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Designing Contemporary Chess

Chess is a classic yet an out of date game.

I love tactics and I love turn based strategy, but the whole experience feels a bit dated and unsatisfying to me as an adult in contemporary society. The goal is to be a bit of an intellectual bully to your opponent till you finally outsmart them and they have to concede. Practicing this linear kind of thinking can become an uninteresting and repetitive activity. Whenever I recognize any experience as 'like a game of chess' I almost instantly stop caring about it because its simply a battle of intellectual domination.

I started playing chess with my now late grandfather when I was about 8 years old. He taught me the rules and some basic moves. I do cherish the games of chess I had with grandpa and gingy (my grandmother), both of whom were great and so much fun to play with. They were sweet souls who played for fun. While learning the strategy of the game I didn’t see the game as being about intellectual force because my grandparents played for fun.

My grandparents taught me the 'fools mate' tactic, which as a child, was my favorite attempted opening. Either I got checkmate in 3 moves, or at least if the other side saw it it put me in a pretty strong position with my queen ready to go which fits my general play style of leading with your strongest piece. Eventually, I started playing with people who took the game very seriously for one reason or another and then it stopped being fun at all. Not because I couldn’t win anymore with my classic cheap trick or because I didn’t win, but because what the game didn't feel like fun.

When chess is played properly, it is a zero sum focus and planning game that involves reading your opponent’s strategy only for the purpose of destroying their defenses and overwhelming their intellectual might. I don’t find it fun to be on either side of that. I’m not saying I don’t like chess because I can’t win, or because it is too easy because of my 'mighty brain'. I’m saying I don’t like chess because either outcome, win or loss is unpleasant to me. I don’t revel in intellectually dominating an opponent and outsmarting them and even less I like the opposite. And that is the whole point of the game. A battle of whits to the death, metaphorically speaking.

So the game of “Go” is a bit more sophisticated and a lot of people go to that as the “Chess Killer” but it still has the same flaws. The tactics and depth are much greater. There aren’t the preset openings or tricks like fools’s mate, but at the end it is still zero sum, and it is still about intellectual force of will and outsmarting your opponent which again I would rather win at but I don’t crave winning at a board game to validate me as smart. Its nice that Go has a bit of a zen flavor to it and you can’t really clamp down with overwhelming force to win. You have to go with the flow in a bit more relaxed way but its still very similar to chess.

I would call this an old fashioned way of thinking about interacting with an opponent. In the old days, dealing with a rival was not about building something together or finding common ground. It was not about forging a relationship or finding a way to communicate with someone you may disagree with but rather its about battle of the mind. This was a great design for a time when people would literally duel each other to the death over disagreements and its a much better outlet than having a fistfight but its not representative of the contemporary way people deal with each other where we try to find common ground and see eye to eye.

The experience I’m looking for in a contemporary adult two player tactical board game is something that is not inherently zero sum. Something that requires not opposing intellect but instead collaboration. Something where at the end of the experience you have something you have made together that you can share. I’m not sure if the experience of a more mature contemporary game of collaborative wills exists but I think there is a real hole in game design for that kind of game.

What I’m looking for is a game that:

1) Is not zero sum.

2) Encourages communication and collaboration on an equal footing rather than having one player be THE BOSS.

3) Gives you something to take away when you are done that could be photographed. (Like a piece of art or an ending set of pieces that is somehow interesting.)

4) The takeaway symbolically represents the nature of the relationship between the players. (So for example, it could be a more symmetrical end state if two people who have a harmonious relationship play whereas if two people who have conflict play there would be a jagged and uneven end result.)

5) Is not embarrassing to play. We aren’t looking for something like “Sarcastibal” where everyone feels humiliated to play. Or similarly if the game requires oversharing or weird actions that people normally are uncomfortable with that’s out.

6) Is fun.

For example, a simple attempt at describing this game would be players taking turns placing stacking blocks on a coffee table. Sadly this would likely give way to one player bossing another player around so I don’t think its the true experience of the “contemporary chess” I’m looking for.

