thread: 2010-03-18 : First game theory, second game theory
On 2010-04-03, Joel wrote:
My own experience is an interesting case, because my first game was made for a design contest, so I was working off of particular creative prompts, not necessarily doing what was from the bottom of my heart of hearts. I ended up with a game that I like, but is more of a "hmm, that's interesting" experiment then a liberating statement.
My second game has much more of that feeling for me. I'm designing where my heart is, and doing a whole lot of field-baring ("No dice! Just beads in a bag! And no success/failure, just positive and negative experience! And no, you can't play with just however many, there are three distinct roles and that is FINAL!"). And I feel that yes, I have a solid game that I can play joyfully and share with confidence.
Maybe this maps to your framework, Vincent, in the sense that "first game" is a particular experience and process that you go through, and I just happened to go through it with what is technically my second game? In that case you could think of them as my 0th and 1st game. I do feel like The Dreaming Crucible is my real "first" in a way, since that's where I really get down to business and zero in on what I truly WANT with design and play.
Peace,
-Joel
