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Mechanic Monday: Implementation Roundup

This week I’m going to take a look back at my MM posts from 2018 and talk about some of the games that DO in fact implement the mechanics I’m talking about, or that are somehow related to that mechanic.  It’s a retrospective: Let’s see if this even remotely works!

Conflict Chips: Again, this mechanic was inspired by the Jinteki faction, so let’s tag ANDROID: NETRUNNER (aww rip), and also the chip-wagering aspect has a touch of IRONRISE in there too.  Why be snobby? Let’s also admit that it draws a bit on ROCK PAPER SCISSORS.

Action Wheel: So I’ve only recently had rondel games satisfactorily explained to me, but they do have some things in common with the Action Wheel.  So let’s tag… EMPIRE ENGINE.  My own implementation, of course, is OASES.  It also draws on the WARE/(MAN)CALA family of “seed-and-pot” games.  And action tokens are already in… way too many games to count, but let’s tag ANDROID: NETRUNNER again.

Refining: I think SIDEREAL CONFLUENCE does this, EUPHORIA: BUILD A BETTER DYSTOPIA and many other worker-placement games do this.  There was a fun beer-making game in last year’s 2p design contest that did this.  I’m using this in my WIP AMBERLODGE

Different Cardbacks: COWL & MASK is my own implementation.

Trade Anything: Definitely got the idea for this from reading the Designer Diary for SIDEREAL CONFLUENCE.  Most games don’t allow this, and the ones that “do”, are mostly loose games where your rules and actions are much less ungoverned.

Spaces and Intersections: CATAN, GUILDS OF CADWALLON, ANDROID: MAINFRAME.

Asymmetrically-Applied Rules: Changing the rules goes back, for me, to FLUXX, a game that I truly wish were better, since it’s such a fundamentally brilliant breakthrough of a concept with a titanically shallow and underwhelming execution of publication.  There are many games with Asymmetrical rules (shout out to ROOT) but in terms of asymmetrical application of rules, that’s usually the opposite of fun for most tabletop gamers.  So I’m just going to go with: CALVINBALL.

Worst-Case Ontario: Cyningstan has a record somewhere of an old CHESS ancestor where players alternated picking which pieces both sides would use.  I’ve heard the term “hate-drafting” but don’t know if that’s just a behaviour within drafting games or if anyone’s built an entire game around it.  I think Todd Sanders has a 2p drafting game that might qualify?

No-Shuffle Deckbuilder: CENTURY: SPICE ROAD / GOLEM, obviously.  I’m sure there are other handbuilders, and many more to come.  FRAMESHIFT MUTATION is my WIP exploring this.

Boardless Game: HIVE, ODDBALL AERONAUTS (I and II), OASES again.

Alright that's enough of that.  Publishing early so I can work on other stuff (like the play I just completed a first draft of!)  Sound off on any other games you know that implement the mechanics I've discussed, and see you next week!

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