Would anyone care to comment on how many "new" so called board game ideas/designs have been dropped infront of potential publishers that are fundamentally derivative in design and more or less a variant on chess. In particular despite pieces
having didifferent values or so-on. The board is the familiar 8x8 squares and pieces move and take others in different manor.
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Comments
Chess Variants
Wikipedia is a good place to start.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chess_variants
Previous response 8x8 paradox
Thanks for that, it almost nailed the crux of my query, however what I'm really aiming at is if one designs a board game that starts with the familiar 8x8 no matter how far removed the rest of the pieces and rules are from chess, at first glance, do all folk simply throw their collective hands in the air and say "oh here's another one"
Consequently my idea has ballooned to a 10x10 plus and although there's only 4 pieces per side, simplistic permutations that meld the board it's self to the nature and characteristics of the pieces, combined with an overall visionary trait in the artwork and design that I'd rather not explain. Add to this numerous other factors that I've yet to have come across in the community, I feel I really want and need to see this through,by the way the title of my concept will be called 'Red-Shift'.
Watch this space as they day.
john house wrote:[...]what
If your goal is to create a game that's NOT like one of your inspirations - at least in how you describe it - then you're in for a challenge.
You can describe it as a "chess variant" and some people will love it while others will say the genre's played-out. You can avoid mentioning anything about chess, and people will still say, "Hm. Reminds me of a chess variant."
As we've not seen anything beyond your description here, I reckon this is as detailed an assessment as you'll receive at the moment. But I will be keeping my eye out for those new developments, for sure. :)
[quote=let-off studiosYou can
You should be honest. If you call it what it is, people who want it can find it.
I suspect that many game
I suspect that many game designers instinctively avoid using an 8x8 "chess board" because they think it will some how seem "tired" - but I doubt that it is true.
I've probably subconsciously done this personally, as I like 7x7 and 9x9 grids (close to 8x8, but significantly smaller/larger, and odd numbers are interesting - there is a center square too). Try playtesting with different sized boards and see what works best; square grid boards are quick and easy to make.
There is to consider: I'm not a commercial game designer, but I think that if you are trying to make the game for primarily commercial reasons (i.e. profit/sales are more important to you than anything else) then you could argue that you should design the game so that it is difficult for people to play with a few things they already have lying around the house already (i.e. a chess board and a few of the pieces, or a few counters). Really good artwork and nice components will probably enhance its appeal in this case, though.
However, if you are doing this more as an artist - you just want to create a great game that you would like to see people playing, and profit is very much secondary, then obviously the opposite argument holds true, and making a game that reuses common existing components is an advantage.