Gaming on my mind

In fact, I have gaming on my mind all the time. I guess it’s a side-effect of enjoying the hobby, but also writing about it. I need content for my blog. Fortunately, this is easy since I’m often pondering topics specific to gaming.

Recently though, I’ve been thinking about designing my own game. I guess when you involve yourself in something this is only natural. Gaming is no exception.

Concepts like reward systems, dice mechanics, and aesthetic have all been bouncing around in my head.

Some issues I’ve been fighting with…

• How to have a reward system for players that isn’t based purely on killing monsters
• How to eradicate, or at least very very strongly discourage the murderhobo aspect of gaming
• How to take a less is more approach to the game, and still have compelling story lines that can satisfy a wide audience

All of these things are important in a game, and there are even more issues to consider. However, the last one might sound a bit like a genre discussion, and to be honest, if I were to write a game, it would probably be low fantasy.

The other two points are a bit trickier. Reward systems are not easy, and there is no universal solution. I’ve even seen at least one game just get rid of them entirely. A novel approach. And then there are the murderhobos. It’s a tough thing to judge somone’s fun as wrong. This is the issue with the wandering homeless killers. Some people really like to game this way. I get that. I don’t do it, but I understand the drive to want to play this kind of adventure. In my game though I feel like it should be discouraged. That’s just me. I think all these things are worth considering, and over the next few days I’ll elaborate on why.