What happens when Baba Yaga, Sisyphus, and a rocket scientist have a race? We learn how player agency (or lack thereof) in game phases impacts player experience. Sit back and watch it all play out.
One of my thoughts while reading your article was that Magical Athlete sounded a lot like gambling on horse races, which many people love to do. Players select a favorite horse for different races and if their horse wins, they get excited and earn ‘points.’
See, this is why I love SCM reader comments! That’s such a good comparison and obvious after you pointed it out… but it hadn’t occurred to me before! That’s a good point!
A good read. I found it interesting because I've been considering Magical Athlete but have doubted it a bit for this very reason of so much of it being the automated phase without any agency. Whereas in similar games like Camel Up you have the real-time agency of betting in response to the crazy events as they happen before your eyes. In contrast MA seems more like an old-school computer football manager sim where, as you say, the decisions happen beforehand. Those manager games were a lot of fun though! That plus the social side of a group shouting at daft figures I guess are a clever combination.
I've never played a football/soccer manager video game, but now that you say that... it sounds very similar! I need to check out how those work. I assume the whole game is drafting players and organizing the team, and then the actual game events are hands-off? That's really interesting if so!
And believe it or not, I've never played Camel Up. I am shamed to admit that it is a game missing from my board game experience.
Yes that's pretty much it. The new ones have become incredibly detailed with all manner of stats to consider and decisions to make, but you're right the principle is that you buy the players, pick the team and tactics, and watch it play out, albeit you also make in-game substitutions and tactical changes which can also be important - so maybe there's scope for a Magical Athlete expansion or two!
No shame at all in not having played one of the thousands of games around! Ready Set Bet is another example that looks similar to Camel Up in that way although I haven't played that one.
Many popular video games employ front-loaded agency, including tabletop-inspired genres like deck builders (Slay the Spire) and auto battlers (Super Auto Pets).
A roll to move game that reminds me of your Candy Land suggestion: Nautilion. It's a solo game where you roll 3 dice and assign one each to yourself, an NPC racing against you, and a burn pile. The dice have an unusual spread of numbers (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4) and I absolutely love that choice to normalize the values of a d6 while maintaining an explosive upper range. And of course, the idea of a solo roll to move game itself is beautifully perverse.
A few people have mentioned auto-battler video games and now I need to look into those. Would have been a good example for me to mention, and I meant to look into them.... then forgot. :) I'll check out Super Auto Pets!
Also Nautilion sounds really interesting based on how you describe it. Another one to add to the list!
Super Auto Pets is very approachable, but if anyone reading this is stressed out by the multiplayer (even though it's asynchronous), I highly recommend Vivid Knight as a single-player alternative.
I'm surprised that more people don't know Reiner. He's prolific. I'm not a big fan of his because I don't like auction games but I do like Lost Cities and his LOTR game.
Forcing choices...rather so called choices, is not having fun, at all. That is life itself. To live, adult, one makes a choice each day that results in either improvmemt of chances of life or game over = death.
Having fun, a real choice: good for or bad for moving towards a set goal (winning game) is the only reason that I choose to play. Its not fun no enjoyment why waste the time?
Another new game with front loaded decisions is Final Titan from Nerdlab Games. Based on the kickstarter page, I didn’t think I would like it but I tried the print and play, loved the game and then backed the deluxe version.
From BGG;
In this competitive game, players recruit legendary champions from across time, myth, and fantasy, each with unique abilities, stats, and powers. Once recruited, your champions are thrown into the arena, where they'll face off in intense dice duels.
Choose your matchups wisely, support your heroes with power-up cards, and outwit your opponents.
One of my thoughts while reading your article was that Magical Athlete sounded a lot like gambling on horse races, which many people love to do. Players select a favorite horse for different races and if their horse wins, they get excited and earn ‘points.’
See, this is why I love SCM reader comments! That’s such a good comparison and obvious after you pointed it out… but it hadn’t occurred to me before! That’s a good point!
Thank you!
A good read. I found it interesting because I've been considering Magical Athlete but have doubted it a bit for this very reason of so much of it being the automated phase without any agency. Whereas in similar games like Camel Up you have the real-time agency of betting in response to the crazy events as they happen before your eyes. In contrast MA seems more like an old-school computer football manager sim where, as you say, the decisions happen beforehand. Those manager games were a lot of fun though! That plus the social side of a group shouting at daft figures I guess are a clever combination.
I've never played a football/soccer manager video game, but now that you say that... it sounds very similar! I need to check out how those work. I assume the whole game is drafting players and organizing the team, and then the actual game events are hands-off? That's really interesting if so!
And believe it or not, I've never played Camel Up. I am shamed to admit that it is a game missing from my board game experience.
Thank you for your comment!
Yes that's pretty much it. The new ones have become incredibly detailed with all manner of stats to consider and decisions to make, but you're right the principle is that you buy the players, pick the team and tactics, and watch it play out, albeit you also make in-game substitutions and tactical changes which can also be important - so maybe there's scope for a Magical Athlete expansion or two!
No shame at all in not having played one of the thousands of games around! Ready Set Bet is another example that looks similar to Camel Up in that way although I haven't played that one.
Thanks.
Many popular video games employ front-loaded agency, including tabletop-inspired genres like deck builders (Slay the Spire) and auto battlers (Super Auto Pets).
A roll to move game that reminds me of your Candy Land suggestion: Nautilion. It's a solo game where you roll 3 dice and assign one each to yourself, an NPC racing against you, and a burn pile. The dice have an unusual spread of numbers (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4) and I absolutely love that choice to normalize the values of a d6 while maintaining an explosive upper range. And of course, the idea of a solo roll to move game itself is beautifully perverse.
A few people have mentioned auto-battler video games and now I need to look into those. Would have been a good example for me to mention, and I meant to look into them.... then forgot. :) I'll check out Super Auto Pets!
Also Nautilion sounds really interesting based on how you describe it. Another one to add to the list!
Thank you for this comment!
Super Auto Pets is very approachable, but if anyone reading this is stressed out by the multiplayer (even though it's asynchronous), I highly recommend Vivid Knight as a single-player alternative.
Oh I’ll check that out instead. I don’t like being beat up online because I’m bad at games. 😂
I'm surprised that more people don't know Reiner. He's prolific. I'm not a big fan of his because I don't like auction games but I do like Lost Cities and his LOTR game.
Perhaps a comment meant for the other post, but I get your point! :)
Forcing choices...rather so called choices, is not having fun, at all. That is life itself. To live, adult, one makes a choice each day that results in either improvmemt of chances of life or game over = death.
Having fun, a real choice: good for or bad for moving towards a set goal (winning game) is the only reason that I choose to play. Its not fun no enjoyment why waste the time?
Yep. It really depends on the kinds of fun the players want and the designer wants to create: https://www.skeletoncodemachine.com/p/the-8-kinds-of-fun
Another new game with front loaded decisions is Final Titan from Nerdlab Games. Based on the kickstarter page, I didn’t think I would like it but I tried the print and play, loved the game and then backed the deluxe version.
From BGG;
In this competitive game, players recruit legendary champions from across time, myth, and fantasy, each with unique abilities, stats, and powers. Once recruited, your champions are thrown into the arena, where they'll face off in intense dice duels.
Choose your matchups wisely, support your heroes with power-up cards, and outwit your opponents.
Sounds like a tabletop version of an auto-battler! Interesting!
Thanks!