"Nominations for Innovation in Game Design 2009" Topic

Starting a new award category this year – Innovation in Game Design.

Just one award, covering historical, sci-fi, fantasy.

Nominations?

What year was "Panty Explosion" again?

I just spritzed my monitor with some rather tasty rum and Coke (tm). I don't mind the damage to the monitor, but the loss of the drink is inexcusable Allan.

Cheers!

It would ill become The Commish to submit his usual smartass suggestions here, so he won't.

Malifaux seems a natural:
was that in 2009?

Innovation in game design? Really? There may be some elegant recombinations of existing game mechanics out there, but I'd be hard pressed to name any true innovations.

It would ill become The Commish to submit his usual smartass suggestions here, so he won't.

When has this ever stopped you before?????????????????
I for one look forward to your "smartass suggestions"!

Innovations in 2009? I'd be hard pressed to think of many.

I suppose Phil Barkers combat resolution system in 'The Sharp End' might be considered innovative, but that has been around for a few years now.

here is one truly innovative: 1-48combat.com

submitted also for the best historical rules and best historical figures…

Perhaps there should be an award for innovative hype.

Gonna go for the Song of the Splintered Lands.
The innovation bit? Just appealing to the ladies .
The only wargame the missus and the daughter plays with me since warhammerquest(and that was a boardgame anyway).
They have on one occasion actually asked me to set a game up for them to play,I call this a type of innovation.

Forge of War

I'm nominating "None of the Above". If this becomes a poll, the smart money is on that entry beating out the rest of the field.

Nominating Two Hour Wargames NUTS! Second Edition for Europe 1944.

Reason: Innovation in Solo Playability by Design.

Everything about the "AI" of the system is complete. Force compostion, vehicles, terrain generation, scenario & objective generation, battle escalation, reinforcements, promotions, and how each individual reacts to a given situation, it's all in there. Does a wonderful job running an ongoing campaign quite smoothly.

$20 USD well spent.

Can't think of a single entry that would fit.

Malifaux? Please, cards have been used with minis games for years. And I own two games where the cards are flipped and used as die roll results, both over 10 years old.

Song of (insert name here)? Come on, the same basic engine applied to new genres.

Nuts v2? I own v1 and it too had solo rules (and good ones). I'm sure v2 improved on that, but it's not new, simply enhanced from an earlier edition.

Perhaps the use of funky, non-traditional dice in the latest version of Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing. But on the other hand, when did Dragon Dice come out? And that game was nothing but funky, non-traditional dice. In fact, the dice were your "miniatures". That was innovative. Far too long ago to count however.

I'm thinking "None of the above" is the clear winner in this category.

The TMP Award for "Most Innovative re-hashing of Featherstone" goes to…

I DLed somebody's WWII adaptation of Charles Grant's Battle rules the other day. If you republished them tomorrow as a glossy full-color ruleset with lots of diagrams and examples, you might have a winner. It treats horses as infantry for casualty purposes, surely that's innovative.

OFM

You are so cynical these days. There are more than a few things out there that are new -- all due respect to Featherstone.

I agree concepts like movement, combat, and morale are nothing new. But it's how you do it.

The real problem is that wargamers -- generally don't like new and innovative. They like things they are familiar with.

I always chuckle when someone says they can play my game after glancing at the rules for 5 minutes (happens quite a bit). My rules contain any number of innovations that you won't see any where else. Not that I'm unique.

You see in the end, what you consider innovative is limited to your personal experience.

mjc

War of the Ring: GW finally ditches its Hit-Wound-Save mechanic in favor of more streamlined play.

Malifaux.

I always chuckle when someone says they can play my game after glancing at the rules for 5 minutes (happens quite a bit). My rules contain any number of innovations that you won't see any where else.

You're saying that like it's a GOOD thing.

"It would ill become The Commish to submit his usual smartass suggestions here, so he won't."

How does that work again?

Good thing.

Well Yeah -- that's the reason they were developed -- to create a system that modeled the physics of flying which presenting a game that could be played on a table top in a reasonable amount of time.

mjc

Not sure where Terrain would fit in with the nominations, or whether it is a totally innovative (its new to me), but TOPO came out with a very good product 'IKUBE', which is a simple and free product that requires no glue and minimal cutting and folding. Great for beginners to the hobby or those who want to fill a tabletop quickly and easily.

link

His Steam Mechas will be nominated next year for the 2010 awards!!

I have a feeling that nothing truly innovative has been released since Crossfire, and that was a fair few years back (10)?
to stick my neck out further, you could argue that the current trend for plastic figures designed specifically for wargaming, in their poses, number, packaging, COULD be innovative, but that too started a couple of years back.

John

Force on Force.

I'm going to chime in and second Nuts for the depth of the solo and cooperative mechanisms. There's been a significant re-work of both the core game and particularly solo bits that I think it qualifies.

- Bob

Through the Mud and the Blood by TFL – WW1 is now playable.

Nuts v2? I own v1 and it too had solo rules (and good ones). I'm sure v2 improved on that, but it's not new, simply enhanced from an earlier edition.

Actually not quite.

The solo mechanics in NUTS 2 are very different from other THW products, especially with the handling of possible enemy forces (PEF markers) and how NPC objectives and troop movement is handled.

'nother vote for Malifaux.

In those other card-driven wargames, do you have a 'hand' of cards that you can use to cheat Fate?

Malifaux.

Wow, talk about your subjective categories. Players may prefer specific casting ranges or board games or rules. However to narrow down so much as to identify a specific mechanic, that would surpass any level of objectivity. Totally subjective. I can manipulate the system to always win, so I love that mechanic which covers my inability to be a good commander.

But isn't "innovation in game design" going to be based in large part on mechanics? I wouldn't think applying an existing set of mechanics to a new genre alone would get widespread support for being "most innovative".

Not that the "hand of cards" is new in the RPG world.

- Bob

Actually "Wanted Dead or Alive" is an old skirmish game from Outland that used Poker hands to resolve play.

Different suits allowed different actions, etc.

So yes you had a hand but rather than cheating fate you controlled your destiny through the cards.

I'd nominate Aether Lock for having a truly clever initiative/damage mechanic, but it's still in playtest so almost no one has seen the game yet. Maybe next year. :)

I know cards are not new but Mud and Blood, Malifaux or Zouave are all new concepts to me, but War of the Ring is a big shift for GW so I think that would be the biggest, best is so subjective.

Cosmic Encounter had a hand of cards you used to play with, sure, you didn't flip one each turn, but it was very similar.