Re: [piecepack] Feedback on the game Racepack

["Mike Schoessow" <mikeschoessow@...>]

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: davidlhsl 
  To: piecepack@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2003 5:54 PM
  Subject: [piecepack] Feedback on the game Racepack

  (sections deleted)

  > My favorite is the rule where the 
  >speed you select on your first movement segment does not have to relate to the 
  >speed you ended your last turn. This would've introduced needless complexity and 
  >record-keeping. The 3-segment turn is an inspired design as well.

  Hi David,

     Thanks for the kind words regarding Racepack. Your surmise concerning the rules for speed selection is correct; it was originally designed to preclude the need for additional record keeping paraphanalia. The "3 car movements per turn" idea is intergrally connected with this. Although I initially viewed this mechanic as a compromise between realism and the elegance of simplicity, during play-testing we found that the rule did not feel like a compromise, but on the contrary, it added some additional tactical possibilities. For example, since the speed during the first movement (out of 3) of a turn is essentially unrestrained, players will try to end their turns in positions where they can utilize this to maximum effect next turn (such as facing out of a corner, ready to accelerate). Effectively, a player has one opportunity per turn to accelerate or decelerate at rates beyond what the normal movement rules allow, but this opportunity always and only occurs during the first movement of a turn, so it becomes very important to set yourself up to benefit at those times. Steve and I have also incorporated this mechanic into a new (non-piecepack) racing game because we like how it works, even in cases where record-keeping would not be a problem.

     Another effect of this speed-regulating mechanic is that it leads to higher ratios of (speeds on straights) versus (speeds in corners), because it effectively allows very high accelerations and decelerations in some situations. This adds realism to my way of thinking, and offsets the unrealistic-seeming idea that there need not be a deterministic relationship between the speed of a car during the last movement of one turn, and the first movement of the next turn. As a side benefit, the higher average speeds lead to shorter lap times, something that I always think about because I just don't like the idea that one lap should take an hour or more in a game about racing at high speeds. It's kind of ironic that in almost all themed board games, the game takes place in very much less time than the real-word events being simulated, while in racing board games, the real-world event is quicker. 

     On a related topic, I have found that many racing games can be speeded up by adapting any or all of the following rules: 1) Turn order follows the order of the cars in the race. This tends to fix blocking problems, assuming the game is one in which blocking is not supposed to be frequent. 2) Each player gets to move two to four times each turn instead of just once. This takes advantage of the fact that most people can make three moves together in less time than the sum of the times it would take them to make three separate moves on three separate turns. 3) Players use timers during their moves. Depending on the game, 15 to 40 seconds seems right. Timers also really seem to improve the excitement and drama in some racing games. Players must of course decide what happens when times are exceeded.

  -Mike