Battle Of Edgehill 1642 - Part 1 Set Up

Another big favourite here at YG is the English Civil War and it's hard to believe that it is over 3 years since this lot last saw the light of day !

Edgehill is of course the first major action in the ECW and many who saw action that day would be getting their first taste of battle. I have decided to break this up into two reports, this the first on will cover the set up and orders of battle whilst the follow up will cover the refight itself.

Information on the Battle is avaliable from a multitude of sources so I don't intend to harp on about the build up but instead give you a wargamers view of setting up the clash.

Parliament Cavalry on the trot

A Word on Rules and the like

Like most periods we are a little off piste when it comes to rules, for the ECW we use a modified version of Forlorn Hope. I "modernised" the basics over 10 years ago and they have worked well ever since.

The figure ratio for the game is approximately 33:1 and that has worked perfectly for this particular battle in terms of figures avaliable and the 12 x 6 table here. One good thing carried over from the original set is that each Infantry unit has a set number of figures and rather than individually counting Pike numbers and Shot numbers the unit is given a ratio of Pike to Musket.

Figures are 28mm from a collection of manufacturers including Perrys, Bicorne, Warlord and Renegade.

Royalist Foot Advancing early in the Battle

Table Set Up and Terrain 

For this I have used the medium of video ! How modern of me. For some reason the sound didn't work on the footage so I have gone for some snazzy subtitles in stead.

I managed to locate a number of maps of the Battle all of which differed in some way. The troop set up seems to be pretty constant but some maps show enclosures, a brook, small woods etc it's difficult to tell what was present on the day and what is a modern interpretation.

However I don't recall reading of the terrain having any massive affect on the Battle so I chose to leave the table relatively sparse and just the the armies get on with it.

Orders of Battle

There is a very good OOB at the link below,

http://bcw-project.org/military/english-civil-war/edgehill-campaign/order-of-battle

So the list below is my interpretation of that for the game with the following notes,

1. Forlorn Hope rules have army lists for each year of the war in each theatre, these generate troop morale classes, pike:shot ratios etc by rolling dice, this is how the factors have been determined. So for this stage of the war there are no Veteran Infantry.

2. We rolled particularly well for Ruperts Cavalry but if you don't I would suggest for realisms sake that if you have a "name" unit in a brigade, roll up the entire brigade and allocate the best rolled factor to the best unit.

3. I was unable to find any break down of the total numbers (on the orbat above) other than Rupert having around 1700 Cavalry vs 1300 to his fore. Therefore I have had to estimate the size of the infantry units dividing the numbers present by 33 and then filling up the numbers required in each area with the units in our collection. Our rules need Infantry units at least 16 figures and Cavalry of at least 6, so the eagle eyed will notice the odd unit missing in name from our game, however the men of that unit have been spread across that particular command.

4. Forlorn Hope has a sub morale class of Elite, this can be tagged to any units basic morale and reflects an over confidence not necessarily linked to ability.

Prince Rupert, Standard Bearer and of course his dog "Boy"

The Royalist Army

C in C King Charles LV1
General of Foot Sir Jacob Astley LV2
General of Horse Prince Rupert LV3 (may not use LV to stop pursuits)

Prince Maurice Brig of Horse LV2
Ruperts Horse - Veteran Elite Gallopers - 12 Figures
Kings Lifeguard - Raw Elite Gallopers - 12 Figures
Maurices Horse - Veteran Elite Gallopers - 9 Figures
Prince of Wales Horse - Raw Gallopers - 9 Figures

Lord Byrons Brig of Horse LV1
Lord Byrons Horse - Trained Elite Gallopers - 9 Figures

Ruperts Cavalry 

Charles Gerrard Brig of Foot LV1
Gerrards Foot - Raw - 1 : 1 - 26 Figures
Dyves Foot - Trained - 1 : 1 - 20 Figures
Duttons Foot - Trained - 1 : 1 - 16 Figures
Medium Gun - Trained Crew

