Nalpha 2.1, the Learning Curve

This past week I had the privilege to test Nalpha in its current state with two folks who had not yet played it.  One (let's call him Terry) was familiar with DnD as well as MtG.  The other (let's call him Carl) had no experience with RPGs broadly, though he told me he had played MtG years back.

As I have intimated before, I believe Nalpha falls in the gap between traditional pen-and-dice tabletops and TCGs, which was borne out in comments from Terry.  So, it seems that both would have a general sense of game mechanics rather quickly.

What I observed was almost exactly what you'd expect, but I found it fascinating to witness it first hand in such a marked fashion...

Terry picked up the game very quickly.  He understood basic strategy almost right away, and throughout the couse of the campaign he made good choices for himself, as well as being able to counsel Carl well.

Carl, by contrast, had only a faint and distant recollection of TCGs and virtually no RPG experience at all.  His eyes darted from card to card rapidly on his turns, and you could almost feel his struggle to keep tabs on what was going on.  That is not to say that he was learning slowly.  I'd say he was learning at a somewhat typical pace.  It was just more pronounced when compared to someone closer to the target demographic.

All in all, the game went well, and both had a good time (though I dare say Terry had a great time), even though we lost.  I learned a few things about the campaign (it's farther behind in development than the Player Character core of the game) that will make the next edition a little better.

The biggest take away for me was that I think the game does what I want it to for the target audience.  It was more-or-less intuitive once some basic rules were established.   The bulk of game time was spent playing, not explaining.  To me, that marks an elegant system and ups the fun-factor significantly.

Nalpha: Emergence of a Subgenre

So, Nalpha is clipping along nicely.  I'm on the cusp of rolling out the next edition of beta.  Not nearly the huge core changes in this edition that we experienced in the last, but it's still pretty comprehensive.  Or to put it differently, I'm not quite to the point of fretting over the balance of each individual card yet, but those days are not so distant.

I was a bit dumbfounded to discover that, not counting the special "Character" cards, I had tasked myself with the creation of no less than 84 cards for the "Starter" version of the game.  Now, mind you, that is 84 discrete cards - no duplicates at all.

Which brings me to the topic I will be exploring: What do you do with a game that does not fit quite into an existing genre?


To understand my quandry directly, I'll talk a bit about what Nalpha is.

Nalpha (not the real name of the game, for you new readers), is sort of like a trading card game.  I have been clearly and heavily influenced by Magic: the Gathering as well as a few others in the genre.

On the other hand, Nalpha is, by virtue of its design, not a trading card game.  There really is no reason to trade anything.  The cards aren't collectable in any sense.  There is no such thing as a rare card.

For this reason, I have in mind a different idea of "expansion" and enduring marketability.  Forgive me if I don't disclose those to you (and the rest of the universe) here.

To me, the idea innovating a subgenre is exciting, and probably the only way a nobody-indie like me has a prayer and getting published but on the flipside, who do I approach about publication? 

Established TCG companies are a possibility, but they tend to be monolithic and chances of catching their attention seems remote.  Moreover, I don't know if they'd likely deviate from the established pattern of rare-card driven booster sales, since they have a formula that presumably works.  If I don't go that route, then who do I go to?  Table-top publishers?  I'm just not sure.

And that's the rub, isn't it?  As innovation increases so does unfamiliarity.  It's a bit of a double-edged sword.

Still, I have some time before I need to really look into the business end of things.  Maybe I'll have some answers by the time I'm ready to submit proposals.

Serious Gaming: Part 2

(Continuing from the previous post.)


But for all the positives that serious gaming may have, there are some notable dangers.  The one that I think needs to be highlighted is this: Taking it too Seriously.


This is the same thing that happens when screamed profanity barrels past the teeth of angry parents at tee-ball.  But usually, "taking it too seriously" isn't nearly that obvious.


More often, in my experience, it is a gradual process in which your energy expended increases while your enjoyment decreases.  It's an awful situation to be in, because the primary (and by which I mean physiological, psychological, and sociological) benefits of gaming are eroded, and - as stated previously - the game becomes work.


And you know what they say: All work and no play makes Jack a worn-out, burned out, neurotic overeater who is no fun to be around and gets very little done.  Or something like that.


So... how do you fix it?  Well, the first strategy is obvious: Take a break!  Invest some time in some other activity... maybe there's a hobby you've long neglected, or maybe it's just time to play something different.  Read a book.


Another thing you can try is to play differently.  Some games have alternative rules; this might be a good time to explore them.  Other games have built in variety, such as choices of race or class or alignment.  

You could also impose artificial limits on yourself. For instance, I once built a MtG deck that only had 1 kind of red card; the rest was green.  Sure it was gimmicky.  It was not made for tournament play.  It was just a curiosity deck that wasn't an absolute failure.  Or take a much more impressive example from a Pacifist in WoW.  At present he has almost taken a second character to max level without killing anything.

The point is, especially in cooperative gaming where people depend on you, gaming can feel like a responsibility and amass pressure and stress of its own.  So, it's important to keep asking yourself, "Are we having fun yet?" If not, or if you're finding the question hard to answer, perhaps it's time for a change.  I cannot say this emphatically enough, "It's a game."

Perspective, folks... always keep perspective.