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What are the caracteristics of pen and paper games?

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Wed, 01/31/2024 - 10:36
larienna
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What are the mechanics or game genres that are suitable for pen and paper games which has no erasing (unless you make a mistake).

Game mechanics

  • No varying status: Ex: Money that goes up and down all the time.

  • No backtracking: You always push forward

  • No destruction of stuff in play, rather blocking the player to achieve their task than destroying their previous tasks.

  • Little randomness: I like the idea of pocket civ to draw 1 card per turn to change the situation. Rolling dices is another other option, but it's not friendly to use in all situations unless using a digital roller.

Game genre

  • Construction games: Like train games allow constant constructions and tracks remains permanent. Any game that is time-lapse friendly could be suitable. Civilization games could work if there is no destructions.

  • Push forward: Dungeon delving games and solitaire RPG. Traveling game like Tokaido where you cannot backtrack.

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Wed, 01/31/2024 - 15:49
#1
questccg
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Search for "coal n write"...

@Stephen's pen and paper game.

He's been working on it for a long time. It's about mining a mine and trying to make the most profits as possible.

Here's the Link/URL:

https://www.bgdf.com/blog/development-coal-n-write

It's pretty nice TBH. Got mules, bandits, a giant mine, guns (to chase away bandits), etc.

Take a look, it might help you focus on a real-world sample.

Best!

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Wed, 01/31/2024 - 16:25
#2
X3M
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I once tried this for a wargame

As of how I did it. It is a lot to explain. But let's say that it kinda failed due to the players having to calculate stuff constantly.

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Thu, 02/01/2024 - 10:29
#3
larienna
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Questccg, I looked at your

Questccg, I looked at your files, I did not read the rules, but I actually like the idea. There seems to be a good amount of depth too.

It reminds me somehow of dungeon keeper. That could be another game idea where you build a dungeon and the heroes try to prevent it's progress.

Being able to play solo could be another characteristic, but it does not seems mandatory. Still, multi player game could feel very much solitaire-multiplayer unless all players share the same sheet.

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Thu, 02/01/2024 - 16:31
#4
questccg
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Another type if real world example is...

larienna wrote:
...It reminds me somehow of dungeon keeper. That could be another game idea where you build a dungeon and the heroes try to prevent it's progress.

Being able to play solo could be another characteristic, but it does not seems mandatory. Still, multi player game could feel very much solitaire-multiplayer unless all players share the same sheet.

Jamey's Charterstone.

In that game you use stickers to change the layout of your "village". It's known as a "Legacy" Game and is another form of game with restrictions (as you talk about pen and paper gamed).

Maybe that could be a different TYPE of game that could allow similar restrictions as pen and paper because there is no "going back" as you suggest.

Just sharing some other avenues to look into which are kinda related.

Cheers.

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Thu, 02/01/2024 - 17:04
#5
larienna
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It's true that some mechanics

It's true that some mechanics in legacy games has permanent effects with no possible back tracking. There is a naval exploration game I forgot the name that is a legacy game. It could potentially work too as pnp.

Else for resources that could increase and reduce over time. Instead of erasing, it could be written like a log. Similar to how it is done to write points in bowling and baseball. It still takes more space.

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Thu, 02/01/2024 - 17:18
#6
questccg
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FOW: how to create your own Pacific islands

Clearly Fog Of War (FOW) could be used with a board of the empty seas and as players explore, the islands get revealed.

You could go from Japan to the West Coast of the USA.

And in the middle BLANK until explored.

Of course the only problem with this is you can only do it once.

I had another idea: fridge stickers. You know the kind you put on your fridge but they can be removed and moved to different locations... it would be EASY to give each island a number like 008... and when you play if you reveal island 008, you simply put the semi permanent sticker on the board (which could be coated with some kind of plastic...)

IDK just thinking here... to help you with some congruent ideas.

Regards.

Note #1: Also you may not need fridge stickers. You could use punch-outs with the reverse side having the number. And then your game no longer needs to worry about "Legacy" issues. Nothing is permanent.

And you could create your own Pacific islands as you see fit. This could be story driven or location driven, etc.

I know these are two different threads but I was getting ideas for BOTH.

Note #2: I think you mentioned this earlier (in the other thread), you could use dice like Hamish used in Pocket Sports:

- You roll custom dice and each dice has it's own purpose to make the game more random and original each time you play.

- For example, the Red dice would be Japanese happenings and the Blue dice could be the USA happenings.