Also, it lacks an impetus to take the game seriously which is important to the whole “embarrassing” factor. Similarly, simply playing with stacking blocks means that some might consider the game embarrassing, even though I personally have a set of stacking blocks I play with frequently on my living room coffee table. I have to be careful not to overlook the fact that some forms of play are harder to enjoy for some.

So it needs work, but I’m looking for the concept of a more current game than chess which I do think is in fact an extremely out of date game. I hope this post makes my thoughts clear on the idea that a contemporary game means having mature collaborative relationships built on respect and not intellectual force and domination.

Anyone can kick and scream till their opponent says mercy and it is easy to design games to give people an outlet to do this. The real question is can we design a game system that encourages mature relationships built on respect?

Can we design contemporary chess?

[silverwaregames]

It was just a ton of fun to work with Say on Ludum Dare. We are getting so much better at communicating that soon we will be able to express sophisticated math theorems through facial gestures.

Read more about the experience here!

Ludum Dare Development

Game design and game development rush

Previously, I talked about my first takeaway from ludum dare. This time, I would love to explain a bit more how the game development experience happened.

The first step was to discuss what to do. At first, it was not all that clear what we wanted to do. The only thing we knew was that, Michael - my Ludum Dare partner in crime, was doing the programming leg of work, and I would take care of the artwork. Luckily, Michael is an experienced game designer and he had a better picture of how to put things together.

Defining the idea of the game was easy at first. Michael runs Silverware Games, and one of his upcoming games is called Matchy Star. This is a game we both have been working on this year, and we really like it! I asked if we could use that IP for the LDJAM, and he was ok with the idea. When thinking of business development, whenever you work up a pipeline to expand intellectual property, there is something known as brand extension. This is building upon what you already have to make that brand world grow; as a result, you create more from the same idea. The goal is to generate more data on top of the content you already have, meaning you widen your opportunities – either grow your network, or grow your sales. So I figured, this can only benefit the studio in the long run. It is meant to be a free game after all.  

We defined a concept that would suit the theme, which this time around was “The more you have, the worst it gets”. I made a comment about how cute it would be to see Matchy Star interacting with the little stars he picks up in the game, worked it all from there. Matchy’s Kooky Cookies resulted in this crazy cute clicker game, you must help Matchy protect his stash of cookies from the cookie banditos. In theory, something short, fun and cute.

Personally, I love the work Jim did on Matchy Star, so I decided to reuse some of the original assets of the game – the characters only. While Michael challenge was to build up a clicker on the idea, my challenge was to build up around a game that we wanted to reference with new take on it somehow. I thought it would be simple, but it sort of became a tad more complicated than I had expected.

I get started on defining perspective and colors. One thing I wanted from the get-go was to make Matchy’s Kooky Cookies a complementary experience. I love Matchy Star, so I did not want to redo the most important assets, and I did not want this game to compete with the original vibrant look of the original game. Getting a cute mute like palette was not easy, I can do the job of a technical artist, but colors are always a challenge for me.

Once finished, the kitchen felt empty. That’s why I decided to include details from the Silverware Games world: a mug with ‘Composition J’ art, a cereal box inspired in ‘Don’t Shoot Yourself’ called Shootios, and ‘Matchy Star’ fridge magnets. I figured not many would get the references, but I still wanted to include them. Also, last but not least, the new company logo as cabinet lettering! Because apparently that’s a kitchen decoration thing - the more you know. 

Afterwards, designing the transitions screens was easier. Already had a palette in place, and we had no time, it resulted in minimal effort as default. I ended up including few: tutorial, rounds, score and credits. Tutorial was a challenge, what seemed simple for us did not for others, and we were so very lucky to receive as much feedback on the process to make it better understood.

Once everything was assembled, we experienced people experiencing problems here and there, we tweaked until build felt much more enjoyable. We also took in a lot of great ideas for future builds, including future games. Game jams provide experiential learning that, unlike any textbook, this is something you would rarely ever forget. You learn from what you do, and what you get to see others do, a fantastic experience I recommend anyone that works in the game industry to do.

Personal note here, thanks to Michael for having infinite patience to my relentless and sometimes irrational perfectionism. Game development is not about making things perfect, but making things work as you want them to, and you build up on that one fix at a time. It is good enough not when there is more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away – rude awakening to take from game development. I need to become more comfortable with troubleshooting design dilemmas, understanding simplicity and focus in design.

