board itself, the cards, and tokens. In addition, I needed rules dictating how the board was to be set up, and at least a basic turn structure.
• Answer the following questions: (they may seem familiar)
• How do you conduct a given turn?
• What is the overall strategy?
4. Test and Review
• Once you have a basic idea of what you are going for, review it again for viability.
• Are there any crippling exploits that ruin the experience?
• Is any strategy particularly overpowered or underpowered?
• At this point however, you do not even necessarily have a win condition well-established. The game length is probably not yet determined, and gameplay itself is still in the Alpha (subject to massive change based on testing)
• Ensure that the win condition fits with the overall strategy - if the game is based around massing up resources, ensure that the player who does this best will win. 
• Again using SoJ as an example, I initially had a game length that took more than 3 hours to complete; based on this, I revised the turn structure and number of turns to something more appropriate. I also found it was annoying to move the turn tracker each turn, so I revised that to the card-per year method that it has now.
• You do not have to play out the whole game; if it starts getting boring, or you already know what you definitely want to change for next time, end the game early, do your revisions and start again.
5. Go into Beta
• Once you have at least a couple of games played to completion in a row without revising the rules, you are probably ready to go into Beta.
• I would recommend making a proper prototype at this point; return any borrowed pieces, and get a dedicated set for this game. If required, look into publishing companies to make it such as Game Crafter to produce a prototype. 
• Play the game, repeatedly, and with as many different people as possible. It is important to get many different perspectives. If possible, have people play a game without you there (or possibly without anyone who has played it before) in order to see how clearly your rulebook conveys its contents. 
• You may also want to record either a video of people playing the game, or just the relevant numbers involved in the game (for example, the income you make each turn).
• The amount of testing necessary depends largely on how complex your game is. Deeply strategic games with little chance involved need to be played hundreds of times by highly skilled players in order to ensure proper balance. 
• Simple trivia games (i.e. Cranium) do not need to have their mechanics extensively tested, but instead need to have their questions reviewed, in order to determine what percentage of people know each question, according to the demographics relevant to your game (or you could just wing it and hope for the best, as seemingly most trivia games do).
• Many games offset deterministic strategy and the AP associated with it by introducing chance into the game; chance comes in many forms, but it helps move some games along. Not being able to agonize 50 moves in advance helps some players finish their moves faster. If chance is a factor, determine what your probability curves should look like - do you want a lot of chaos, or just enough to keep high level players guessing?

What should you do from there? Your guess is as good as mine. See if you can get it published; either through a professional publisher or DIY. I have remained an amateur in this industry, as I am more interested in the design decisions than the business ones. 

But more on that later.

-Colin

A Game Designer's Toolkit

A list of various materials I have found to be useful to have around when designing and prototyping various games, in no particular order:

• Index Cards - Usefulness depends wildly on the game. You may cut them in half to make playing cards, depending on the size of card you want. They are useful for quick reference cards, which are especially handy when the rules change frequently throughout testing
• Blank Cards - I have a particular fondness for card games, so these come in handy when making decks of things. Buy them a few hundred at a time, as you never know when you'll need to use a lot of them.
• Pennies - Nothing like a useful token that you always have on hand. 
• Other Coins - Also useful if you need to track more than one thing, or if you need different denominations of whatever pennies are tracking.
• Pennygems - A very versatile counter, can colour code to almost anything
• Flat Marbles - At the dollar store, you can get packs of flat marbles which work well for keeping track of things; you can colour code them to correspond to health or mana; you can also paint details on to them if you are using them for game pieces

• Other Trackers - various dollar store fake gems can make for currencies, resources, or VP counters; this is usually if they fit the theme of the game better than regular counters; you can also use various beads, shapes, and whatever else fits your theme
• Army Men - those little green men make useful figures, whether you are making an RPG or a war game. There are usually a variety of them, often with vehicles for added diversity.
• Stealing other Games' Materials - Not to be underestimated. I have borrowed parts from Puerto Rico, Pandemic, Risk, and Go; though be sure not to lose any if you ever want to play the original game again. I also borrow heavily from Dominion if I am testing anything similar to it.
• Dice - Dice are very handy to have around. Whether for purposes of probability or tracking something numeric, it doesn't hurt to have dice (magic players usually use D20s to track their life). Have a variety of dice, both in colour, and number of sides.
• Pawns - These tend to start off as the generic player pieces for most of my games. I am referring to simple, colour coded pawns, like those you might see in snakes and ladders. Players are used to being colour coded in a lot of games, so these are great to have around.
• Bristol Board - whether you are making the board itself on this, or cutting it up to make markers or tiles, it is great to have large pieces of bristol board on hand. White is by far the most common colour to use, but if you have some artistic or colour-coding intent, feel free to use a variety of colours. [Also relevant: ruler, scissors, paper cutter]
• A Notebook and Clipboard (and stationary) - Easy to underestimate, but it helps to have a good writing surface to take notes on. If you are playtesting properly, you should learn something with every game. If necessary, extensively track what is going on in a game; if economy is a major factor, record how much money you are making every turn. Be sure to have enough pencils, and at least one good eraser.
• Excel - Yes, the spreadsheet program. Plot and record data about your game. About the components, gameplay data, factions, cards - whatever is relevant to your game. You may be surprised to see patterns in your data, or any holes that in retrospect seem obvious. If you are not surprised, in all likelyhood it is because you already know how useful this technique can be. Oh and also, KEEP YOUR SPREADSHEET UP TO DATE!!!! An outdated spreadsheet is a useless spreadsheet.
• Smartphone or Tablet - These are not quite as good as a notebook for writing, but make up for it in portability, as well as the ability to read PDFs; it makes it possible to have an up to date electronic copy of your rulebook or reference material on hand. They are also useful if you require a timer in your game, or are just taking down ideas that come to you throughout your work day.
• Containers - Somewhere to store your prototypes, or just to keep all of your bits and pieces organized. Tackle boxes work well for this, though you may want to use trading card boxes, plastic baggies, pencil cases, binders; whatever works for you. 
• Post It Notes - Useful for keeping things organized, particularly in your rule book. If you have any reference tables you need to keep coming back to, put a note there. 

