Tweaking Ancient Games

This post is about one of my iterations for the Ancient Game I'm tweaking called Tablut. Originally when I played this game i noticed a major bug, that is if the attacking side just moves their pieces to surround the escaping tile for the king then the king cant escape and the defending side cant stop them from doing this.

So my iterations is going to hopefully stop this from happening what i am going to do is, the corner tiles are where the king can escape, I'm going to make the to adjacent tiles horizontally and vertically be inaccessible to the attacking side so they cannot block the path for the king for ever.

Tablut

I played the game called Tablut which is a kind of tafl game. It is a bit like chess, turn based, two players and you have to capture the King, however the other side has to get their King too escape. there are many different versions and rule sets for this game this is due to no one actually knowing what the original rules were.

I did enjoy this game, I liked the tactical thinking it required to beat your opponent and when you switch sides and have a go at defending or attacking the king it gives it a fresh feel so its not really repetitive.
The version I played was on a 9x9 board with 8 defending pieces plus a King piece and the other team has 16 pieces. At first this sounds a bit unbalanced but due to the starting positions and the over all winning conditions the game is fairly balanced the only thing is there is a game breaking bug in this game. within 8 moves the attacking side can completely block off the kings path to escape and it cannot be stopped.

The Ancient Game Tablut

Tablut is and ancient tafl game, it is much like chess but it is easier to learn how to play it as all of the pieces move in the same way. The object of the game is for the white team to get its king piece from the middle tile on he board to one of the 'escape' tiles around the edge. You can take the other players pieces by moving two pieces on adjacent tiles around the enemy piece.

Even though I lost every game I played of this during the lecture I really enjoyed it, I think this is because its mechanics are so simple but yet there is a lot of strategies you can use in the game. However it it possible if you are on the black side to block of the escape tiles from the other players king and them pieces cant be taken so the white team can not win. there are many ways of iterating the game so this does not happen though, for example you could add more escape tiles.

Caillois' way of Describing Games

Paidea

Paidea is when games are played for fun, its not to win or lose or prove your intelligence or skill, it is just simply to play a game for enjoyment. This is linked with games that have less strict rules and give the player more freedom to play.

Ludos

This is when the game is competitive and you play to win and beat your opponents. these games tend to be based more on skill than luck (alea) to give it competitive dynamics. 

'Agon', 'Alea', 'Ilinx' and 'Mimicry' 

These words are a way of describing what type of game a game is. These definitions can intersect and overlap like Padiea and Ludos can.

Agon
This is when games a competitive and there is a lot of struggle in the game to beat the opponent. A good example of this would be any MOBA game.
Alea
Alea is games that depend on luck, these games are balanced by probability of certain outcomes. there is not as much skill or ways to employ strategy in these games normally. it all comes down to who is the luckiest player. Games that have dice or cards are strong 'alea' type games.
Ilinx
This is games based around movement. this could be race games like Snakes and Ladders. Or it could be a game like Monopoly where the movement of each player decides what happens to them in the games.
Mimicry
Mimicry is about being something or somewhere in a game you are not in real life, like a serial killer or a pro footballer or a goat for example like in the game 'Goat Simulator'

Its easy to see how the intersect with each other. in the game Forza 5 you are a proffesional racing car driver which is mimicry and Ilinx then you can race other players which is agon.

Games Britannia

This post is about the TV program called Games Britannia, hosted by Benjamin Woolley. In this program Benjamin Woolley shows us some ancient games and tells us how games are a rich source of cultural history. He discusses about games being an instinct for people all over the world. He looks at the Druid Game Board and explained that priests may have played this game with Kings to see if they will lose a forthcoming battle.

Its interesting to see what games once were to the games we have present day, its a very easy decision to say what era of games I prefer.

Bibliography Practice

 Adams, E. and Dormans, J. (2012) Game mechanics : advanced game design. Berkeley, Calif.: New Riders.

Crawford, C (2003) "Iterative Storytelling", In Wolf and Perron, B The Video Game Theory Reader New York: Routledge 259-274

Fullerton. T (2008) Games Design Workshop A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games Burlington:Elsevier

Primack. A, (2009) 'Video Games: Play or Playlike Activity"?' , American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 37 (4), 379-380

My Interview

What is the Title of the book you are currently reading (Fiction) or what is the title of your last fiction book you read?
I don't read fiction books, its hard to remember the last one I did actually read, however I believe it was called the Vampires Assistant which is the second book in a series called 'The Saga Of Darren Shan' written by Darren Shan. It is about a young boy who gets involved with vampires. it was many years ago that i actually read this book though, there was a film made on it.

What is the title/topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading, or what is the title/topic of the last non-fiction book you read?
The last non-fiction book I read was Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guide To Modern Body Building. I read this book because I have a keen interest of exercise and fitness. The book was very informative and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

What is the last live performance (music, drama or dance) you attended?
I went to Wembly Stadium to watch Eminem this year, I went with a group of friends from my old school. I was very pleased to see him as I had always wanted to.

What is the title of the last film you saw at the cinema?
The last film i saw at the cinema was 'Lets be Cops'. It is a comedy film and i really enjoyed it I thought it was very funny, it had some original ideas in it and was funny the whole way through!

How often do you read the newspaper?
I don't read the newspaper.

How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?
I used to play games all the time, all day. But lately I have a lot more responsibilities and dont not get the time to play them but I would say I squeeze in about 14 hours a week now.

How many hours a week do you spend playing games other than video games?
I like to play cards with my flatmates a few hours a week, but I don't have any non-digital games to play, and prefer computer games anyway.