Bastard games - does anyone actually like them?

saulres · Post Post #75 (ISO) » Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:39 am

What do those terms mean?

theelkspeaks · Post Post #76 (ISO) » Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:45 am

"Tilt" - a game which is explicitly either townsided or scumsided by balance, with the intention of providing a challenge beyond the normal degree to one side or the other.

"Snowball" - a game which is swingy in setup, and while initially balanced, can quickly get out of hand to one side or the other.

I've played both of these types of games F2F, not sure what the online term is.

Untrod Tripod · Post Post #77 (ISO) » Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:14 am

In post 74, theelkspeaks wrote:How do people feel about "Tilt" games or "Snowball" games; I sometimes think of them as offshoots of bastard games but with more expectation going in

we usually call tilted games "unbalanced" and snowball games "swingy"

Vi · Post Post #78 (ISO) » Mon Apr 13, 2015 12:51 pm

In post 76, theelkspeaks wrote:"Tilt" - a game which is explicitly either townsided or scumsided by balance, with the intention of providing a challenge beyond the normal degree to one side or the other.

"bad"

"Snowball" - a game which is swingy in setup, and while initially balanced, can quickly get out of hand to one side or the other.

"swingy"

No seriously, anytime you see a game advertised as "a CHALLENGE for HARDCORE PLAYERS" you can basically assume it will be a scumroll where the mod gives themselves license to mock the witless Town afterward.

BROseidon · Post Post #79 (ISO) » Mon Apr 13, 2015 3:52 pm

Both are bad.

Swing is implicitly bad design because the game is usually decided after day 1 or 2 and it makes the rest of the game unfun.

vonflare · Post Post #80 (ISO) » Wed Apr 15, 2015 6:54 am

In post 79, BROseidon wrote:Both are bad.

Swing is implicitly bad design because the game is usually decided after day 1 or 2 and it makes the rest of the game unfun.

This is the definition of cult

But cults are fun

Who · Post Post #81 (ISO) » Wed Apr 15, 2015 9:06 am

Unbalanced: It's fun to be on the side more likely to win. It's not fun to be on the more likely to lose side. If you realize the game's unbalanced it's generally not fun for either side. Avoid if possible.
Swinginess: That which makes the game swingy is fun, but swinginess itself is not fun. It's a careful balance.

mastin2 · Post Post #82 (ISO) » Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:10 am

In post 81, Who wrote:Unbalanced: It's fun to be on the side more likely to win. It's not fun to be on the more likely to lose side. If you realize the game's unbalanced it's generally not fun for either side. Avoid if possible.

In post 79, BROseidon wrote:Swing is implicitly bad design because the game is usually decided after day 1 or 2 and it makes the rest of the game unfun.

(Unless of course you advertise this fact before-hand, a-la calling your games exactly what they are, in which case players generally seem to be okay with it and enjoy the ride. /shameless self-promotion for an upcoming third)

Klingoncelt · Post Post #83 (ISO) » Fri Apr 17, 2015 3:17 pm

In post 82, mastin2 wrote:(Unless of course you advertise this fact before-hand, a-la calling your games exactly what they are, in which case players generally seem to be okay with it and enjoy the ride. /shameless self-promotion for an upcoming third)

/pre-in!