Col Fieldings Brig of Foot LV1
Fieldings Foot - Raw - 1 : 1 - 24 Figures
Lunsfords Foot - Trained - 1 : 1 - 20 Figures
Bolles Foot - Raw - 1 : 1 - 16 Figures
Medium Gun - Trained Crew

Royalist Foot 

Wentworths Brig of Foot LV1 
Gilbert Gerrards Foot - Trained - 1 : 1 - 24 Figures
Salusburys Foot - Raw - 2 : 3 - 20 Figures
Molyneuxs Foot - Trained - 1 : 1 - 16 Figures
Medium Gun  - Raw Crew

Belasyse Brig of Foot LV1 
Belasyse Foot - Raw - 1 : 1 - 26 Figures
Blagges Foot - Trained - 3 : 2 - 20 Figures
Pennymans Foot - Trained - 1 : 1 - 20 Figures
Medium Gun - Raw Crew

Nicholas Byron Brig of Foot LV2
Kings Lifeguard - Trained - 1 : 1 - 30 Figures
Lord Generals Foot - Trained - 1 : 2 - 20 Figures
Beaumonts Foot - Trained - 1 : 1 - 16 Figures

Royalist left wing

Gen Wilmot Brig of Horse LV2 
Wilmots Horse - Raw Gallopers - 9 Figures
Grandisons Horse - Veteran Elite Gallopers - 9 Figures

Lord Digby Brig of Horse LV1 
Lord Digbys Horse - Raw Elite Gallopers - 9 Figures
Ashtons Horse - Raw Elite Gallopers - 6 Figures

Independent 
Gentleman Pensioners - Veteran Elite Trotters (Cuirass) - 9 Figures (must remain within 8" of the King and protect his personage)
Legges Firelocks - Trained Skirmishers - 9 Figures
Blue Dragoons - Trained (left flank)
Red Dragoons - Trained (right flank)

Forces of Parliament

The Parliamentary Army

C in C Earl of Essex LV 2
Earl of Bedford - Gen of Horse LV1
Sir John Merrick  - Gen of Foot LV2

Balfours Brig of Horse LV1
Lord Generals Horse - Raw Trotters - 9 Figures
Balfours Horse - Raw Trotters (F) - 9 Figures
Fieldings Horse - Raw Trotters (F) - 9 Figures
Brownes Dragoons - Raw Trotters (F) - 6 Figures

Parliament right wing

Sir John Meldrum Brig of Foot LV1 
Meldrums Foot - Trained - 2:1 - 20 Figures
Saye and Seles Foot - Raw - 2:1 - 20 Figures
Constables Foot - Raw - 1:1 - 20 Figures
Fairfaxs Foot - Trained - 1:1 - 20 Figures
Robartes Foot - Trained  - 1:1 - 20 Figures
Medium Gun - Raw Crew

Essex Brig of Foot LV1 
Essex Foot - Trained  - 3:2 - 26 Figures
Chomleys Foot - Raw - 2:1 - 24 Figures
Mandevilles Foot - Raw - 2:1 - 24 Figures
Whartons Foot - Raw  - 2:1 - 24 Figures
2 × Medium Gun - Raw Crews

Parliament Foot and Stapletons Cuirass 

Ballards Brig of Foot LV1 
Lord Generals Foot - Raw - 3:2 - 32 Figures
Brookes Foot - Raw - 2:1 - 24 Figures
Ballards Foot - Trained - 2:1 - Trained
Holles Foot - Raw - 1:1 - 20 Figures
Medium Gun  - Raw Crew

Stapletons Brig of Horse LV1 
Lord Generals Lifeguard (Cuirass) - Trained - Trotters (F) - 6 Figures
Stapleton Cuirass - Trained - Trotters (F) - 6 Figures

Ramseys Cavalry 

Sir James Ramseys Brig of Horse LV1 
Drapers Horse - Raw - Trotters (F) - 6 Figures
Balfours Horse - Trained - Trotters (F) - 6 Figures
Bedfords Horse - Raw - Trotters - 6 Figures
Mordaunts Horse - Trained - Trotters - 6 Figures
Peterborough Horse - Trained  - Trotters  - 6 Figures

Independent 
Yellow Dragoons - Raw - 9 Figures (right wing)
Red Dragoons - Raw - 9 Figures (left wing)

The Yellow Dragoons 

So that's our set up, I'll post up a battle report next week.

