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Renown: A Game of Aesthetics
By Corvus | July 3, 2008
The MDA framework (mechanics, dynamic, aesthetics) suggested by Hunicke, LeBlanc and Zubek bears a lot of similarity to my assertion that gameplay communicates story. Compare their definition of aesthetic to my definition of story:
Aesthetics describes the desirable emotional responses evoked in the player, when she interacts with the game system
Story is the emotional and intellectual experience that results from participation in a narrative.
Those of you with good memories will likely note that my definition of story has matured somewhat to include intellect as well as emotion. This brings my theory more in line with the concept of fabula as explained by Russian folklorists. It does some important things to the idea of game design as well, which are probably worth their own post(s).
My point being that when I designed Renown, I did so with a very particular gameplay experience in mind. Every modification and tweak I’ve made has been to bring the feeling of play into alignment with my goals. Suggested changes to the rules that would alter those goals are considered very carefully before acceptance or rejection.
The first references to the game Renown are found among Bleynac journals from the disastrous reign of Keldro Lur the Usurper in the 11th century, the darkest and bloodiest period of Bleynac history. Queen Alledra had just died, leaving no female heirs. Rather than following tradition and allowing the Sisters of the Grotto to divine a new bloodline, her eldest son, Keldro, declared himself emperor and violently put down any who would oppose him. As the Sisterhood set about reclaiming power, Keldro’s forces sought them out, slaughtering the newly declared traitors in their homes. This madness would continue for three generations before the Sisterhood regained their rightful place.
It is no wonder that a card game born of this highly charged and violent political environment would encourage such contentious gameplay. That it relates the feminine elements of Life, Earth, and Water with villainy lends it an air of sedition that appeals to young card players of both sexes.
–excerpt from The Storied Card by Prious Trifector, Efrayen scholar of the House Occuldia
In my previous post I mentioned that Renown’s gameplay origins lie within the game Guillotine, but I want to be very clear that the two games are actually very different in their implementation. Knowing how to play Guillotine may help a player understand why it’s a good idea to elevate and bury cards in Renown’s hierarchy, but the similarities pretty much end there. The gameplay of Renown is wilder, more raw, and hopefully more cutthroat.
Renown is not a fair game. In fact, it encourages a vindictive approach to play. It rewards players who track their opponent’s moves, extrapolate their true goals and develop their own long term strategy for countering them. It also encourages being stealthy and playing your cards close to your chest. When a player is targeted by another’s sacrifice of a card, they must meet or exceed the value placed before them, even if it means losing currency (favor). Targeted players must balance the sacrifice with a sacrifice of their own, even if it means giving up favor. Attacking players don’t need to balance things out, so a well sacrificed 3 that forces the targeted player to give up a 9 is a smart move.
Since the ultimate goal of Renown is to acquire favor, some players will be very aggressive and sacrifice high value cards before their opponents, amassing favor early in the game. These players generate a lot of threat for everyone in the game and therefore become a target. The other players will cooperate in whittling them down, often forcing them (with Life and Energy sacrifices) to place their favor in the court where it will be won by the player with the best hand. The safer option is to be cunning and quiet about your maneuvering, in hopes people won’t notice that you’re building a strong hand of cards.
The important issue, to my mind, is that there not be rules that keep players from using blunt and/or less than useful strategies. This often leads to unexpected turns of events, sudden changes in the style of play and, hopefully, surprising upsets of fortune. And that is exactly the sort of story I’m hoping the game will tell.
Tagged:aesthetics, mda framework, Renown. |