I was not expecting to end this blog with a life lesson, but there you go. Matchy’s Kooky Cookies is free to play, so you can go ahead and check it out right here. Comments and votes are welcome!

I have not slept for days! Feel free to say hello to zombie Say right here :3

[silverwaregames]

Ludum Dare Madness

Exploring game development from a business perspective

Working in the gaming industry you get to explore many different events, from conventions to awards, but the most fun are game jams. A game jam is an event in which people participate to make video games in a limited amount of time, usually a weekend, ideally with a theme at hand.

Every organizer has different ways to put these jams together, just as everyone has a different way to select themes; whether it might be chosen by those who organize it, or voted on by participants. Some even have competitive elements in which people vote.

Such is the case of Ludum Dare. I had heard about them for a very long time, but never had the chance to participate in any – luckily, this recently changed.

Back in 2015 I got to participate in my first game jam, thus Twatter was born. The goal was to do a game from scratch with people who had never done anything game development related. I had worked on four flash games in early 2000, so I decided to invite one of my best friends to join, Gonçalo Gonçalves; he learned Construct, I learned Inkscape. My PC fried, his internet died, but we made it!

I had a lot of fun with TeamUp  Jam, and that’s why I decided to talk the forever grumps Michael Silverman into doing Ludum Dare together. We really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, but we had so much fun surviving it. You can check out our entry here, Matchy’s Kooky Cookies!

Ludum Dare, the world’s largest and longest running game jam event, has thousands of participants with all sorts of talents and experiences. While there are many limitations in terms of how you utilize assets, along with the time, you also set yourself up to be ranked in: graphics, sound, fun, innovation, theme, humor, mood, and overall score.

There are so many takeaways I got from this experience, from the standpoint of what a derivative work is, and understanding reusable assets. As a business mind, I know how to navigate through legal technicalities, but the nuisances of the actual technical artwork in practice, that was somewhat new. Including the fact that something can be fun, yet not have any humorous elements – and vice versa. Overall, it made me aware of plenty little details that, when it comes to marketing and publishing work, are somewhat invisible, yet highly valuable to consider.

In terms of the design leg of work, it’s a far greater appreciation of the anxiety of game development. In publishing, this is not something you get to experience. We get handed over the final build, you don’t get much of a say in development, but after everything is already done – rarely ever, any insight gets considered over budget reasons. It must take an important change for it to go back into development, because it takes on more money for development.  

Having an actual say in these circumstances can help improve graphic choices, thus adding to the whole gaming experience. However, having limited time makes you experience the excruciating stress game developers go through when trying to wrap up a build – a thousand things you would want to do, yet you have to choose prioritize what you can do instead. Experiencing categories to vote on, also brings a new perspective on elements that you don’t normally think of while trying to put together a build in such sort time. Last but not least, including the endless talent of some that do more and better than you, includes a humbling learning curve that motivates you to explore furthermore.

Keeping perspective of what you want, while trying to meet up to what you should do, is not quite the straight forward task. Being able to step out of my comfort zone of business development, and put myself into the stress of game development, sure brings a new found respect for developers. I had no idea how hard doing tutorials were, or the mad rush you get from someone finishing your game, it sure brings perspective. It’s a learning experience that forces me to improve my communication competence, and therefore, make publishing more fruitful.

Thank you for reading all that ～☆ I shall derp more around here :3

[silverwaregames]

Announcing "Matchy's Kooky Cookies" for Ludum Dare 40

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/40/matchys-kooky-cookies

We made it in a weekend, give it a try and let us know what you think!

[silverwaregames]

Playing with Marching Cubes for my project XANADU.

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Working on a facial animation system for Matchy Gotchi.

[silverwaregames]

Rules

As I get closer to finishing Matchy Star I think a lot about rules as I try to make the most addictive game I’ve ever conceived. There are things people “just like” and as you polish a gem stone down into its final faceted cut there are less and less options and more and more obvious restrictions. The more I want to knock it out of the park with a compelling hit the more I have to follow the rules of game design and similarly the more I have to inflict a strict set of rules on players in order to make the game cohesive and fun. Rules, both for me and the player, become hugely important.