We Are Moving!

The end of an era is here. For 10 long years Frictional Games has used this blog for news about the games, hiring posts, and most importantly tips on tech and design.

After much consideration we have voted in favour of creating a more streamlined Frictional Games experience. In non-corporate talk that means that we have one website, and everything can easily be found on that one website.

Fear not, no information has been lost in the process! On the contrary, as the old posts have been transferred over, all the broken links and images have been fixed or removed.

Thank you Blogger – and thanks to every fan who has read, shared and commented. See you on our new website!

>>frictionalgames.com<<

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People Behind The Meeples - Episode 212: Kennedy Goodkey

Welcome to People Behind the Meeples, a series of interviews with indie game designers.  Here you'll find out more than you ever wanted to know about the people who make the best games that you may or may not have heard of before.  If you'd like to be featured, head over to http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html and fill out the questionnaire! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples. Support me on Patreon!

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Name:	Kennedy Goodkey
Location:	Vancouver
Day Job:	I used to work in film. Nowadays I do data analysis for a major Canadian telecom.
Designing:	One to two years.
Blog:	I do but its not game relevant at this time
BGG:	HobbyistsorDabblers
Facebook:	Hobbyists or Dabblers
Twitter:	@hobdab
YouTube:	I do but its not game relevant at this time oh wait... how about a film I produced that is now available for free on YouTube? https://youtu.be/whW57js2XjA
Find my games at:	Best to reach out on Facebook and I can direct people to appropriate PnP or TTS locations (the picking are pretty slim right now)

Today's Interview is with:

Kennedy Goodkey
Interviewed on: 8/26/2019

This week's interview is with Kennedy Goodkey, an independent film director and screenwriter turned game designer. In addition to his involvement with several movies, Kennedy has been designing games for the past few years. Read on to learn more about Kennedy and his current projects!

Some Basics
Tell me a bit about yourself.

How long have you been designing tabletop games?
One to two years.

Why did you start designing tabletop games?
I did it in my teens and 20s. Got busy for a few decades (the film industry is a time-intensive life), then got back to gaming as a Dad (and having left film)... and the bug struck again - in part because my daughter started getting into games with me, but also because I had a creative hole in my life where film once was.

What game or games are you currently working on?
I've got about 4 that are getting regular attention from me right now...

"The Queen Must Die" - a reversed dungeon crawl where the players are the Kobolds working together to save their warren and queen... except that whoever is "winning" at any given time wants the Queen to die, so they can rule.

"Drive" - a tile-laying race-game in the spirit of awesome/terrible films like The Cannonball Run and Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

"Drop-Stix" - A dexterity game that turns the classic Pick-up-Sticks on it's head.

"Bishop, Baylies & the Baron" - A fast paced card game of aerial dog-fighting in WWI.

Have you designed any games that have been published?
Nope. But I have a good track record at design jams.

What is your day job?
As noted above, I used to work in film. Nowadays I do data analysis for a major Canadian telecom.

Your Gaming Tastes
My readers would like to know more about you as a gamer.

Where do you prefer to play games?
Anywhere there is a game. I get anxious when I leave the house without a deck of cards (I also do card magic) "just in case."

Who do you normally game with?
#1 - my daughter. I have 2 small groups of "the guys" who I play with at least once a month each. And I attend several open gaming nights - with various 'regulars' - sometimes with my daughter, and sometimes not.

If you were to invite a few friends together for game night tonight, what games would you play?
My #1 for close to a year now has been Root. I do like getting my games to the table too. The rest rotates based on whims that last weeks at a time.

