Greg Strong wrote on Sun, Aug 26, 2007 05:02 PM UTC:
Joe says:
With a little work, telltale styles can be pretty much eliminated. First, create a simple format, and a simple form to go with it. A board picture showing initial setup, standard piece icons and basic movement descriptions, a telegraphic [sparse] listing of rules, the minimum info required to play the game correctly is all the judge needs.
I'm not sure I agree with this. For one thing, is not the presentation part of what is being judged? Also, authors often put information about the philosophy behind the design, which helps one to judge the game. For example, in my games I usually talk about how I've attempted to balance the values of as many different piece types as possible, or at least tried to make their relative values difficult to determine. This would be a telltale sign of one of my games, but it isn't fair to eliminate that information. Finally, I think most designers want to present their works in a particular way. I know for myself that if the rules of the tournament required a uniform, bland, minimilist presentation, that would guarantee that I would not be placing an entry.
And if we go the judge route, I hope there would be at least 2 other judges. I would hate to have to pick the winner by myself. I have preferences in the type of game I like to play and it would be difficult to look beyond those. A judge panel, each rating each game based on several criteria, numerically, and ruling based on mathematical total, would seem to be the most fair (as in figure skating.)
Joe says:
I'm not sure I agree with this. For one thing, is not the presentation part of what is being judged? Also, authors often put information about the philosophy behind the design, which helps one to judge the game. For example, in my games I usually talk about how I've attempted to balance the values of as many different piece types as possible, or at least tried to make their relative values difficult to determine. This would be a telltale sign of one of my games, but it isn't fair to eliminate that information. Finally, I think most designers want to present their works in a particular way. I know for myself that if the rules of the tournament required a uniform, bland, minimilist presentation, that would guarantee that I would not be placing an entry.
And if we go the judge route, I hope there would be at least 2 other judges. I would hate to have to pick the winner by myself. I have preferences in the type of game I like to play and it would be difficult to look beyond those. A judge panel, each rating each game based on several criteria, numerically, and ruling based on mathematical total, would seem to be the most fair (as in figure skating.)