In part two of our conversation with Nic Tringali, we go deeper into their development process. Design and prototyping, testing, setting victory conditions, and the delightful old-school addition to the game: the manual. 00:00:00 – Theme – how did the look come together? Concept of cathedrals stretching through time. 00:04:20 – Worldbuilding, problems with history…
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Nic Tringali is a game designer for Bithell Games. Their recent release The Banished Vault (published by Bithell Games’ Lunar Division) is a gothic space-faring exploration and survival game, released on July 25th to very positive reviews. We talk with Nic about their early gaming inspirations, before getting into the gameplay mechanics of The Banished…
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Tim and Joel look again at Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic, a game whose complexity allows for a more nuanced set of mechanics which make it a more “honest” city-building experience, as opposed to the sanitized colonialist and capitalist assumptions of many recent offerings in the genre. Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic Sim City 2000…
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Having played some “deck-builder” games, Tim and Joel break down the mechanics and aesthetics of card games. We look primarily at Inscryption and Fights in Tight Spaces, and go on to discuss UI and combat strategy mechanics. Games mentioned: Inscryption Fights in tight places Banner Saga Into the Breach Nantucket Battle Brothers
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Tim gives his first impressions of the trailblazing Steam Deck – which brings PC computing power to the handheld gaming experience. Having sampled several games on the platform, he has settled on Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic (aka Soviet Concrete Simulator). What differentiates it from other city-builders? Games mentioned: Microsoft Flight Simulator Witcher 3 Battletech…
Read MoreFollowing our look at the Civilization games in the previous episode, Tim and Joel look at the Paradox strategy games and The Sims. In contrast to the Civilization games, Paradox has shown signs of greater engagement with some of the more troubling historical issues that games about colony-building have failed to adequately address. And despite…
Read MoreTim and Joel look at the Civilization games. We examine the way that, in every iteration, their systems have failed go beyond a view of the world rooted in capitalist realism. Games mentioned: Civilization series Red Dead Redemption
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Tim and Joel continue last week’s conversation about systemic games. We look at the medieval sandbox game Crusader Kings 3, and Tim goes into his playthrough of Nantucket. We also look at games that come close to being systemic, employing complex systems, but end up relying on authored narratives. Games mentioned: Crusader Kings 3 Civilization…
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Tim and Joel return from a hiatus with a look at the emergent narrative dynamics of systemic strategy games, beginning with a look at Overhype Studios’ Battle Brothers. Games mentioned: Rimworld Crusader Kings 3 Dwarf Fortress Battle Brothers
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