tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62615912024-03-07T01:49:19.915-05:00Pulsipher Game DesignThis blog contains comments by Dr. Lewis Pulsipher about games he is designing or has designed in the past, as well as comments on game design in general. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LewisPulsipherLewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.comBlogger602125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-31827921916780733292023-10-27T13:54:00.000-04:002023-10-27T13:54:06.584-04:00Review of book The Scythian Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to China I recently read Christopher I. Beckwith The Scythian
Empire: Central Eurasia and the Birth of the Classical Age from Persia to
China, Princeton University Press 2023
Summary: Christopher I. Beckwith, relying
heavily on an astonishing knowledge of linguistics and ancient languages, shows
in his latest book that the Scythians were a single people speaking a single
language, with a Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-37010668192428835772023-10-09T13:04:00.001-04:002023-10-09T19:19:27.656-04:00GrogCon 2023 Report (Old School D&D Convention)(Photos below) Most of what I have to say about games goes into videos on
my YouTube “Game Design” channel [http://youtube.com/LewGameDesign ], but this
time I’ll put it in writing.
This is a discussion of my attendance at GrogCon 23 Sep
30-Aug 1 in Orlando, FL. I’d been at the con for three days last year as well.
GrogCon is an “old School” RPG convention, playing AD&D and Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-79783672719522525682023-08-28T17:40:00.000-04:002023-08-28T17:40:00.917-04:00Recently in my (free) "Game Design" YouTube channel: Align the way to succeed with the "fun" way to play in a game design https://youtu.be/LGk16bENW5I 3:02 Some players will do whatever it takes to succeed in a game, even if it's "no fun". Winning is more important than fun, to some. Help these folks out by insuring that the "fun" way to play leads to success in the game.Puzzles are not necessarily Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-45232853929905145142022-10-22T15:27:00.000-04:002022-10-22T15:27:11.127-04:00 A while ago, Sam Bennett wrote to me about my Barroom Brawl convention scenario for D&D that appeared long ago in White Dwarf. He has compiled a lot of information about this kind of quite unusual form of D&D. The ensuing interview was originally published at https://tales-of-the-lunar-lands.blogspot.com/2022/06/an-interview-with-lew-pulsih.html. It's formatted more Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-8456229605246130642022-03-04T14:36:00.002-05:002022-03-04T14:36:21.743-05:00What were the real World Wars? Wars are sometimes name for odd reasons. What we call World
War I was called the Great War before World War II occurred. Yet some people
would tell you that the Seven Years War (1756 – 1763) was the first war that
occurred over much of the world. But it didn’t have the intensity, the
national armies (conscripts), of a world war. Perhaps the American Civil War or
the Russo- Japanese war or Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-38802542993365755162021-08-02T13:06:00.001-04:002021-08-02T13:07:45.007-04:00Compendium of Britannia-like Games, Published and Unpublished <!--[if supportFields]> SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1<![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><![endif]-->Compendium of Britannia-like Games, Published and Unpublished
A
listing and description
This is edited and revised from
the transcript of a video. I offer free videos on the “Game Design” channel on
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/LewGameDesign
There aren’t many games that
have Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-9149588138904952082021-07-13T15:12:00.000-04:002021-07-13T15:12:05.469-04:00 Deconstructing Diplomacy(Originally appeared in Diplomacy World #154, the free flagship magazine of the Diplomacy-playing hobby)The following is edited and modified from a transcription of a video I made for an audiovisual class I’m creating for Udemy.com. It was created for aspiring game designers, not for hobby Diplomacy players. But you may learn something from it.I think this one of the greatest games ever made so Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-32455830710084020672021-07-06T07:58:00.000-04:002021-07-06T07:58:51.420-04:00How or where would one start learning about the board game design process? (Quora answer) One Page: How or where would one start learning about the board game design process?
(This was an answer to a question on Quora.)
I’ve been asked to answer this question, so I’ll answer despite my personal involvement in the answer.
