I thought I’d stick with the idea of a print ‘n play, solitaire game, after last week’s Halloween foray in that direction.
This time it’s Until Dawn, a 2012 developed game by designer Jack Bennett.
The game was actually created for a solitaire print ’n play contest on www.boardgamegeek.com, a site which runs a lot of contests if you fancy yourself a game designer. As an aside the interaction which takes place among the designers as games go from broad ideas to playable game creations is quite fascinating to watch in the forums.
For Bennett to create a solitaire game was not unusual. When asked if he was a fan his response was “I am.”
He went on to explain, “outside of a monthly game night and a yearly game weekend, solitaire games are how I get most of my boardgaming in. In the past year or so, solo gaming seems to have caught on in a wider audience, so more solo games are starting to show up, and more multiplayer games are starting to add solo options.”
So what is the key to making a solitaire game worth the effort?
“‘Worth the effort’ is an interesting way to put it,” said Bennett. “Boardgames in general do require more effort than other solo activities such as reading, watching TV, or playing a videogame. You have to set it up, learn the rules, manipulate components, and pack it all away when you’re done. Much more effort than just flipping to the bookmarked page.
“To make it worth the effort, you have to make sure that the player is getting something worthy out of it. And since there are so many different players who want a variety of things out of games, I can’t say that there’s one easy way to please them all. Some players want a good story, others want a good puzzle, others just want to do something with their hands for 20 minutes and not have to think too hard.
“For myself, I consciously try to avoid mechanics that require a lot of player input for little output. Shuffling decks of cards over and over, or adding up tons of numbers, only to have one small things happen that isn’t of much consequence. For me, that makes playing the game not worth the effort.”
Is there a key to a good PnP game?
“All the same things that are key to a good non-PnP game,” said Bennett. “The only thing that’ll be different is that your players are going to have to assemble this themselves, so keeping that in mind is always smart. Trying to design things such that you require players to provide tons of their own tokens or dice. Or to have to cut out 400 cards. Then again, there are huge PnP games out there that people have really enjoyed. Low-ink options are always nice to do, if possible.”
Until Dawn is a game which actually ended up looking and playing great.
The game won the Best Horror/Zombie/Monster category in the contest, as well as Best Artwork. The artist was Caroline Dougherty.
Helping make Until Dawn a cut above the norm in terms of PnP games is a website dedicated to it (www.corvidgames.com).
Actually the site references other games too, but Until Dark drew me there initially.
It’s always a bonus to have a site to learn more about a game.
“Until Dawn is a solitaire card game in which you play as John Woods in an attempt to defend your small cabin from a zombie attack. With the help of your dog, Jasper, and a loaded shotgun, you must stave off the zombies attempting to breach the four entrances to the cabin, and survive until dawn,” relates the website.
“Worse, Woods’ wife, Rebecca, is suffering from a zombie bite to the arm, and is doing everything in her power to keep from being overcome by the zombie infection.
“With a limited amount of time to prepare, and a small number of shotgun shells, can you defend the cabin until the sun rises, while also keeping Jasper and Rebecca alive?”
The game mechanics do a nice job on mimicking the ever increasing threat of a growing zombie horde, and you are faced with limited options of how to survive the night. It may not seem like a solitaire game would have an element of tension but Until Dawn is one which that comes through for the player. I usually start with theme instead of mechanics. I’d been working on a zombie game for a while, something massive where players are cooperatively building and maintaining a defensive base against a zombie horde. But I also wanted to enter the boardgamegeek.com solitaire PnP contest that was starting, so I took the idea and scaled it way down to a single house.
Bennett said the theme was the gem which kickstarted his creative process.
“I usually start with theme instead of mechanics,” he said. “I’d been working on a zombie game for a while, something massive where players are cooperatively building and maintaining a defensive base against a zombie horde. But I also wanted to enter the boardgamegeek.com solitaire PnP contest that was starting, so I took the idea and scaled it way down to a single house.
“For the mechanics, I knew I wanted something more interesting that just zombies piling up and you roll to see how many you kill. I liked the idea of giving the player extremely limited ammunition to use only in a tight spot. So that meant having to defend themselves in other ways. Those being barricades, but also the timing of matching sets of zombies.”
The game prints out simple for players. There is a printable board, a few cards to print and sleeve, and a few tokens. At that point you are ready to go.
The cards and board are not overly detailed, but the minimalistic art is spot on for the zombie night attack theme. I like it a lot.
The rules make sense with a read through, although you may need to keep them close for a play through or two.
Now, does that mean Until Dawn is a top drawer, want to play regular game?
No. For me at least solitaire games would never achieve such lofty heights. Gaming is a face-to-face, social activity too me, so a game meant for one is a filler when there’s nothing on TV, and not in the mood to read. That dual occurrence is rare, so this game won’t see lots of play, but just maybe I’ll pull it out in this the month of ghouls for another try at making it through the night.