And what snacks would you eat?
My daughter and I usually go out for "muffins and coffee" and games at least one morning per weekend. And "beer" is probably the most reliable staple of the other events.

Do you like to have music playing while you play games? If so, what kind?
I do. I'm pretty open to whatever - my tastes musically speaking are pretty broad. But... "the guys" ...we are collectively getting long ion the tooth - and there is a lot of "I can't hear clearly with too much background noise" ...so music is normally only pre/post game. :-(

What's your favorite FLGS?
RainCity Games in Vancouver. That's where everybody knows my name. And it's a block away from home.

What is your current favorite game? Least favorite that you still enjoy? Worst game you ever played?
Fave... Well, Root. ...but Point Salad is making a hard play for that position over these past few weeks. Least favourite that I still enjoy... Pandemic is probably my all-time fave, but I've played-it-out. I do still like "playing" it... but that really means I sit and watch others play - 'cause I can't open my mouth without having an Alpha opinion about the situation. Worst game... I've probably deliberately forgotten. However, this past weekend my daughter and I took a game off the shelf of shame - Barcelona - and confirmed that our year-long resistance to playing it was WELL founded.

What is your favorite game mechanic? How about your least favorite?
Being VERY specific - the way the infection deck is handled in Pandemic - adding a new card from the bottom and then reshuffling all that has already appeared together and putting it on top to go through again... it seems so pedestrian now all these years later, but DAMN - it's a simple piece of genius. Being considerably less specific... I'm a sucker for legacy games. Least favourite... well any of the 54(?) mechanics singled out on BGG have a place and time... but dice rolling really needs to earn it on my game table.

What's your favorite game that you just can't ever seem to get to the table?
I could probably say "Root" again, 'cause it doesn't get to the table anywhere near as often - or with as many players as I'd like. But... I'm going to cheat this question in another way... Dune. I owned an AH copy of it in the 80s and played it until it was hardly usable. I traded it, in all it's literally broken (yet complete) glory for a nearly mint copy of Supremacy with ALL expansions. That trade says all you need to know about either game, no? I'd been considering hand crafting a bespoke version [of Dune] for quite some time... but I'm glad that I won't have to... geez, almost any time now.

What styles of games do you play?
I like to play Board Games, Card Games, RPG Games, Video Games

Do you design different styles of games than what you play?
I like to design Board Games, Card Games

OK, here's a pretty polarizing game. Do you like and play Cards Against Humanity?
No

You as a Designer
OK, now the bit that sets you apart from the typical gamer. Let's find out about you as a game designer.

When you design games, do you come up with a theme first and build the mechanics around that? Or do you come up with mechanics and then add a theme? Or something else?
Theme MOSTLY comes first. But there are exceptions.

Have you ever entered or won a game design competition?
Yes. I've entered a few. The only ones I've won have been design jams though.

Do you have a current favorite game designer or idol?
I could go top 3... in no particular order: Garfield, Daviau, Leacock. All for very different reasons... and the connection between Daviau and Leacock I will staunchly deny has anything to do with their partnership of note.

Where or when or how do you get your inspiration or come up with your best ideas?
Tough to say. "The Queen Must Die" began life as a screenplay that I couldn't finish. Years later it popped into my mind and I thought - THATS A GAME! "Bishop, Baylies & the Baron" - I'd wanted to design a dogfighting game for quite some time (I've always been fascinated by the arithmancy of Ace of Aces) and at a game jam, it fit the constraints we were given, so a game was born.

How do you go about playtesting your games?
I go regularly to a design night at my FLGS. But I'll also post on Facebook or elsewhere that I'm looking for players when I want to go deep. I'll solo or play with my daughter too - for as much as that is worth. And I've uploaded "The Queen Must Die" to Tabletop Simulator, but haven't yet tried the on-line play test... but will soon.