First, it depends on how you want to learn. The best way to learn game design is through doing it with the help of a mentor. There are many degree programs for Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-34960471153822412092021-05-03T15:37:00.001-04:002021-05-03T15:37:41.835-04:00Yes sport is a game, but money is what ultimately counts (soccer and the Super League) With all the broo-ha-ha about the European soccer “Super League” I felt I had to comment on the underlying forces involved. The Super League was an attempt by the biggest European soccer clubs to set up a separate mid-week league (while still playing in domestic leagues) that would not use relegation to lower divisions while making more money for those teams. It was and is a business Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-9087386133698007232021-04-16T11:18:00.000-04:002021-04-16T11:18:07.600-04:00 Recent free videos on my YouTube Game Design channel. Logistics and game design (and history)"Amateurs study tactics, professionals study logistics" (Napoleon and many others). But commercial historical games rarely reflect logistics. Why and how.https://youtu.be/vA16jTeWM0IApr 1521st century marketing: age of destinations not journeysAnother look at 21st century game marketing. It's the age of destinations, of bucket lists, not of enjoying the Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-2420853608635262692021-03-02T15:19:00.000-05:002021-03-02T15:19:10.579-05:00Part 3 (end) of RPG Review interview In 2016 I was interviewed via
email by the magazine RPG Review. Here is that interview, divided into three
parts. This is part 3 of 3.
What can you tell us of some of the more recent planned and
upcoming games like Barbaria and Germania? And Sea Kings, which I believe has
recently been published? What other gaming endeavours is planned from the
mind of Lewis Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-27170191434653353002021-02-22T12:34:00.000-05:002021-02-22T12:34:08.536-05:00Part 2 of interview with RPG Review from 2016 In 2016 I was interviewed via
email by the magazine RPG Review. Here is that interview, divided into three
parts. This is part 2.
Your material in early issues White Dwarf magazines for original
Dungeons & Dragons established you as a practical theorist of
roleplaying games. In those early articles you criticised "silly/escapist"
styles of games and gamesLewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-12930021761853361252021-02-20T16:13:00.001-05:002021-02-20T16:13:48.674-05:00Venn Diagram illustrating an often-made point - being an expert gamer doesn't mean you'll be a good game designer Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-62773319598997308642021-02-13T20:22:00.000-05:002021-02-13T20:22:08.471-05:00Lew Interviewed by RPG Review (from 2016), Part 1 In 2016 I was interviewed via
email by the magazine RPG Review. Here is that interview, divided into three
parts. This is part 1.
<!--[if supportFields]> SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1<![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><![endif]-->Welcome to RPG Review, Lewis. The first question is a bit of
standard one, but slightly different for yourself. You've been involved in
roleplaying games Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-33864700677581078562021-01-20T09:29:00.002-05:002021-01-20T09:29:59.690-05:00 A Lesson in AbsolutesThis comes from the pandemic but can be applied to game design as well. In the pandemic the general advice from medical people is that you need to wear a suitable mask and stay at least 6 feet away from other people, and that will go a long way to keeping you safe from the coronavirus. This is where the absolutes come in. People seem to think of these as absolute limits, but they're not. SomebodyLewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-10903792193804590202021-01-12T10:53:00.001-05:002021-01-12T10:53:56.381-05:00 Game Conventions 2021I see more pandemic cloud-cuckoo-land thinking respect to in-person game conventions in 2021.Having a large group of people confined to an indoor space, even a ballroom, is a death trap. Your chances of being infected by Covid-19 are higher in such places, same as in a restaurant. Hotels are also one of the five places where you’re most likely to contract Covid-19, and most people going to Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-29927102737657398042021-01-09T14:51:00.000-05:002021-01-09T14:51:19.219-05:00My Responses to questions related to a book about the game Risk In December 2012, Dave Shapiro contacted me to contribute to a book about Risk he was co-authoring.This took the form of answers to a series of questions. The book appeared recently, sans this material. This is part 5 of 5.You hold a Doctorate in Military History and