tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19884352.post8536273687290492693..comments2023-12-03T23:16:56.786-07:00Comments on Cumbersome: Word game as a mechanic?Seth Jaffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12449603052617321357noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19884352.post-2645236225325522412007-12-21T16:52:00.000-07:002007-12-21T16:52:00.000-07:00I hear what you're saying, Seth! I intentionally ...I hear what you're saying, Seth! I intentionally didn't theme Prolix; it would have been a distraction. I think that's the problem with theming most word games, because getting arbitrary points for words is quite difficult to theme well.<BR/><BR/>I'll give you two examples I've never played. Coincidentally, they're both designed or co-designed by James Ernest, and they both feature insanity as central themes...<BR/><BR/>In <A HREF="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/595" REL="nofollow">Escape From Elba</A>, everyone is playing Napoleon (or someone claiming to be him), and trying to escape from an insane asylum. You draw letter cards throughout the game, and you can steal these cards from NPCs or other players. Once you can spell a word specified on the "escape list" (like ELBA), you win.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/24304" REL="nofollow">Unspeakable Words</A> doesn't have a theme so much as a setting. It's a Cthulhu-themed word game, where the high-scoring words tend to drive you insane.<BR/><BR/>When you come up with a word, you must roll a d20. If you roll <I>lower</I> than the value of the word (likely with a good word), you go a little more insane (nice touch: the points of a letter is determined by the number of angles it has, from 0 for S to 5 for A and beyond).<BR/><BR/>You drop out of the game if you lose five sanity points. Another nice touch: Once you're down to one sanity point and the men in the white coats are presumably on their way to pick you up, you can play any combination of cards, seeing as you've just about become a raving lunatic.<BR/><BR/>It may be luck-based, but it's surprsingly thematic (especially considering that, from what I hear, they slapped the Cthulhu theme on late in the game's development!). I'm curious to try it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com