I lost a game of Kingmaker when plague struck Calais and I've been thinking about it ever since. Exploring thematic vs. abstract and random vs. low-luck games and the idea of zero-luck TTRPGs.
What really is a zero-luck game? First-player victory proved and I go first? Is that still a game or just solving the Rubik’s cube?
What if my opponent — rather than dice — is a source of randomness? Do we ever know that not to be the case?
If there were an abstract game version of plague in Calais — on some squares, under some conditions, my stone might change colour — would that detract from the experience of playing the game, or would it just make it harder or less compelling to tell stories about ‘that time when …’ later?
What really is a zero-luck game? First-player victory proved and I go first? Is that still a game or just solving the Rubik’s cube?
What if my opponent — rather than dice — is a source of randomness? Do we ever know that not to be the case?
If there were an abstract game version of plague in Calais — on some squares, under some conditions, my stone might change colour — would that detract from the experience of playing the game, or would it just make it harder or less compelling to tell stories about ‘that time when …’ later?