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Session report: Hyena



I spent the weekend playing games with children between 10 and 12 years old, and the big hit was Hyena.

http://www.ludism.org/ppwiki/PiecepackHyena


There are no decisions to make, it's a basic race game. However, the tension of being chased by the Hyena brought squeals of laughter, and they must have played it ten times.


I think it's fascinating how a clever game design can take something equivalent to Snakes & Ladders, and make it actually fun. (Don't @ me if you like Snakes & Ladders.) Here are a couple of other examples of games I have played that manage to build tension without any decisions:


Thunderstorm: a dice game

https://roll-a-die.com/thunderstorm-die-game/


Beggar My Neighbour: a card game

https://www.pagat.com/war/beggar_my_neighbour.html


I'm going to try and look for that kind of tension when I design games. Can the game itself surprise the players, even while they are competing with each other?