Game Design DIaries: Metal Gods, Part 1

A good game generally starts with a concept or an idea. That is to say, we like hex tiles and wanted to get a bunch of plexi-glass hex tiles made for an up-coming Go Commando prototype project (yes there's more coming). The minute that we saw these after opening the box, we new that we needed to use them on something else.

First before we get into the nitty gritty, we are officially announcing the development of a game we like to call:

[insert deep thundering voice here]

METAL GODS

[finish with a low echoing rumble]

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Set in the Mecha genre, Metal Gods is a real-time strategy battle royal board game where you are 1 of up to 6 players piloting a massive mecha machine battling for supremacy. The first of it's kind and inspired by games like Mechwarrior and Cryptozoic Entertainment's GKR Heavy Hitters, Metal Gods features a modular game board (we love modular game boards!) and customizable mecha machines with many combinations where literally anything can happen!

Let's put it this way, Metal Gods is not a game where the player with the highest victory point count wins. There are no victory points here and the conflict rating is heavy! Whether it's by a missile or the last bullet in the chamber, winning is winning and there is no room for second place. You can also say good-bye to RnGarbage because neither the combat or win conditions are based on randomized dice rolls. No! You win based on pure unadulterated strategy and your ability to mitigate the onslaught in this fast-paced action-packed strategy game.

We're so excited to see how the concept evolves and will be sharing the design and development experience with you!

The Concept

First, we built the map to see how big or small the grid would be. As we built it we asked ourselves several questions:

  1. Will this game fit on a standard sized dinner table?
  2. If we make the game board large, how will that affect player character movement and conflict?
  3. If we make it small how will that affect total game time?
  4. How long will set up take and is building the game board the same each time?
  5. What corner do you start with and should the gameboard set up be standardized or completely random?
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Our next step is to figure out all of the components of the core gameplay and how they might interact with the game board. This is probably the most fun part of creating a game where we play with the prototype pieces that we have then start making correlations to the gameplay design that we've already put together. The game that we're trying to create should be playable within a 45 to 90 minute time range including set up. Players should be able to use their constructed robots and battle it out while collecting resources and upgrading their mechs throughout the battle.

We'll keep working out the details and hopefully come to a conclusion about the core game, the approach, and the prototype within the next few months. As a part of the design process, we'll make sure to update you with our progress as this game develops. We love mechs, and we'd love to see a modular character based game come to fruition!

Until next time!

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