Dan Peterson, head developer at Mayday Games, talks about how to streamline a game by removing math.
We discuss why this is important in today’s market and various ways on how to do it effectively.
4 comments on “Removing Math from Games with Dan Peterson”
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With showing points vs hidden points, doesn’t it work both ways? If you have a “point track” players trying to work their brains in order to see who is in the lead. You can literally see it. It works as a simple “catch up” mechanic as well, you know who to not “feed points” to and who is more harmless. It seems like there are benefits to having running point totals that might cause a game to slog down less. Think of Settlers of Catan. Extremely popular/accessible game where players know the points for most of the game…. and you know when to stop trading with your brother, because he has 9 points.
“If you have a point track players aren’t….”
I think the point overall wasn’t to remove all viewable points systems but to limit them so that players can’t sit and math out where everyone stands.
Gabe,
This is a great interview. Some of the games I most enjoy disguise the final points of the game, such as Concordia and Troyes.
Cheers,
Joe