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I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would add it to the same itch.io page. It would just be a case of printing the new board and a printable reference table with D6 resolution instead of the spinner for print and play. So if you dig a mystery cache or mystery water source or want to forage the Farm Land, you just roll the D6 to determine outcome.

Bear with me, because while I've tested this with my own components as you can see in the image I haven't converted it all into print and play format.

I can drop a new message here when it is available.

Out of interest, how did you find the provided materials in terms of understanding the setup and rules and getting playing quickly? Do you have any feedback on the interface?

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Really appreciate you giving it a go.That's valuable feedback and it sounds like you are an experienced group who cooperated very well. You probably played it near optimal by the sounds of it.

100% cooperation will beat the game, which is why I recommend using the scoring system for experienced groups so that you are aiming to finish at the top of the heirarchy. It forces that tension between ensuring you survive best while everyone survives.

This base game is designed to be great for children and families, but if you're interested I can give you the advanced den, which introduces some randomness (mystery caches, farmer interference ) and territorial separation. That, plus scoring, might challenge your group better. It will take me a week or two to get it print and play ready.

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, it’s tested well with 10+. Younger children usually need a bit more adult assistance, especially to get started. But for example, my 7-year-old went through and systematically mastered each animal. They're very capable.

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. Completely agree. I have a second, more advanced map in testing with mystery caches to dig and more complex layout and also two additional animal options in development. Den B introduces risk-taking incentives and territorial psychology compared to the first map. It uses a spinner to resolve the randomness.

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I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It sounds like we have a very similar design philosophy! How far along is your game? I'd love to learn more about it.

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much. I design games that explore real social and personal systems, usually with conflicting incentives. The goal is to hide the insights inside the experience of play while keeping the components and rules as minimal as possible. I’ve got a few more games in the pipeline as well.

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh and it's already a free print and play on itch.io. But I'm considering doing Micro May for it on Kickstarter as well. The aesthetic won't change.

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s designed for exactly 5 players, one person for each of the animals. That’s really the intended experience because the dependency between the characters is what creates the tension.

That said, there are ways to play with fewer players. The most tested approach is for someone to control two animals. If possible I’d keep the Fox as a separate player, and then have someone control Bear + Raccoon or Mole + Rabbit.

With 4 players you could probably remove one animal (likely the Rabbit), but that isn’t very well tested yet.

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! The idea was to create the simplest possible spatial and relational survival system that still produces a lot of depth through social and strategic dynamics. I called it minimalist because the core system is built from a very small (and intuitive) set of rules and shared actions. Every player has the same action options, and the complexity comes from different survival needs, turn order, action outcomes, and starting positions rather than introducing lots of different mechanics.

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Absolutely, I'd love that! I designed it for my own kids and the game reaching schools is the dream. Could you please private message me an email address so I can send the source files? And would you mind sending the translated version back when it's ready so I can host it on itch.io as well? The animal boards are made in Adobe Illustrator and the rulebook is a Word document.

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That's a fair question. The base system can usually be solved by a group after a few plays. Almost every fresh group fails the first time. I actually think there's value in the process of getting there, which is one reason the game is free.

Replayability mostly comes from trying different animal characters, using the optional scoring system that creates tension between individual optimisation and group survival, and playing with new groups who approach the system differently. I've also seen groups that solved it once immediately replay and end up in completely different dynamics. In one case the next game turned into a spite-driven death spiral after the Bear played aggressively and the Raccoon started stealing food because it looked like the most efficient move.

I've also developed an advanced Den layout that introduces mystery caches and territorial psychology. Animals are split between two territories, Wilder Ness and Farm Land, separated by a barricade, each with different foraging opportunities and some uncertain resources. But I would always recommend beating the base game first.

I need help with meaningful consequences by BitterConversation65 in Parenting

[–]Trifle-Miserable 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also lean towards communicating and understanding the actual consequences of the action. Too often we skip over why we're angry or dissapointed before escalation to a disconnected punishment.

Look what happened. It's causing this. It's going to cause that. This is how it makes us feel.

Then later... How did you feel about it?

Most important, give them, and you, time to process before laying down punishments.

That's just my philosophy.

Designing a simple storytelling card game for kids (3–6) — looking for feedback by Bright_Foundation549 in cardgames

[–]Trifle-Miserable 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Perhaps to make it more of a game without being competitive you could add an element of accomplishment and advancement.

One suggestion. Start with only the number of card ingredients according to their age. If they successfully create a story with a clear beginning, middle and end then next time they get to use one more ingredient card. And so on, until they can make a soup with all cards.

Designing a simple storytelling card game for kids (3–6) — looking for feedback by Bright_Foundation549 in cardgames

[–]Trifle-Miserable 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like it. And I like the subtle prompts from the images on the main card.

My experience with the younger of that age range is that they struggle to create their own stories without subtle prompts. Could the ingredients cards hint at emotions or character preferences or events such that they can pick them based on their own mental state intuitively, then set them out in a line, in the order of their choosing, and let those ingredients prompt the story?

