Ingeniators Prototype Finished, Playtests Begin
Hey, stop, check this out! I have finally figured out the solutions to the issues plaguing what is probably the best game idea I ever had. I present Ingeniators. I will demo the prototype at U-Con.
From Games
For the time being, I'm borrowing meeples and builders from a Carcassonne set in place of the Key and Wrench pieces. When I have eight dollars of disposable income to buy Sculpey in metallic iron-black, silver, gold and copper, I'll sculpt my own set of pieces.
I had the brainstorm a couple of years ago. Whenever I play Carcassonne or To Court The King, many players cannot resist the puzzle-solving urge to give other players suggestions on what combinations of actions in what sequences would give the best output. They are the core audience on whom I have focused like a laser in developing all the incarnations of this concept. The basic, unchangeable goal of the project is to develop a game that pleases them. They are Ingeniators.
Photos of previous incarnations are in this gallery. At first this game was named Lemuria. It was about excavating and activating ancient alien ruins. It was too complicated, lengthy, and confusing. Then I made it Open-Source: The Board Game. But the metaphor of software development was a very clumsy fit with the appearance of the actual game equipment.
Finally at ConClave I realized certain things about the game I was trying to make.
1. If I just made them machine parts, with gears, belts, and boilers, new players more easily understand what they're looking at. Whereas the previous themes made learning harder, this one makes it easier.
2. The addition of blueprint tiles to the game means nobody has to figure out a complex system of rules to decide when they've accomplished something.
3. The addition of wooden cutouts to the game means you don't have to do upkeep on a bunch of extra bits which would be difficult to understand. They serve double duty and simplify the game.
The first-ever playtest game ended in 15 minutes. I affixed the words to the tiles with repositionable glue, and am experimenting with different arrangements. But it is already awesome.
Please volunteer to playtest! I need to playtest the ever-living crap out of this game, again and again, until I have caught enough of the weird little problems that might lurk on the periphery. Or maybe there is a basic problem with it. Go ahead and criticize it, I'll just take down your comments in my notes. I must get honest feedback. Even if you have nothing to say about it, but just want to vent vague emotion against people who like this kind of game, based on your own irrational hostility without useful specifics about the game itself, I'll just jot it down and be very polite to you.
Comments
tlatoani on Oct. 21, 2009 8:19 PM
Dude, I'll spot you $8 to make the pieces.
matt-arnold on Oct. 21, 2009 9:48 PM
Thanks! I'll take this off-list.
star-gazersusan on Oct. 21, 2009 8:50 PM
come to think of it. I may have some sculpy that's just been hanging around the house. I don't know what colors, but if I still have them; you're welcome to them.
matt-arnold on Oct. 21, 2009 9:48 PM
Thanks. I live in Westland. Which city do you live in?
star-gazersusan on Oct. 21, 2009 10:06 PM
I'm in Garden City. Quite near you in fact - ask Anna! LOL
I've got a brick and a half of black, 1 silver, 1 bronze, 1 yellow, 1 dark blue, 1 aqua, 3 different pink colors, 1 white, and a variety pack of sticks - I don't think it's sculpy but you might find a use for it.
desfontaines on Oct. 21, 2009 11:18 PM
I'll make sure to pull out my sculpey when you're over tomorrow. I rarely use it anymore, so if any of the colors suit, they're yours. All I know I definitely have is black.
And although Jody doesn't pay much attention to LJ, you know he'd LOVE to playtest this. :)
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