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This book looks at a range of topics and design issues pertinent to the history, current state of design, and to developing trends within the hobby, industry, and the adjacent field of game scholarship.
List of contents
Acknowledgments. Foreword. A Note on Dates. List of Abbreviations. 1 Introduction. PART 1 Context. 2 What Is Critical Game Design? 3 What Are Historical Simulations? 4 A Brief History of Board Wargames. 5 A Briefer History of Pol-Mil Wargames or The Greatest Victory Is That Which Requires No Battle. 6 An Even Briefer History of Non-Wargame Historical Board Games or Non-Military Complex. PART 2 Design Process and Tools. 7 Overall Design Process. 8 Devising a Thesis. 9 Common Components and Major Mechanics. 10 Major Card Functions and Metaphors. 11 Board Design. 12 Development and Publication. PART 3 Designing Historical Board Wargames. 13 Historical Board Wargame Design: Reference Books and Conventions Overview. 14 Design Conventions: Units. 15 Design Conventions: Combat Resolution. 16 Design Conventions: Movement, Morale, and More. 17 Design "Unconventions". PART 4 Designing Non-Wargame Historical Board Games. 18 Case Study #1: Operation Barclay. 19 Case Study #2: Crisis: 1914. 20 Case Study #3: Peace 1905. PART 5 Selected Critical Topics. 21 Two Unsolvable Problems in Historical Board Game Design. 22 War Stories: Intersections in Storytelling and Board Wargame Design. 23 The Postcolonial Turn. 24 Paper Beats Silicon. Index.
About the author
Maurice W. Suckling teaches and researches games at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, NY. He is also a game designer. His first published game was Driver (1999) for the PlayStation, for which he wrote the script. The game won a BAFTA in the Interactive: Moving Images category. Since then, he has worked on over 50 published video games, including Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (2014), Civilization VI (2016), and Lost Words: Beyond the Page (2020). He has also published five board games. His second published game, Chancellorsville: 1863 (2020) won the Charles S. Roberts Award for the Best American Civil War Era Board wargame in 2021.
Summary
This book looks at a range of topics and design issues pertinent to the history, current state of design, and to developing trends within the hobby, industry, and the adjacent field of game scholarship.