I struggle with this as I have a complicated relationship with rules. Everyone says great art works within limitations, or essentially rules. I’ve always railed against this idea of rules for art, or embracing limitations, but I’ve probably finally been beaten into submission. At this point all I can see is rules flowing around everything like the air we breathe or gravity. Generally people seem to love following the rules of life. People accept profoundly deep and complex sets of rules every minute of every day in basically every facet of existing. From the stop sign at a cross walk to the rules of polite conversation or even basic grammar. There is nothing wrong with any of those rules of course but they permeate the fabric of existence.

Matchy Star will be the first game I’ve made that follows the rules and perhaps I’m worried I’ll be turning out something as good as Stewie Griffin’s “Establishment Song” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoFlMEl1_h8 but at Woodstock you could argue that Stewie is actually more subversive and rule breaking than Jimi Hendrix who gave a crowd of stoned hippies a radical improvised and wild anti war guitar riff version of the national anthem: https://youtu.be/TKAwPA14Ni4 Considering the audience you could almost consider Jimi to be pandering to the crowd. If no one is booing have you really subverted anything?

I suppose at the end of the day I’ll just have to “learn the rules” and see what happens. After all, “if you wanna make a hit you gotta make it fit” to quote Billy Joel.

[silverwaregames]

[silverwaregames]

More terrain drawing.

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Playing with Marching Cubes for my project XANADU.

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Working on a Match-3 called Matchy Star.

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A++ Post of the year.

Test

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Lerp explanation. Might make one for Spherical Lerp too.

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Adding tollbooths and a mini map to Speedway Heroes.

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Explanation of the dot product.

[silverwaregames]

"Don't Shoot Yourself!" On Steam Now

You can buy "Don't Shoot Yourself!" here on Steam for PC and Mac right now!

Also if you are a YouTuber, Streamer, or Press, please get in touch for additional info and assets to use in your videos by e-mailing me: michael@silverwaregames.com

Have Fun!

[silverwaregames]

A Designer and a Coder Walk Into A Bar...

A designer and a coder walk into a bar. After sitting down to order drinks and making some small talk the coder says, "I've been working on prototypes of new platformer game, but I want to build an engine that can handle hilly 2d terrain." The designer replies pointedly, "Why do you need hills at all?" Confused, the coder pauses and says "Because platformers need hills obviously." The designer, annoyed that the coder seems to misunderstand the nuanced wisdom of his cryptic question says again "Are hills really important to platformers?" This time the coder does not pause a bit and states "yes." The coder understands that a pause at this point would show lack of resolve in what would become the ensuing debate. Now both parties already understand that the battle lines are drawn and the designer opens with the gambit "Well the game design community is atwitter about the game '1001 Spikes.' It clearly and fairly communicates how to beat each level and offers new difficult challenges that can be overcome, surely you think this game is a quality platformer right?" The coder retorts "I wish it had hills though." A clever response that carefully stabs at the fallacy of accepting a game is great based on the acceptance of the design community. And "why wouldn't it be better with hills?" implicit in the statement was too much of a minefield for the designer to try to traverse. So after a pause for more beer, the designer finally pulls out the holy grail of games and argues "Well what of 'Super Mario Brothers' it didn't have any hills." Now the designer knew this was a weak argument because the game does in fact have hills as background elements, but it would require the coder to acknowledge that aesthetic background elements count for anything and thus it was unlikely he would take that tact. The coder, who did not even remember that Super Mario Brothers contains hills finally argues, "I think Super Mario 3 or maybe Super Mario World was better." This was what the designer was hoping for so he says, masking completely the signs of impending victory, "Do you remember New Super Mario Bros U? Remember those wavy mushrooms that just rotate? Those are moving hills aren't they even better?" The coder knew that it would be impossible to defend the wavy mushrooms and so he says "No no, those were useless, lets focus on the older Mario Bros." And now the designer closed the net "Well if you start focusing on hills on grids next it will be multiple angled tiles of hills and then hills on spline curves and finally moving hills like the..." The coder chimed in, accepting his fate "So you are saying this is all... a slippery slope?"