Train is a simulation of the Holocaust, requiring players to transport yellow pawns on model trains. The game does not overtly state what will happen to those pawns — in fact, it does not even make the underlying idea of the game obvious, omitting any mention of the word 'Holocaust. Instead, part way through the game, players realize the situation when they flip cards to discover the destination of each train to find that each is headed to a concentration camp.

While the game itself seems to provide a meaningful experience for players, I read a critique of Brathwaite's methodology recently that really struck home. Sirlin posted the following as part of a larger discussion on a presentation by Brathwaite:

To me, making a game is about ending up with a thing that is "good," whatever that means to the designer (or to the player?). But it's not about any particular backend production process. If I made a game about a modern tragedy and I told you I typed the rules on a real Bush Administration computer, would that matter? I think mostly it doesn't. If anything, using a real Nazi typewriter goes against the ability to
actually make copies of this game and put into players hands. But making copies of this game isn't the goal either, says Brenda. She made only one and said she wouldn't make any more. (I think she later agreed to make a total of 6 for very special exhibits or people, not sure on that.) The whole deal about the typewriter signals to us that the piece of art here INCLUDES the development process. That's kind of out-of-bounds to me, in that we're only supposed to consider the game as a final piece of work. I don't really care how Halo was made, only Halo is good. But Brenda isn't really making a game, is she? She's making a piece of art. I think Train is supposed to be about not only the final product, but how it was made. By the way, games can be art, but not all pieces of art are games.

At what level is board game design more art than science? Is a game truly a game if you can't replicate it?

What is Google Wave? I like to think of Google Wave as a collaboration platform that allows multiple people to "grow" a document, as well as add comments, and many other things. Someone put it like "If email were invented today, it would look like Google Wave."

Since it is a flexible platform, I was curious if it would be possible to use it as a virtual board gaming platform. I am still investigating that matter, and I think, so far, "maybe".

As a first step onto this road, I created a quick dice-rolling gadget for Google Wave:

Google Wave Dice-Rolling Gadget

If you want to use the gadget, add it by clicking on the "Add Gadget by URL" button with the following URL:

http://github.com/swenson/wavegaming/raw/889cf5757b51ca3e0d6df02c18948c1f864eab0a/dice.xml

Note that this is a specific version of the gadget. The newest can always be found on my GitHub account, but if you switch to a new version, it might not work with your saved state. Hence, using the correct version of the gadget is important.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Hasbro offers a list of more than 70,000 game rules and instructions on its customer service site — and from a look through the list, I don't think they're all actually Hasbro games.

There's another reason that this resource is a treasure trove of sorts: for the board game designer, have access to the rules governing thousands of rules can provide inspiration, guidance, and probably at least a few examples of what not to do!

And then, once you figure out some mechanic that will make the game move, you have to start doing the more boring parts of finding out *exactly* how the mechanic affects the game. How balanced does it need to be, how many players will it support? Will there be resources to be used, and how should they be distributed and utilized? How will the players interact with this game?

To solve these problems, you want to scratch down on paper or computer how these things work, and then start playing through a quick round of the mechanic to see how it plays out.

Since my primary profession is as a computer scientist, I am a big fan of generating computing models for, if not the entire game, at least several of the major components. It helps especially to determine balance, that elusive trait that is so hard to nail down by hand. How often does a player in a certain position win, how much relies on chance, how much on skill, how hard is it to gain those skills? Developing good computer models of the mechanics can help to determine the answers to these questions.

And, for the craftier people out there, there is always the fun of building physical prototypes. I'm not a particularly crafty person, sadly, but I am looking forward to creating a really sharp, fun physical version of my game. Even if you aren't too amazing with Photoshop or an Exacto knife, you can have fun scavenging eBay, game store miniatures, or just other board games for pieces to combine into your prototype. If you have an artsy acquaintance you can ask (or pay for their help), or perhaps find someone on Etsy to help you bring your idea to physical form. Or, perhaps, you can use it as an excuse to learn how to mold clay, whittle, or play with Photoshop.

Does anyone else have any good tips for prototyping games?

Photo — hisks

With the push for language independent games from many publishers — and finances are almost certainly the reason behind the trend — I've been thinking about the mechanics behind such games. For many games, the question of language is only an issue when you're learning the game. Our gaming group plays a German version of Acquire more often than an English language version — and only one of our group speaks German. But there are also more than a few games that aren't so easy to play in any language you aren't very familiar with. Agricola, in particular comes to mind. With the many different options when it comes to cards, there's no way to hold each card in your mind.

Where does that leave us? Language is just as important a part of the mechanics as any other facet of game play. The decision to create a language independent game requires extensive play testing and tweaking in order to make sure that players aren't left grabbing for the rules every other minute. It can be a good option, but any decisions relating to language can't be purely financial.