Do you like to work alone or as part of a team? Co-designers, artists, etc.?
Yes. I really love the autonomy of working alone. I like trying my hand at all aspects - though I'm not really good enough at art or graphic design to do those at a level that could sell. I'm also not the greatest businessman. I have designed two games - probably two of my taughtest - with others, but even so I have a habit of running head of the pack at the slightest hint of foot-dragging. I'd love to have a dream-team partnership with a better artist and graphic designer than me, and someone with a better grasp of business.

What do you feel is your biggest challenge as a game designer?
... I feel like I'm answering these questions ahead of when they are being asked! The business. Yeah, I co-produced a movie that sold to broadcast, theatrical and DVD (oddly in that order), but I hated every single step of the business part. I resist it and let my contempt for it get in the way of doing it efficiently at every step.

If you could design a game within any IP, what would it be?
I saw Star Wars on my 7th birthday. I left the theatre and said "I want to do THAT" - meaning making films. I did - though not Star Wars. So perhaps there is a Star Wars game in the future with my name on the box.

What do you wish someone had told you a long time ago about designing games?
Don't stop. Keep doing it in the vacuum - a renaissance is coming.

What advice would you like to share about designing games?
(Again this comes from film (and theatre).) Never toss an idea away entirely. No matter how dumb it seems, or how much it doesn't work in the current situation, you never know when it will be the key to something good. Don't dismiss something because it's impractical - it may seem weird and counter-intuitive, but in the right context it may be exactly what you need. Both those ideas are adjacent to one another. I have personal examples of both.

Would you like to tell my readers what games you're working on and how far along they are?
Published games, I have: Nothing as of yet.
Games that will soon be published are: Ditto.
This is what I have currently crowdfunding: See above re my taste for business.
Currently looking for a publisher I have: The Queen Must Die; Bishop, Baylies & the Baron Both are ready. I have plans to pitch both in October [2019].
I'm planning to crowdfund: :-)
Games I feel are in the final development and tweaking stage are: Pixie Dust; Drop-Stix
Games that I'm playtesting are: Drive; Pirates v. Robots v. Ninjas v. Zombies v. Lemmings
Games that are in the early stages of development and beta testing are: Legacy version of a major license that I will NEVER get and that should probably never actually get a legacy treatment - but was fun to dev anyway. (It's a game about real-estate - yeah, that one.)
And games that are still in the very early idea phase are: Un-named Palace Intrigue - Hidden Identity game that I'd call "Love Letter" except...

Are you a member of any Facebook or other design groups? (Game Maker's Lab, Card and Board Game Developers Guild, etc.)
Yes, each of those and many others - Board Game Design Lab springs to mind

And the oddly personal, but harmless stuff…
OK, enough of the game stuff, let's find out what really makes you tick! These are the questions that I'm sure are on everyone's minds!

Star Trek or Star Wars? Coke or Pepsi? VHS or Betamax?
Star Wars, but only if I had to pick; Coke; VHS

What hobbies do you have besides tabletop games?
We love music in our house. I still get the occasional call for help on film... for fun. And (largely due to having a wife with loads of insider experience) a lot of world travel.

What is something you learned in the last week?
The connection between Depeche Mode, Erasure and Yazoo. ...and here I THOUGHT I knew my 80s music trivia.

Favorite type of music? Books? Movies?
Punk / Post-Punk, Space (not specifically sci-fi - but at least as much about real world space exploration and astro-physics). Obviously Star Wars... but I really enjoy Nordic Noir too.

What was the last book you read?
Game Tek by Geoff Englestein

Do you play any musical instruments?
Yes.

Tell us something about yourself that you think might surprise people.
I paid for most of my university by touring Canada in a comedy troupe.

Tell us about something crazy that you once did.
I paid for most of my university by touring Canada in a comedy troupe.

Biggest accident that turned out awesome?
... no doubt I have one... it's just not springing to mind.

Who is your idol?
Joe Strummer, The Edge, David Brin, Trevor Linden

What would you do if you had a time machine?
I'd call my friend Keith five minutes earlier than I did on the day he died... so he wouldn't have been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Are you an extrovert or introvert?
I am an awful lot of both and not much of the middle.