You do not require all of these things; these types of resources are very game specific, and even within this list, many are redundant to each other. But hopefully, it will give you some ideas.

Until next time,

-Colin

How to introduce a new game to someone

It has happened to every board gamer; you have bought a shiny new game, and now need to find yourself some opponents. If you are not lucky enough to have an open-minded group of gaming buddies, who have the patience and mental capacity to learn a new set of rules and strategies, then you have encountered this problem. Introducing people and games to each other, particularly involing people who may not be sold on board gaming.

Hopefully, you are smart enough to pick a simple enough game to break in newbies, a la Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, Carcasonne, or something along those lines.

Your first job is to convey two critical pieces of information:

• How to conduct a turn
• The overall strategy

The order in which you present this information depends greatly on the game. Ultimately, whichever is easiest to explain should be explained first.

Using Ticket to Ride as an example, I made the mistake of trying to explain the overall strategy first to a group of novices - a few sentences in to explaining high-risk high reward routes and strategically picking routes, I could sense eyes glazing over. I immediately switched to what is easiest to explain and understand: how to conduct a given turn; in this case, either draw 2 regular cards or 1 face up wild card, place trains, or get new route cards.

That was simple enough, but raised the question of which would be best to do in a given turn. Next was to explain that you generally want your cards to be of the same colour, as they can be placed on longer routes, which are worth more points. You want to place trains on the shortest path between your destinations, so once you have the required cards, you would place your trains before someone else did. Once all of your routes are complete, get some more, unless you don't think that you will be able to finish them before the game ends.

This summarized stategy is a lot easier to explain once it has the concrete turn structure, and provides a useful rule of thumb for what to do. As player gain experience, they will be able to refine these rules as they improve at the game.

Players ultimately need to understand exactly WHAT they can do each turn (their options) and WHY they would want to do that. Without this information, one cannot hope to play any game. From there, just make sure they know WHEN the game ends, and HOW to win the game.

There is a phrase I have come to loathe when teaching a new game: "tell me what to do". Nothing frustrates me more when teaching a game to new players; I do not want to play against puppets, but motivated players who understand their options and who will make interesting decisions in a game. I utterly despise telling my opponent what to do, as it not only completely defeats the purpose of even having an opponent, it displays contempt of the game on their part. I love games, and you are insulting everything I stand for, and me by extension; there may be no malice in your heart, but fuck you nonetheless.

But I digress.

I have also found that people learn best by example. You should generally have the new players go last, and provide commentary for your turns so as to explain what you are doing and why you are doing it. People learn orders of magnitude better by seeing rather than hearing.

For more complex games, teach the rules as you go. Start playing immediately as soon as players have a basic idea of the turn structure, and teach the ins and outs as they come up. There may be exceptional cases, but don't bother mentioning them until they are relevant to the game. Try and give a bit of advance notice, so as not to screw someone over, but do not go over every exceptional case before starting the game.

You may also want to write a cheat sheet. Or get one off the internet. The site http://www.headlesshollow.com/freebies_games.html has many great examples; but they are not a be-all end-all source. I have hand written cheat sheets for several games, and found that they can cut massive chunks out of play time, as new players do not have to fumble through the rules, instead knowing exactly what is relevant to them.

A good cheat sheet should include anything that players need to know, but would otherwise have to look up. Key words, turn structure, scoring, set up instructions; whatever. Unless it is easy to remember or self explanatory, write it down in an easy to understand format. Do not explain complicated concepts in detail, do not be afraid to cut the fat out of a rule's desctiption, and do not try and include everything. Also, possibly even note important exceptions (such as that you cannot have 2 buildings with the same name in 7 wonders), or things that are easy to forget (start the game with 3 gold).

If there is any heavy lifting you can spare your newbies in set up, feel free to, particularly if they are not sold on the game. Sort out the cards you are not playing with, deal starting hands, shuffle the decks, set up the starting tiles, count out the tokens; anything you do not need their input on.

Include them in any interesting parts, particularly if it invoves them, such as revealing the races to select from (Small World, Cosmic Encounter), randomizing the world (Settlers of Catan, Dominion [Kingdom Cards]), or revealing the enemies you have to face (Thunderstone, Castle Panic, Pandemic [Initial infected cities]).

If you are desperate, play a round open handed. Or play a round not knowing the consequences of your action (this is mainly if you don't know the game either and are learning it as a group). Just get them playing and making decisions for themselves as quickly as possible; even if you have to fudge the rules a bit; even if you might make mistakes; even if you have to ignore certain rules that complicate things; DO IT. GET TO PLAYING THE GAME AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

The sooner you start, the sooner it will 'click' in everyone's minds, the more you will all enjoy it,  and the more likely you will be to get to play again against them. Which is what it's all about. If a game is never played, then it will only ever be slightly better than monopoly.

But more on that later.

-Colin