:strip_icc()/pic2677523.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic2650755.jpg)
The first step for me is finding a suitable theme. I've always been a fan of wargames and I have imagined a few. Unfortunately, the market for this kind of game is rather small, and I never managed to put any of these games on the market. Besides, I'm less interested in the historical component of wargames than in a nice game mechanism, so my games tend to rather simple and fun rather than complex and historically accurate. This time, the challenge that I imposed on myself was to imagine a "wargame" that doesn't look like a "wargame".
To start, I checked a few possible themes and I came up with a game about ants. A quick look on BoardGameGeek told me that the number of games on these insects is rather few, so that was a good starting point. After some research, I found out that termites would be a perfect match. The insects are very well organized. They have different classes, each with their own task and special ability. Above all, they build impressive mounds and are constantly on war. So I found an original theme; now I had to find a game mechanism.
Finding a Nice Game Mechanism
At that time, I knew that the game Batt'l Kha'os, which I designed with Eric Hanuise, was going to be launched in a few weeks. Although I liked that game a lot, it's in fact a static two-player tile-placement game. This time, I was planning to make a more dynamic game for two to four players.
The goal of the new game could be very similar: Control some central spots, which were towers in the case of Batt'l Kha'os and are termite mounds in the case of Termity. Defining a clear goal for a game is important as it helps focus all rules around one central objective.
In contrast to Batt'l Kha'os, I wouldn't use tiles to form a board, but a classic game board with hexes. Using hexes is common in wargames and visually more appealing than squares, which is too much Chess-like in my opinion. The board of the prototype was originally rectangular, but the publisher proposed using a hexagonal form which avoids players being able to play in their corner. A nice improvement.
To make the board tactically interesting, it was necessary to add some different terrain types. Keeping in mind the target player group which I've chosen, I wanted to keep it simple. Therefore, I limited the terrain to three special types: boulders, lakes and trees.
From the game Go, probably the best strategy game ever imagined, I used the brilliant (and simple) mechanism of adding each turn one piece on the board. Instead of adding identical pieces, I chose to create much variety among the pieces: the infantry would be represented by workers, the elite troops by warriors, the cavalry by alates (i.e., mature termites), and the archers by nasutes (a type of soldier termite).
Each termite type would get one special ability, which would reflect their strength and use in combat. Limiting it to one ability per type makes it easy to remember for players and keeps the rules simple.
After placing a piece, the idea was to allow one movement. Although most wargames allow multiple moves, the problem is always remembering which units have already moved and which have not. Besides, as I was designing a multiplayer game, it's important that a game turn remains short and fast.
Along the same lines, I would limit combat to one single attack. All of these restrictions force players to think twice which piece to move and which attack to make. To avoid using dice and to make the game more tactical, combat would be resolved by determining majorities. To win, the attacker would simply need more points than the defender. Finally, to make combat less lethal, a successful attack would result in a retreat. Only when the retreat is blocked would a termite piece be eliminated.
Each piece would have a certain value, which should be visible on each counter. Therefore, I opted for the simplest solution of giving each individual small termite one point. Warriors, which are a little bigger, would get two points each.
For the individual mounds, I had to use another system. Printing the value on the counter appeared to be the most convenient solution. Quickly, I noticed that using flat game pieces and flat mound pieces would give a visually rather flat game. Therefore, I skipped the mound counters and replaced them by pyramidal mounds.
As you can notice, the core rules were imagined by making a choice among a vast number of options to solve problems which emerged during the design process. In fact, this is what game design is about: making choices and hoping to make the right ones.
Playtesting the Game
The next and most important step in designing a game is the playtesting phase. This is a little bit the moment of truth. Your game can look fantastic in your head and on paper, but if players don't like it, you have to start it all over. During the years, I've developed a simple feedback system which works very well for me: I take notes during each playtest on a pre-printed feedback form. This allows me to compare different rule changes and its effect on the game experience. More importantly, I keep a written record of each playtest, which is useful when I want to improve an old concept after several years.
Playtesting proceeds a little bit in a trial-and-error way. I change a few rules, then check the effect, then I make a few other changes and test it again. In the meantime, I try to gather as many suggestions as possible and check whether they improve the game or not. This process can continue very long, but mostly after some time the number of improvements and suggestions start to decrease. At that moment, you know as a designer that your game is finished and ready to present to publishers.
In the case of Termity, I've performed a lot of playtests in a very short time. The bulk of improvements were ready for Spiel, as planned, and I could show it to the publishers.
Original prototype
Finding a Publisher
For each game you need to find the right publisher, and this quest can be long and frustrating. So many new concepts are conceived by other designers, amateurs as well as professionals, that you need some luck before reaching your goal.
Regarding my own success ratio, I've figured that from five new game concepts I manage to sell only one, so my expectations are always a little tempered when imagining a new game concept. In the case of Termity, I had to be patient for several years (four years to be precise).
By chance, I got into contact with Polish publisher REBEL.pl at Spiel 2013 in Essen. In fact, we were both waiting for an appointment in front of another publisher, and I got the opportunity to present myself, exchange business cards, and fix a meeting for the next day. The publisher was interested in several new concepts, but Termity in particular caught their attention. After playtesting it in Poland, they informed me in January 2014 that they would like to get the license to publish the game.
Nevertheless, it took nearly two extra years before the project could be planned in the publication schedule of REBEL.pl. A funny anecdote is that the publisher first wanted to change the theme to caveman wars, then to WWII, and finally decided to keep the original termite theme as it offered the best match with the game mechanisms.
Finding the Way to the Customer
This is the final step for a new game. Unfortunately, my task is nearly finished and now, it will mainly depend on you, as a customer, if you like the game or not. The more people who like the game, the easier the game will become a success.
Thanks for reading these notes.
/pic2623981.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic2663132.jpg)
/pic2673574.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic2673096.jpg)
:strip_icc()/pic2672796.jpg)
