Exploring how Hellboy: The Dice Game uses push-your-luck mechanisms and custom dice pools. If we calculated all the probabilities, how would that impact how we feel about the game? Would it matter?
wonderful article as always :) thank you for sharing!
i like the idea of using different kinds of dice that you can choose when to spend for a ttrpg! it would be really interesting if there was some kind of mechanism by why they would then also transfer on to an adversary when doing that...
push your luck mechanisms are definitely fun! just about to play Trophy Dark for the first time in a few minutes, which has plenty of that :3
thank you for sharing! the game was in literally a few minutes from when i wrote, so i didn't have time to listen beforehand, but they are now on my list :D
Isn’t knowing the odds of any given dice combo beating any given card just the start of strategy in this game? You need to count cards and consider what is left in the deck, right? And sometimes you have to choose dice unlikely to beat a card, because you need a run of unlikely victories to catch up with your opponent who is one clue point away from victory, I am guessing (I haven’t seen the game).
You may be able to calculate the optimal strategy but still need the cards and dice to fall your way; the chances of that happening might be way less than 50%; in such a situation, doesn’t knowing the odds increase the excitement when you know you have beaten them? There is no thrill to pushing your luck — wisely or foolishly — if you don’t know that is what you are doing.
In a game of mixed luck and strategy (assuming that is what this is), what is the argument for wilfully avoiding useful information? Kill the frog!
Of course, one might sometimes deliberately play suboptimally, just to rub the other players’ noses in it when one wins anyway. But if they don’t understand that is what one has done, where is the fun in that? ;)
Good points all around. I don't think there's just one answer to this question as it depends on the kinds of players at the table. Some would enjoy the math being presented and then making choices from there. Like you mentioned, there's still card counting and the times you want to push your luck as far as possible!
Or it could be more fun! Instead of trying to solve it purely mathematically with an ideal solution, you can usually arrive at the same result with a large enough Monte Carlo simulation. Have a few random number generators crank away at each card and you can get expected values and distributions for any number of dice and combination againist a card. This could even allow you to set players as having a certain level of risk aversion where they will pass if they don’t feel they have enough dice. Then set different combinations of players againist each other in a full size game and see what good risk strategies emerge!
Skeleton Code Machine was going to be far more focused on Python and Monte Carlo simulations in my initial idea. I've drifted away from that, but you can still see it in the early posts in the archive. It's always tempting to make a short sim for games like this!
I believe it would be mathematical solvable, but in doing so suck the fun out of the game.
I tend to agree. :)
wonderful article as always :) thank you for sharing!
i like the idea of using different kinds of dice that you can choose when to spend for a ttrpg! it would be really interesting if there was some kind of mechanism by why they would then also transfer on to an adversary when doing that...
push your luck mechanisms are definitely fun! just about to play Trophy Dark for the first time in a few minutes, which has plenty of that :3
(and the math, giving rounding, checks out ^^)
Trophy Dark is a wonderfully designed and produced game. Have fun!
If you haven't listened yet, these actual plays will get you in the mood: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trophy/id1479689325
thank you for sharing! the game was in literally a few minutes from when i wrote, so i didn't have time to listen beforehand, but they are now on my list :D
(and it was such a blast, for sure! thank you <3)
Isn’t knowing the odds of any given dice combo beating any given card just the start of strategy in this game? You need to count cards and consider what is left in the deck, right? And sometimes you have to choose dice unlikely to beat a card, because you need a run of unlikely victories to catch up with your opponent who is one clue point away from victory, I am guessing (I haven’t seen the game).
You may be able to calculate the optimal strategy but still need the cards and dice to fall your way; the chances of that happening might be way less than 50%; in such a situation, doesn’t knowing the odds increase the excitement when you know you have beaten them? There is no thrill to pushing your luck — wisely or foolishly — if you don’t know that is what you are doing.
In a game of mixed luck and strategy (assuming that is what this is), what is the argument for wilfully avoiding useful information? Kill the frog!
Of course, one might sometimes deliberately play suboptimally, just to rub the other players’ noses in it when one wins anyway. But if they don’t understand that is what one has done, where is the fun in that? ;)
Good points all around. I don't think there's just one answer to this question as it depends on the kinds of players at the table. Some would enjoy the math being presented and then making choices from there. Like you mentioned, there's still card counting and the times you want to push your luck as far as possible!
Good comment. Thank you!
Or it could be more fun! Instead of trying to solve it purely mathematically with an ideal solution, you can usually arrive at the same result with a large enough Monte Carlo simulation. Have a few random number generators crank away at each card and you can get expected values and distributions for any number of dice and combination againist a card. This could even allow you to set players as having a certain level of risk aversion where they will pass if they don’t feel they have enough dice. Then set different combinations of players againist each other in a full size game and see what good risk strategies emerge!
Skeleton Code Machine was going to be far more focused on Python and Monte Carlo simulations in my initial idea. I've drifted away from that, but you can still see it in the early posts in the archive. It's always tempting to make a short sim for games like this!
Thank you!