Iterative Play Test - Solo Dungeon Generator
The last two weeks I have been working on a play test for a new solo or co-operative physical game I have created. It started with an idea inspired by the podcast + YouTube channel Map Crow, the One Deck Dungeon Games, Gloom Haven and the YouTube Channel The Dungeon Dive. I wanted to make a quick solo dungeon game. Through iterative design and quick playlets, I have put something together, that while not final, has been heaps of fun thus far. I talk about my process below.
Design Ideology
In my years of game design and design methodology training (for which I used to lecture in), I knew I needed to get some goals in place quickly. This will my limit scope and set design parameters in which I can build.
Design Goals
Generative but Meaningful - I wanted the game to be limitless replayable
Quick but Deep - I wanted the game to be quick setup and play time but have meaningful choices
Tactical but Narrative inducing - I wanted the game to have tactical choices but have those choices reflect an in game narrative in play and on reflection
Old School but not Tedious - I wanted the game to reflect the old school board games and video games, with less book keeping
Tricks to Fast Design
I knew I had some great goals in place, which is always the first step. The next piece was to get building. To do that I used the following tricks:
Be Inspired - take experience of past works you have played - use what works and skip what doesn’t as a starting point - use your intuition as a starting point
Move! - don’t sweat the details or get stuck on minor pieces - skip bits like balance or micro lists if that means you can get something out faster - you can always come back to this
Play test Fast - take your barebones game to the table as soon as possible, to solidify what works and what doesn’t - you will know quickly if your “on paper” ideas are fun or not
Don’t get Attached - be prepared to burn it all down and only stick with the fun bits - this will lead to a stronger outcome return on time and effort
Iterate, Iterate, Iterate - slowly build on past ideas and play tests to get to a place that you like playing - show it to others for feedback once you have something fun
Make the Medium - using lists, exisiting pieces and writing formats that facilitate your ideas help you know what you need to work on, help you move fast and allow you to come back to the design process between play tests
The Game
Solo Dungeon Generator
Based on the Tricks to Fast Design, I built a quick dungeon generator that would allow me to try out encounters for roleplaying games, make tactical decisions and level up.
Be Inspired -
I started with a series of stats, modifiers and actions based on those stats (like old school games): Agility (ranged combat and dodge), Brawn (melee combat and defence), Clever (cast magic and spot trap), Determined (special attack and magic save). I wanted this game to be fast paced, so I made it that all rolls would be player facing, with monsters acting as a target number. Set stats like combat order, health, equipment and move would be done originally as set numbers from these stats. The use of ABCD as the acronym just made it easier for me to get the ideas flowing. I bashed together some positioning bonuses to get some tactics involved with my game from the get go. I wanted there to be trap checking and no “meta gaming” so I wanted traps to be hidden from me and me to check for them every turn. I thought this would help provide balance to the “clever” stat. I wanted the stats to all have usefulness and to make you character build feel very important by making any stat you didn't;t have, feel missed.
Move! -
I wanted the game to be generative in monster placement, traps and obstacle design, but I knew that would take time to create, so I moved on fast and just made a map for the first play test. Spells and special moves were another that I quickly came up with a list with little care for balance or specifics, just to get the game going. I knew that once I played it, I would know what works.
Play test Fast -
Within the day, I got a map together and played my first game. It was quite fun, even when I died a lot. The raw challenge was more fun than expected, but I knew I had a lot of changes to make. I took a “learnings” notes section so that I would not forget that experience.
Don’t get Attached -
From here, I tweaked the specifics of the stats array and the enemy movements. Equipment was simplified and I removed trap checking as it was tedious. I made the “static” stats now rolled at the beginning of each game, to make things more variable between missions. Range was taken into more consideration and magic was fleshed out.
Iterate, Iterate, Iterate -
I have played this game again but this time with my partner and took a lot of feedback from their experience. They enjoyed the game which was very fun to see and knew I was onto something. It also meant I had to really know the rules “as written” and not “keep them in my head”. When things didn't work, it was obvious and easier to “kill my darlings” when my partner thought something was tedious. The biggest part was enemy procedure. Codifying what enemies do and how to best measure if they have “spotted you”.
Make the Medium -
I have been using a notebook to track my play tests and initial rule designs. This helped me not be distracted by too much technology while playing. The map pieces and tokens are those found in my usual Game Master kit. Having these mean I can quickly make something that looks decent, and as I don’t plan to sell this for the moment, means I get more use of my cool accessories. I have been making “nicer” reusable templates on my iPad, and making many lists for the next pieces to work on. Digital helps to make things very quickly, much more legible for my hand writing. The lists help me stay focussed on the next thing to work on.
Ongoing
For now I am at a good place and so made up some nicer templates to. facilitate more constant play. I will be playing the game agin with my partner this afternoon and so look forward to trying things out. I have worked on more treasure lists, spell and special attache lists and a more codified procedure for enemies. Its current state is below. I look forward to further iteration and working on it.
Get cracking on your own work and check back here in the coming weeks for further updates. Happy creating!