- There are 6 sides like: Battle (roll the Black dice for details), 2x Explore (roll the White dice for details), 1x Tech advancement (roll the Green dice for details) and 2x Blank (no event). That could be the Japanese dice and the USA dice might have 1x Explore and 2x Tech advancement... etc.

- That would just mean that the USA is more technologically focused while the Japanese would be more territorial. Or something like that.

Just explaining how his system worked and how it might work for you...

The goal is to simulate happenings in the game via a dice system...

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Fri, 02/02/2024 - 12:55
#7
X3M
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larienna wrote:Else for

larienna wrote:
Else for resources that could increase and reduce over time. Instead of erasing, it could be written like a log. Similar to how it is done to write points in bowling and baseball. It still takes more space.

I like the MtG approach. Where you have somewhere a bar that can be filled up. Representing the resources you have per turn. However, there is a maximum. And somehow the resources could be reduced as well in certain games.

I had this approach when I had a PnP wargame. Where refineries could be build. But when destroyed, the resources where lost again. And you couldn't build on rubble either. So eventually the game would end by the limits of space.

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Fri, 02/02/2024 - 22:06
#8
questccg
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You could definitely have a sheet to track planes and...

Naval vessels like aircraft carriers, destroyers, submarines, cruisers, frigates, battleships, etc.

You can maybe lower the count to 3: carriers, subs and destroyers.

And then have 3 types of planes:
bombers, interceptors and scouts.

Those data points could definitely be like innings of a ballgame just with more data.

Let me know what you think!

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Sun, 02/04/2024 - 16:02
#9
questccg
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Maybe you could have a series of Battles?!

What I mean is if the game is broken up into chapters, you could have one sheet per chapter making it easier to track the quantity of ships and planes available.

The battle dice (Black die) could have "Next chapter" and if you roll 3 of these, the game moves forwards to a new chapter.

Something simple like that.

An idea to work from!

Cheers @larienna.

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Wed, 02/07/2024 - 10:21
#10
larienna
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Using comparative values in

Using comparative values in another solution to avoid keeping track of resources. I wanted to use this in a thin card game like Microcosm where you compare the sum of X values to determine the strength of your actions.

For example, your golds strength is 5+3=8. Then any action that uses 8 or less gold is valid.

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Thu, 02/08/2024 - 06:15
#11
X3M
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A book

I remembered some books that I read as a kid.
In there, after every chapter, you could make choices.
Sometimes you could gain tools too. And use them for better choices in later chapters.
You would skip certain chapters. Get more options too.
Using a tool wasn't always smart though. And there were more bad endings than good.

Maybe something similar, but with less text is an option. More like having just a few lines for a story. Then you get a choice.

The tools in total, could be printed (or drawn) on a piece of paper. And maybe even crossed out again after usage.

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Thu, 02/08/2024 - 10:15
#12
larienna
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Strongly reminds me of hero

Strongly reminds me of hero books. You character had an inventory sheet with hit points and you jumped from paragraph to another according to your decisions.

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Thu, 02/08/2024 - 17:42
#13
X3M
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larienna wrote:Strongly

larienna wrote:
Strongly reminds me of hero books. You character had an inventory sheet with hit points and you jumped from paragraph to another according to your decisions.

Interesting.

Maybe you can cook something, with more stuff besides of an inventory sheet.

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Fri, 02/09/2024 - 10:55
#14
larienna
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The Sherlock holms books

The Sherlock holms books which I have a copy but never had the time to read have a list of deductions and clues. It's a kind of collection quest that can make the paragraph selection change according to the deduction and clues you have acquired so far.

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Tue, 02/13/2024 - 01:53
#15
Stormyknight1976
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Choose your own adventure

It's called : Choose Your Own Adventure Books.

The series first arrived in 1977 with the title Journey Under The Sea.

As of 2023 there are 184 titles Choose Your Own Adventure Books and are still being published.

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Thu, 02/15/2024 - 10:04
#16
larienna
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I am sure there is more if we

I am sure there is more if we include world wide adventure book publishing.

I remember when I was a kid, there was an image/puzzle book which was choose your adventure style. My version was in french, not sure if it was a translation. Here is one book I can remember, they have a few dozens of those books:

https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/PATRICK-BURSTON/dp/270004102X

There was also another series of kids investigating adventure books. You had to find clues in pictures. Again, my version was in french but I don't remember if it was a translation.

There was also other smaller adventure books where you had a score at the end according to how you ended it.

So yes, the adventure book system spawned a lot of inferior clones, especially in kids litterature. But it was fun.

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