Even traditional wargames have such arcs. In Russian Campaign there is the initial German onslaught, followed by the mid game attrition to the eventual Russian counter attack. Another example is 4x games, explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. You begin small and build your resources till the end game battles.
Agree. I think most historical wargames (operational and strategic levels) fit nicely into "5. Expansion and Conflict" above. Games like Blood Rage, C&C: Napoleonics, Undaunted and other "troops on a map" games all share some common DNA in how they create game arcs during play.
I just wanted to say thank you for the content you put out. I consider myself interested in game design, and I feel I know a reasonable amount, but you are operating on a level way above me! Your articles not only start with an interesting idea, they are also extremely well thought-out and in-depth, and eloquently expressed, succinctly and with pretentiousness. Please don't stop!
Magic: The Gathering definitely has a strong game arc. Early game is getting lands out early to allow stronger mid-game cards, to finally end in powerful combos.
Somehow I made it through an entire article about game arcs without mentioning the game Arcs. ;)
Even traditional wargames have such arcs. In Russian Campaign there is the initial German onslaught, followed by the mid game attrition to the eventual Russian counter attack. Another example is 4x games, explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. You begin small and build your resources till the end game battles.
Agree. I think most historical wargames (operational and strategic levels) fit nicely into "5. Expansion and Conflict" above. Games like Blood Rage, C&C: Napoleonics, Undaunted and other "troops on a map" games all share some common DNA in how they create game arcs during play.
I just wanted to say thank you for the content you put out. I consider myself interested in game design, and I feel I know a reasonable amount, but you are operating on a level way above me! Your articles not only start with an interesting idea, they are also extremely well thought-out and in-depth, and eloquently expressed, succinctly and with pretentiousness. Please don't stop!
Thank you so much for the kind words! I really appreciate it!
Excellent newsletter about how to incorporate story arcs into your games!
Thank you!
It makes me think about expansions and/or booster packs. Like it is part of the game? Is it the game itself? Like MTG.
Magic: The Gathering definitely has a strong game arc. Early game is getting lands out early to allow stronger mid-game cards, to finally end in powerful combos.