Nano game contest great for PnP

So regular readers will be aware the last three weeks I’ve featured print’n play games.

In general PnP games are a favourite genre because they are low cost, many are just access to a computer and printer. Yes colour ink can add up in terms of cost, but many games offer lower rez or black and white print options or the very cost conscious.

For some other PnP games there is more of a ‘crafter element’. You print the material but still need to build the game components. That can be as simple as mounting a game board, or gluing printed images on tokens, to games that are quite detailed in their construction.

While not all board gamers will have an interest in crafting games, it is an element that at times I can really get into as being totally different from my normal activities, and that creates a refreshing break.

All this brings me back to www.boardgamegeek.com, a website which has often been given rave reviews in this spot. While essentially a resource for a myriad of board games, bringing players of popular and obscure board games to discuss their passion, the site also has members who run a number of game design contests each year.

The contests are great for fledgling designers as they can toss a game into the ring and others very quickly critique them. Few games cannot be improved by having more people with a background in game design and play picking apart the rules, helping close loopholes, adding depth, clarifying rules etc.

A number of the contests focus on PnP, including the 2016, 9-Card Nano game Print and Play Design Contest from which I drew the recent games to review; Kokono, Dynamice and Drakestail.

This contest has been a robust one.

The general discussion thread, dating back to the contest launch in mid-December 2015, rolls through some 38 pages of entries and discussion.

In many cases game entries have spun off into individual development threads, which are great as you could follow the games that interest you most from the entries.

And entries were many this year, hitting 40, which ranged over a number of themes and core ideas. As a gamer you could find something to meet most tastes.

In the case of this contest gamers can try a large range of games with limited crafting. By contest rules the games are based on nine cards (playing card size), and a few common game items, dice, and piece tokens, which any avid gamer will have on-hand.

Not all games you might print will make it past a play test, many just not catching a player’s sweet spot for a game, but that can be said of some rather expensive store bought games that get played and quickly shelved. In this case the cost is so low, you aren’t worried by a dud, and when you find a game you really like a few card sleeves gives you an easy carry game you can pull out anytime.

So pop over to www.boardgamegeek.com, search the contest under forums, and indulge is panning for a little personal gold among the entries.

And by the time you read this the votes should be in in terms of winners in the contest, some of which might just be future reviews here.

Oh yes, the contest is already defining possible rule changes for the contest in 2017, and that is also great news for PnP fans.