Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Day 42: FotLC through the 113 lenses from The Art of Game Design

Day 42 - Lens 112: The Lens of The Ravin
To remember to only work on what is important, ask yourself this question:

Is making this game worth my time?
Yes. I don't answer this question lightly, and I don't think Fall of the Last City is the most important of meaningful game I will work on.  It began as an exercise but it has evolved into a good innovative game. I early on started considering what the core mechanics of the game were saying. I didn't have an an answer right away. If I had never found meaning in those mechanics I would like to believe that I would have abandoned the game. But, as much through my own preoccupations as through inherent meaning, the mechanics of the game did suggest it's purpose to me. The game transformed from abstract conflict based strategy to a game that was trying to comment on both the futility of war and the inevitability of the overthrow of any hegemony, and the responsibility of revolutionaries to their future. That meaning is communicated in the setting and rules material, but if I have done my job well it also resonates through the mechanics and dynamics of its play.

For me at least that is enough to justify my time. But I also feel like this game is my Journeyman project. It's no longer a novice effort, but I am still learning so much from the process. I am eager to apply the things I am learning to my next projects, but for now it feels like seeing this through to completion is the most important work for me.

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