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Buying things in game

4 replies [Last post]
Fri, 08/06/2010 - 09:07
Redcap
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Let me start out by saying how much I hate Monolopy. I hate Monopoly.

But their is something I like about it that I realized yesterday, I like buying things in game, earning money and growing more powerful. I love games like Axis and Allies where you buy armies, and Carcasonne where you buy buildings. Looking at all of my games I have realized that I have no game where you buy stuff, so I have decided to make a game where there is buying, building, and gaining dominance.

Question: What are good ways to implement buying in a game?
Question 2: What are things to avoid when designing buying in a game?

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Fri, 08/06/2010 - 11:37
#1
dnddmdb
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Answer 1: Well, I suppose it

Answer 1: Well, I suppose it depends on your game. I mean, Imperial's version of "buying stuff" is different than Kingsburg's version of buying stuff. Things I can think of that you can buy:
1. Armies: In some games, you purchase your armies, which you use to proceed through the game.
2. Stock: If your game has commodity speculation, you can purchase stock (which is sort of a meta-game idea, anyway).
3. Buildings/Cities: You can purchase buildings which give some sort of effect.
As far as what your talking about, I don't know many other things that you can buy.

Answer 2: I would try to avoid a continuous loop, which promotes a runaway leader. For example, if you can buy armies and you get money from conquering regions, soon the player with the most money continues to make the most money until he wins.

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Sat, 08/07/2010 - 15:36
#2
DARE the Vegetable
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Items! :D

You could buy item cards at shops to play out later.
I wish there was a shop-space in Monopoly so that I could buy a "gun" card... *growing horns*

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Sun, 08/08/2010 - 13:03
#3
Redcap
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dnddmdb, you hit the nail on

dnddmdb, you hit the nail on the head for me concerning avoiding continuous loops. Armies should drain the economy, and building infrastructure should boilster the economy. I have a new game I am planning on making that will have 4 teirs that you can spend you time and money on. Armies, technology, economy, politics. Technology will make different amies, economical boosts, or politic boosts available but not do anything other than open options. Armies will attack and defend, but will not get money from the land they take. Economy will build things that allow you to get money from lands taken, and politics will allow you to force the other players to act in a certain way depending on how much diplomatic capital you have.

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Sun, 08/08/2010 - 14:38
#4
simons
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One other idea

First off, I totally agree about Monopoly. It hit me at one point, that although there are some really cool and fun elements in it (buying stuff, trading/bargaining with other players, building up a vast empire), all of those elements are in Settlers of Catan, without all the baggage.

For 1, one other element I have seen sometimes in buying stuff games is multiple resources. The game that comes to mind is Starcraft (at least the video game, though I think the board game) where you need both crystal and gas. I think it might be the same in Nexus Ops. It certainly makes the game more complicated, but I think if implemented well and in the right theme it could generate a really interesting new element.

For example, for a WWII theme, you could maybe have manpower and oil. From my limited knowledge of history, a major allied strategy was to bomb oil refineries, since all the manpower in the world won't keep a bomber in the air. This could create a dynamic of: if you're oil starved, you buy infantry; if you're manpower starved, you buy fighter planes; if you have a good mix of both you buy tanks.

For 2, I have trouble thinking of problems I've seen in the past with buying. If something hits me I'll let you know.

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