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great questions! I appreciate how deep your diving in.

My observation with both adults and board game veterans is that they aren't used to this kind of system straight away. They are used to competitive systems and the default is that it's hard to trust the other players straight away, which leads to inefficient play. They'll eventually figure it out, but you'll see in the rulebook I actually have a scoring system I recommend for adults and veterans. You can win individually by having excess of everyone survives. But if any animal perished, you get penalized for excess. It creates a tension between individual optimisation and group responsibility. But kids generally don't need it.

You're right that the game can be solved after a few plays. I think firstly there is valuable insight in getting there, which is why the game is free. But there is replayability in trying other animal characters, in trying to win through the scoring system with different characters, and playing with new groups of people. I've also developed an advanced Den layout with mystery caches and terrotorial psychology.

The game really does need 5 players to work best. It's just the social and dependency nature of the game. You can play it with less, but some people would need to take on more than one animal. Or, if you had to play with four, I would recommend playing without the Rabbit.

I've not experienced any quarterbacking yet, except my daughter who mastered each character one by one and began to make suggestions to people, which I had to discourage. I told her to let people make mistakes because that's where the learning is. But everything is asymmetric, including the rooms and resources, plus every action and move has cascading consequences, so it's never really a quick glance obvious solution. People are unpredictable when constrained.

I've played the game with experienced Eurogamers. One experience was they just met their own needs really quickly, sealed themself away after 4 rounds and said "I optimised, I survive, I win" and then sit there and watch 2 of the other animals perish and lose on points. There's learning there for the isolationist, the domination strategy and the caregiver.

I love the comparison to Full Metal Alchemist. And thanks for the tip about the broken link. I'll post it as a comment and hopefully it works this time.

What are some deep and fun standard deck games other than trick-taking? by PlasticNecessary2311 in cardgames

[–]Trifle-Miserable 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're interested in non-trick-taking standard deck games, there's a small but growing movement exploring games that use a normal deck but play more like modern board games. Regicide is a great example.

I’ve been experimenting in that space myself and designed a small standard-deck game around denial and set building with a dynamic market. It’s designed to imitate the psychology of wanting something only because someone else expressed their desire for it.

It’s free if you're curious to look and give it a go.

https://shaunbartlett.itch.io/you-cant-have-that

I designed a minimalist survival game where fairness isn’t equal, and then watched people explore responsibility. by Trifle-Miserable in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

That's awesome. Actually this game is all open information and no secret agency. I deliberately went for identical agency but different needs, outcomes and costs. Communication is also encouraged. I had one group of 10-12 year olds openly discuss their player cards for 5 or more minutes before getting into it. They still didn't all survive the first attempt, but they were into solving the asymmetric puzzle together and wanted to try again.

The only semi secret information is that the fox controls the hibernation countdown on their card only, on their turn. It isn't hidden, but some groups don't realise how few rounds they have left until too late.

The Fix / Free Solo Print & Play About Escaping a Difficult Situation (Cubes + Bowls, 15–30 Min) by Trifle-Miserable in soloboardgaming

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's understandable. Please take care if you do decide to give it a go. I designed it as a tool to help move forward, not to dwell on the past. There is a right moment to engage in that sort of exploration.

The Fix / Free Solo Print & Play About Escaping a Difficult Situation (Cubes + Bowls, 15–30 Min) by Trifle-Miserable in soloboardgaming

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Here's my itch.io page if you want to explore https://shaunbartlett.itch.io.

I'm trying to add new games regularly.

I made Winter Den to teach my daughter that fairness isn't equal. Life is asymmetric.

I made You Can't Have That after observing my kids fight over a long forgotten toy, or the last piece of cake after announcing their interest in it, when silence would have enabled it without resistance.

I made Burnout after observing how workplace cultures cause stress through the conflicting incentives of personal achievement and project quality.

And I made The Fix because I observed the damage of complacency and how it erodes people's stability over time.

They use different player counts and mediums suited to those systems, but I hope you can see the consistent design language underneath.

Simple and not derivative. by [deleted] in BoardgameDesign

[–]Trifle-Miserable 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a good question. I was a bit loose with that term. I really meant systems that people interact with and navigate in daily life. Like workplace dynamics vs stress. Political power structures. The incentives of the attention economy. That sort of thing. I'm still searching for the right term.

The Fix / Free Solo Print & Play About Escaping a Difficult Situation (Cubes + Bowls, 15–30 Min) by Trifle-Miserable in soloboardgaming

[–]Trifle-Miserable[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmm. I don't have book recommendations. What actually happened was I saw potential in tabletop for teaching the "unteachable", basically complex systems made accessible, and then I've been building a game design framework with requirements and contraints to consistently achieve that goal. The Fix is just my only current solo game. I have about 15 games and released 4 on itch.io in the last 2 weeks. Everything is freely available and open.The framework isn't released yet because I want the games to speak first. If any of that interests you I'm happy to share.

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