have taught a course in game design for several years. The following questions are design related in general (not Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-79645837420738825532020-12-19T20:56:00.000-05:002020-12-19T20:56:13.135-05:00My responses to questions for a Risk book (part 4 of 5) In December 2012, Dave Shapiro contacted me to contribute to a book about Risk he was co-authoring.This took the form of answers to a series of questions. The book appeared recently, sans this material. This is part 4.Risk has been published for more than 50 years. It has sold millions of copies around the world. As a designer, how do you approach the re-design of a game with such a long Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-91745713450455992032020-12-02T14:45:00.000-05:002020-12-02T14:45:49.030-05:00 Triptych 18 Three Subjects in One Blog Post• "What’s your most memorable board game experience?"• Cheating (and diversity initiatives)• "Intuitive" is a much smaller set than what people mean when they say a game is intuitiveWhat’s your most memorable board game experience?The first time I watched my game Britannia (1986) played (2004), at PrezCon in Charlottesville VA. (I’d taken 20 years away from the industry.) I watched for a while Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-21599879068973663352020-11-20T19:16:00.000-05:002020-11-20T19:16:06.124-05:00 Triptych 17 - Three Subjects in One Blog Post• Presentation• Leadership• Avalon Hill and HasbroI'm the sort of person who goes to Metacritic and reads some reviews of a movie to decide whether to go see it, rather than rely on trailers. I don't turn on the TV just to see what's one, at most I might look at TitanTV for movies that I'd like to see. Atmosphere appeals to people who buy things on impulse, who buy a book because of its Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-44824355288041724212020-11-12T10:56:00.000-05:002020-11-12T10:56:05.230-05:00 A New Thing #3 (Have to think of another name, as it’s not new any more. . . Bites of Writing?)Kind of like the Triptych but with much more than three topics per.**Has anyone made a list of Euroish game mechanics (mechanisms) that are generally unsuited to games that are models of something (because the mechanic has nothing to do with reality)?: worker placement, drafting, and change-each-round role selection are three that come to mind.**Video games: the games (and the players) now dependLewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-11437084112852360372020-11-11T18:28:00.001-05:002020-11-12T11:43:53.423-05:00Responses to Dave Shapiro's questions for a Risk book, part 3 In December 2012, Dave Shapiro contacted me to contribute to a book about Risk he was co-authoring.This took the form of answers to a series of questions. The book appeared recently, sans this material. This is part 3.The following questions are specifically about the Risk relationship in your designs.What games most influenced your designs?Heavens, it all started so long ago that that’s Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-38243086026319114712020-10-30T09:50:00.000-04:002020-10-30T09:50:01.562-04:00 “Are we there yet?”"When do you know you’re finished revising? When you’ve gone from making your writing better to merely making it different. That’s not always easy to determine, but it’s what makes you an author." - Jerry Jenkins, author of around 200 booksPeople who are learning to design games tend to lose the distinction between when a game is mechanically complete and when it is truly finished. Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-15487155680008154442020-10-27T09:34:00.001-04:002020-10-27T09:34:38.024-04:00Part 2 of old interview via Dave Shapiro In December 2012, Dave Shapiro contacted me to contribute to a book about Risk he was co-authoring.This took the form of answers to a series of questions. The book appeared recently, sans this material. This is part 2.As with movies, books and music, there are those that enjoy the work and those that criticize it. How do you deal with criticism of your designs? Constructive criticism Lewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6261591.post-47657609158903337812020-10-21T08:51:00.004-04:002020-10-21T08:51:47.383-04:00 Triptych 16 Three Subjects in One Blog Post• Rewards for Intermediate Objectives• Video Games and Imagination• Technical Quality and Soccer PlayersRewards for Intermediate Objectives(Written in 2015)We were playtesting my Zombie Escape at Origins many years ago.I was quite surprised when one of the players suggested that there should be a reward for defeating a zombie. It is not a long game, 40 minutes on average but longer with theLewis Pulsipherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11998403221823705918noreply@blogger.com0