How to design a ROLL & WRITE board game *Top 10 Mechanisms*
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ส.ค. 2024
- In this video I’m going to delve deep into my collection of roll and write games to see what the core ingredients are of a really satisfying entry in the genre. The aim as always is to identify 10 key mechanisms which come up time and again. If you fancy designing such a game, you’re going to have your work cut out if you want to rise above the competition - so rather than repeating one of these mechanisms, why not subvert it! Flip it on its head and create something genuinely new.
Review copies received: Rolling Realms and Hashi. All other titles purchased at retail.
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0:00 INTRODUCTION
1:10 RANDOMISERS
4:13 TURN STRUCTURE
5:51 SETS & SEQUENCES
8:06 SPATIAL PLANNING
10:47 MAJORITY SCORING
11:22 RACE TO OBJECTIVE
13:08 VARIABLE INTERFACE
14:49 UNLOCK SPECIAL ACTIONS
16:12 PENALTIES
17:36 INTERACTION - เกม
Great overview of one of the biggest current trends in boardgames! I'm honored that you featured Hashi!
Thanks Jeffrey. I was pleased to discover Hashi & found it a nice change of pace from other Roll & Writes.
Thank you for all the mentorship! I'm learning so much and appreciate all the research you've done and your clear presentation of the information in an approachable, friendly tone : )
Thanks! Much appreciated :)
You're videos are great. Thank you for the detailed lists of ideas, the dedication and passion. It's great to reflect on game design. And congratulations for the Cardboard Edison prize. Saludos from a usually silent viewer from Spain.
Thanks so much - very pleased you broke your silence to say Hello :)
Great overview of the genre. I wasn't familiar with Kuh Vadis. Seems like one I'd enjoy a couple of times.
A few things you might not be aware of:
Tempus Quest is a series of games that uses time as a randomiser.
I used a book (of the players' choice) as a randomiser in Make A Wordsearch.
In the Dice & Ink book, there were a couple of other games that involved sharing sheets.
Flowers Over Towers is an area majority game.
Celestial Stories used the original drawing as a seed to tell some stories!
Great - thanks Bez. Lots of stuff for me to look up!
This was vital for my research, thanks a lot! great job!
Fantastic video. Exactly what I was looking for and deeply knowledgeable. Many thanks!
Love your videos - quick rule thing - I *think* you've shown the "Locking a row" rule in Quixx incorrectly. Here's my interpretation of the rule - To lock a row, you must have 5 X's in the row as you said, but you also MUST roll and cross off the final number (a 12 or 2) to lock the row - so rows can't be locked on rolls of 11, only on 12's (or 2's).
Feel free to correct me if I've been playing it wrong - I re-read the rules upon seeing your video, and that's still my interpretation.
Yes, you're correct Tony. Sorry for the misinformation! It has been a long time since I've played Qwixx, so I had forgotten that detail.
At first, I never cared much for roll & writes. To me, the concept seemed silly, especially since I'm a "huge box with lots of stuff" kinda gal. Ark Nova, Dune: Imperium, and Everdell are my favorite games.
Rajas Of The Ganges is also one of my favorite games, so when I heard that there's a roll & write version of it, I was interested to try it out. And it was fantastic. I loved it a lot, and it changed my view on roll & writes. And now, after watching your video, I appreciate the genre even more.
So far, I have designed a trick-taking game and a set collection game, and I'm in the middle of making a worker placement game. Maybe after that, I might try my hand at a roll & write game.
I love your channel, you are genuinely awesome!
Thanks so much. Good luck with your designs :)
Incredibly underrated video. Well made, great information.
Love your videos! Especially enjoyed this one. I find Roll & Write games really interesting. I particular like the low cost to produce and the low barrier to entry. Pretty much anyone can create one without the involvement of manufacturers, etc. I might see what I can come up with. Thanks for the great information.
You're welcome. Glad you found it helpful.
Great video! Love going through all the mechanics and really appreciate you actually showing the games. Makes so much difference. ♥
Thanks! I'd like to make this type of video more often, but they're a ton of work! Glad you enjoyed it.
Finally I'm here at this video. I like roll and writes, but I like the uncertainty of having monsters show up in cartographers and the spacial component more than the strategizing for welcome to.
Hashi sounds interesting but I'd like to try it on something like BGA first before buying. I've gotten bitten too many times by games that sound fun and fall completely flat and then I need to unload at -80%.
Hashi is a fun puzzle, but I don’t think it has the depth of Welcome to, or Cartographers. It’s certainly worth playing, or purchasing at a low price - but I think it’s more comparable to Qwixx, Qwinto etc. A nice way to pass a few minutes with little fuss.
I like Qwinto and Silver and Gold. In Qwinto you feel invested in other players turns because the active player has the option of a re-roll, so there's normally a few moments where everyone wants the player to stick...but they re-roll.
I prefer Trails of Tucana over Avenue (same designers). Both feature route building, but I find Avenue to be rather punishing. T of T feels more relaxed, and it always provides some nice combo moments.
Not tried Cartographers yet. Probably the simplest polyomino R&R is Second Chance by Uwe Rosenberg (get the Pegasus Spiele edition). It's so easy to teach and my friends refer to it as Tetris Bingo.
I can also recommend Zooloretto The Dice Game. And I look forward to Super Mega Lucky Box by Phil Walker Harding ("bingo, with some choices")
Congratulations on your recent award. Well deserved! I continue to spread the word about your excellent channel.
Thanks Bruce. I would like to try T of T, Second Chance, and Zooloretto dice game. I don’t actively seek out many roll&writes these days - I feel like I have most experiences covered with my selection. But I always tend to enjoy new ones. I will almost certainly make an exception for Super Mega Lucky Box because Phil Walker-Harding rarely fails to impress. I highly recommend Cartographers. It’s my favourite in the genre by some margin.
Great video! Loved the way you broke down in sections!
Thanks - glad the format worked for you.
Paper Dungeons and Dragon Dungeon are great examples.
I hope that you will have the opportunity to play Seven Bridges, if you haven't already! How many roll-and-write games have you played where the two principal mechanisms and drafting and route-building? Hint: There aren't many.
Hi Ron. Seven Bridges looks fun. I’ll keep an eye out for it!
Nice video. How about Railroad Ink, a really cool route building game! Definitely one of the best R&Ws imo 😃
amazing and interesting video
Thanks Federico! :)
I think you'd really like Roll Write Daifugo and Madrino!
Thanks! I'll look them up.
Heyo, great video! Apologies for posting links in the prior comment.
Thanks Daniel. I didn't see another post with links! Did I miss out on anything good? 😄
@@AdaminWales Oh! It thought it got auto-modded away. I just linked to the BGG entry for Pencil Park, a free PNP roll & write I made last year that might be a useful point of comparison. It was my attempt at twisting some usual genre conventions.
• Roll 3 dice. Combine two to determine the type of "tiles" to place.
• The pips on the remaining die are literally the polyomino to place. (i.e., a 6 is a 2x3 rectangle)
• The goal is a target score, neither higher nor lower. My attempt at throttling runaway engines.
@@DanielSolis cool idea! Will have to try it out (you mean, though, that a 6 is a 2x3 rectangle, correct?)
@@DanielSolis I like the idea of aiming for an exact score! A fun twist!
@@DanielSolis Thanks Daniel - I’ll definitely take a look at this. I like the literal use of the pips on the dice as polyomino shapes.
Rolling Realms is the first roll and write that both plays interestingly and looks somewhat attractive.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it :)