Fallen London/Sunless Sea board game?

[Quinn]

Just a weird idea I had that I think will lead to interesting discussion if I share it here. What do you guys think? Do you think the premise would work, and if so, how? What mechanics would the game have? What would the end goal be? Would it be just a card game or a whole board and dice thing?

[Feayr]

It'd have to have some very interesting cards to keep with the storylet and option mentality.

[Quinn]

Originally posted by Feayr:

It'd have to have some very interesting cards to keep with the storylet and option mentality.

Kind of like House on Haunted Hill (is that the name of the game?)

[jep]

Yeah, I had the same thought after playing it for about a day. I was trying to think of a way to make each of the players a character who was like a Story Event plotline. And somehow their plotlines intersected so it was semi-coop. I also toyed with a companion app that would generate said interweaving plots and tell you which cards you need.

[Quinn]

Originally posted by jep:

Yeah, I had the same thought after playing it for about a day. I was trying to think of a way to make each of the players a character who was like a Story Event plotline. And somehow their plotlines intersected so it was semi-coop. I also toyed with a companion app that would generate said interweaving plots and tell you which cards you need.

Or maybe it doesn't have to be that complicated, afterall the greatest games in the world (Chess, Go) operate under the simplest rules.

A while ago I watched a video about mechanics of board games by Totalbiscuit that I think can help with this conversation, here it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFVly3iZYaQ

[Ghengis_John]

Look man, it sounds like you have an idea you''re dreaming up already. Why not just tell us what you're thinking.

[Quinn]

Originally posted by Ghengis_John:

Look man, it sounds like you have an idea you''re dreaming up already. Why not just tell us what you're thinking.

I told you the idea, I just have no dreams of it yet. Hence why I want to entice conversation to help create the dreams.

[Thermo]

Geography could be randomized by having decks of cards that get sorted, like the map in Sunless Seas and storylines could be randomized as well.

[jep]

Originally posted by Chaos Trigger:

Or maybe it doesn't have to be that complicated, afterall the greatest games in the world (Chess, Go) operate under the simplest rules.

Don't think I follow - at least in terms of it being based on Sunless Sea. Notice how Go has zero theme and Chess has a meaningless enough theme that having a Simpsons chess set makes no difference to the game. Once you simplify it so much that Fallen London/Sunless Sea is just a skin you're putting on it, I lose all interest.

[Quinn]

Originally posted by jep:

Originally posted by Chaos Trigger:

Or maybe it doesn't have to be that complicated, afterall the greatest games in the world (Chess, Go) operate under the simplest rules.

Don't think I follow - at least in terms of it being based on Sunless Sea. Notice how Go has zero theme and Chess has a meaningless enough theme that having a Simpsons chess set makes no difference to the game. Once you simplify it so much that Fallen London/Sunless Sea is just a skin you're putting on it, I lose all interest.

Look at the video I posted, basically I mean simple enough that it doesn't need a 17 page rulebook to teach you how to play, and that the mechanics must fit in with the theme without breaking it or losing immersion.

[jep]

I play plenty of board games that don't require 17 page rulebooks to teach you how to play and yet that are heavy in theme. I laid out the barest sketch for a thematic board game, and you said it doesn't have to be "that complicated." There wasn't really much complication there. Just something that fits the theme.

Perhaps you thought I was replying to the person who suggested Betrayal at the House on the Hill (a rules-heavy game), rather than your original post?

[Quinn]

Originally posted by jep:

I play plenty of board games that don't require 17 page rulebooks to teach you how to play and yet that are heavy in theme. I laid out the barest sketch for a thematic board game, and you said it doesn't have to be "that complicated." There wasn't really much complication there. Just something that fits the theme.

Perhaps you thought I was replying to the person who suggested Betrayal at the House on the Hill (a rules-heavy game), rather than your original post?

Eh... ¯\_(`_`)_/¯