Exploring how Soda Jerk by Chris Yi uses hidden information, stock manipulation, and influence vs. control in a game about combining soda flavors. Also, a reminder to complete the reader survey!
such a fun and fascinating article, as always :D having actions be simultaneously beneficial and detrimental can definitely be great! i'd argue that that's kinda part of the design philosophy behind Powered by the Apocalypse games; more often than not, actions taken result in a "mixed success", getting to do what you wanted, but at a cost/only kinda :) part of why i like those games so much ^^ gives so much fruitful fuel for wonderful roleplaying!
I've never played a PbtA game, but that description makes me want to look into it more. I have seen (probably derivative) games with the mixed-success outcomes. I do like those quite a bit.
Yeah, the whole "influence vs. control" thing isn't so much a mechanism as it is some sort of meta-mechanism I think. It emerges as a result of the mechanisms being implemented.
The hidden information in Soda Jerk is important too. I'm not sure there'd be much game there without it. You'd just play and calculate the totals as you went, making it boring at best and boring + crushed with AP at worst. :)
I refuse to to vote on the soda flavors because all of them sound gross LoL
Great article though.
Hahaha I respect that.
For a little while “banana” was in the lead and I was just going to shut down the whole blog and be done. Awful.
such a fun and fascinating article, as always :D having actions be simultaneously beneficial and detrimental can definitely be great! i'd argue that that's kinda part of the design philosophy behind Powered by the Apocalypse games; more often than not, actions taken result in a "mixed success", getting to do what you wanted, but at a cost/only kinda :) part of why i like those games so much ^^ gives so much fruitful fuel for wonderful roleplaying!
and thank you for the reminder with the survey!
I've never played a PbtA game, but that description makes me want to look into it more. I have seen (probably derivative) games with the mixed-success outcomes. I do like those quite a bit.
Thanks for the comment! :)
Yeah, the whole "influence vs. control" thing isn't so much a mechanism as it is some sort of meta-mechanism I think. It emerges as a result of the mechanisms being implemented.
The hidden information in Soda Jerk is important too. I'm not sure there'd be much game there without it. You'd just play and calculate the totals as you went, making it boring at best and boring + crushed with AP at worst. :)
Thanks for the comment!