TRINITY Test Game #1
Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:18 am
The other Trinity game, #01, has just finished. It was a knife-edge climax, with out-gunned Hryllantre going for his third rip for the win, and the more powerful Duke trying to stop him. Hryll took the rip, held it against counter-attack by Duke, and Hryll won the game. Brilliant play.
For me, it underlines what I like about the rules, ie that it is to get 3 rips, not to own 60 provinces.
Hryll focussed on the victory conditions, and went for them. Duke looks like he focussed more on being stronger than the other guy(s) [Yond was knocked out earlier]. Maybe Duke wouldn't "look" so much stronger at the end if Hryll had concentrated on fighting back, instead of sacrificing armies and position for the rips required ... Which worked out brilliantly for him, sacrificing power in order to get rips ...
The rules produced a really exciting climax: Could the powerful one stop the weaker one from grabbing a third rip? Bearing in mind that the weaker one is maybe weaker only because he went for his first two rips instead of building up, while his opponent went for build-up rather than rips ...
When Yond asked me to set-up a three-player variant of Duel, I spent quite a while designing it. I DID consider the "obvious" Victory Condition of "kill 'em all". But, as a designer, I know that 2-player games [or two left after the demise of the third player] tend to suffer from inevitableness: once one player is in the lead, it is TOO hard for the other to come back. But you can't make it self-correcting to a 50/50 in the climax [as some games do]. I wanted the right balance: If you are the stronger, you have more power to win or stop the other guy; but the weaker still has options and hopes that might work if he can pull it off. Makes it more skilful; you can make your superiority count; or you can come through from outnumbered to a win. The odds favour the stronger, if he plays it right, but the weaker has hope if he's clever, rather than merely death-by-attrition.
Anyway ... I ought to put these thoughts onto a discussion thread, to ask for views. So I'll open one.
Meanwhile:
Hryllantre, congrats, brilliant.
Duke, you took the map by storm and nearly won.
Yondallus .... er, thanks for suggesting such a format!
Ecerybody enjoyed themselves? It was certainly fun to watch, thanks.
Han
For me, it underlines what I like about the rules, ie that it is to get 3 rips, not to own 60 provinces.
Hryll focussed on the victory conditions, and went for them. Duke looks like he focussed more on being stronger than the other guy(s) [Yond was knocked out earlier]. Maybe Duke wouldn't "look" so much stronger at the end if Hryll had concentrated on fighting back, instead of sacrificing armies and position for the rips required ... Which worked out brilliantly for him, sacrificing power in order to get rips ...
The rules produced a really exciting climax: Could the powerful one stop the weaker one from grabbing a third rip? Bearing in mind that the weaker one is maybe weaker only because he went for his first two rips instead of building up, while his opponent went for build-up rather than rips ...
When Yond asked me to set-up a three-player variant of Duel, I spent quite a while designing it. I DID consider the "obvious" Victory Condition of "kill 'em all". But, as a designer, I know that 2-player games [or two left after the demise of the third player] tend to suffer from inevitableness: once one player is in the lead, it is TOO hard for the other to come back. But you can't make it self-correcting to a 50/50 in the climax [as some games do]. I wanted the right balance: If you are the stronger, you have more power to win or stop the other guy; but the weaker still has options and hopes that might work if he can pull it off. Makes it more skilful; you can make your superiority count; or you can come through from outnumbered to a win. The odds favour the stronger, if he plays it right, but the weaker has hope if he's clever, rather than merely death-by-attrition.
Anyway ... I ought to put these thoughts onto a discussion thread, to ask for views. So I'll open one.
Meanwhile:
Hryllantre, congrats, brilliant.
Duke, you took the map by storm and nearly won.
Yondallus .... er, thanks for suggesting such a format!
Ecerybody enjoyed themselves? It was certainly fun to watch, thanks.
Han