CRIT Award nominations are open
The CRIT Awards, kingmaking, new books, The Bread Wyrm, and Senjutsu
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TL;DR Summary
🏆 The CRIT Awards
👑 Kingmaking & cursed problems
📚 Reading: wargames and thematic integration
🍞 The Bread Wyrm
🎲 Recently played: Senjutsu
🏆 The CRIT Awards
Nominations are open for the 2024 CRIT Awards, recognizing TTRPG creators:
Our mission is to celebrate and recognize the contributions and achievements of our community in a way that is inclusive, diverse, and represents the values of our community.
With 47 different categories, the awards cover a wide range of topics and formats, including actual plays, Youtube channels, podcasts, and artists.
There is also a “Best of the TTRPG Space” category which includes Best Blog or Article Written in the TTRPG Space.
If you enjoy reading Skeleton Code Machine every week, nominating it for a CRIT Award is a great way to show your support.
Important dates:
April 1 - May 31: Nominations open
June 7 - July 7: Voting for finalists
VOTE: Nominate your favorites for a CRIT Award
👑 Kingmaking & cursed problems
What started as an exploration of the problems with three-player combat games has turned into a series on kingmaking:
Part 1: Solving the three-player problem
Part 3: Is kingmaking cursed?
The problems and solutions discussed don’t just apply to board games. The issues of player expectations, free-for-all politics, and “cursed problems” apply to tabletop roleplaying games as well.
READ: Solving the three-player problem at Skeleton Code Machine
Skeleton Code Machine is a weekly publication that explores tabletop game mechanisms in board games and roleplaying games. It’s been called a “Seemingly endless source of gaming ponderings” and a “Goldmine.” Check it out at www.skeletoncodemachine.com.
📚 Reading: wargames and thematic integration
Recently acquired two new books on tabletop game design:
Wargames Handbook, Third Edition is by James Dunnigan, designer of classic wargames like Jutland (Dunnigan, 1967) and PanzerBlitz (Dunnigan, 1970). As the founder of SPI, he’s a big name in historical wargaming and board games in general. So although the chapters on designing “computer wargames” are significantly outdated, I think it will still be interesting to read from a historical perspective.
Thematic Integration in Board Game Design by Sarah Shipp is from CRC Press, the same publisher as Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design: An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms 2nd Edition by Geoff Engelstein and Isaac Shalev. I’ve only read the first chapter of Thematic Integration, but it’s already off to a good start with a discussion of theme vs. mechanisms.
If you do want an interesting game design book that is free as a PDF, check out Tabletop: Analog Game Design published by ETC Press. James Dunnigan (above) has a chapter in it, and Lewis Pulsipher’s “The Three Player Problem” chapter is really good.
READ: Tabletop: Analog Game Design published by ETC Press
🍞 The Bread Wyrm
I found Tania Herrero (rolconpan) and her art during the most recent MÖRKTOBER. Her daily pieces were colorful, full of life, and captured her distinctive style.
She has a new mailing list called The Bread Wyrm that you should join. I’m sure it will be packed with great art, and also updates on art-heavy games like Fomoria and Crown of Salt.
You can see more of Tania’s art in The Pit of Blasphemy for MÖRK BORG.
SUBSCRIBE: The Bread Wyrm
🎲 Recently played: Senjutsu
Senjutsu: Battle For Japan (Allen & Faulkner, 2023) is a 1v1 skirmish game with some deck construction mechanics and rather nice miniatures. Finally had a chance to play a couple games of it, and really enjoyed it!
Similar to how Sakura Arms (BakaFire, 2016) has character decks that can be customized, Senjutsu has a set of cards for each samurai. You build a deck following some simple rules, and battle it out on a hex-based map.
For a big box, it’s a surprisingly fast game. I think the second play took about twenty minutes total.
PLAY: Senjutsu: Battle For Japan
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- E.P. 💀
How do I get my own brand to
Get nominated? :)