If you could be any superhero, which one would you be?
The Flash has always been my favourite, so it'd probably be wrong to say Batman.

Have any pets?
A fish. (Sigh, apartment life.)

When the next asteroid hits Earth, causing the Yellowstone caldera to explode, California to fall into the ocean, the sea levels to rise, and the next ice age to set in, what current games or other pastimes do you think (or hope) will survive into the next era of human civilization? What do you hope is underneath that asteroid to be wiped out of the human consciousness forever?
As much as I have all manner of utopian ideals of what I wish the world was like, I kinda feel like people suck and so long as we are around, the worst aspects of human kind will always be there to be fought - so... nice idea, but I just don't kid myself anymore. I sure hope people keep playing hockey and curling. The ice age should about that.

If you'd like to send a shout out to anyone, anyone at all, here's your chance (I can't guarantee they'll read this though):
Hey Keith! Hope you're doing well. Miss the hell out of you still. Can you believe I'm older than you ever were?

Just a Bit More
Thanks for answering all my crazy questions! Is there anything else you'd like to tell my readers?

Geez... this is a lot of questions.

Curling. Once upon a time my Dad was one of the top 100 curlers in Canada. At that time, being one of the top 100 curlers in Canada pretty much meant you were one of the top 100 curlers in the world.

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Thank you for reading this People Behind the Meeples indie game designer interview! You can find all the interviews here: People Behind the Meeples and if you'd like to be featured yourself, you can fill out the questionnaire here: http://gjjgames.blogspot.com/p/game-designer-interview-questionnaire.html

Did you like this interview?  Please show your support: Support me on Patreon! Or click the heart at Board Game Links , like GJJ Games on Facebook , or follow on Twitter .  And be sure to check out my games on  Tabletop Generation.

People Of Frictional: Max Lidbeck

WHO AM I

I'm Max, and I do gameplay programming and design. I joined Frictional about a year and a half ago, and I've been working on one of our super secret projects since.

Yours truly.

For the first nine months or so I, like everyone else, worked from home. Last summer we got an office set up in the heart of Malmö. Since then the amount of days I spend working from home has reduced greatly, though I still do it from time to time.

Setup at home and at work.

These are my two workspaces, the first one in the office and the other one at home (which is rather bare bones right now, moved in just a couple of days ago!). They're quite similar; both the computers and the chairs are the same kind. I wanted to be even more consistent and get the same type of desk as the office one at home, a decision that was ultimately overruled by my better half (apparently it doesn't go with the rest of the decor).

BACKGROUND

Games have always been a big part of my life. Most of my time growing up was spent either playing games or talking about games. But, for quite a while, my family didn't have a PC. Which meant I was stuck playing all sorts of old, weird games on rapidly aging Apple computers. One of my earliest gaming memories consist of repeatedly failing at air-hockey, losing to a hideous pig-man in Shufflepuck Cafe on my dad's old Macintosh.

Eventually I scraped together enough money to put together my first PC, in front of which I would stay rooted for the following years. In addition to playing, I spent a lot of time creating custom content for games with my friends. It was always quite basic though, as I hadn't learned any programming yet.

For a year or so I studied film and media studies at the university, with a diffuse goal of wanting to work in games down the line. One night my girlfriend gave me a push, and I applied for a three-year game development program at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH).

My years at BTH were a mixed bag. On one hand, we had a lot of freedom and got to work on tons of small projects, which was very fun and super rewarding. On the other hand, some courses felt like they were only marginally related to game development. Working on side-projects during your spare time was crucial. I got through it all by finding a good group of like-minded students that I stuck to for the entirety of the education. Our final project was a side-scrolling adventure game called Far Away - you can watch the trailer for it on Youtube.

Perfectly in sync with graduating, I stumbled across a job opening at Frictional and sent in an application. Over the following weeks I answered some additional questions, did a work test and finally had an interview. A couple of days before I would hear from Frictional, I got a job offer from another company in software development. I clumsily explained to them I was waiting on another offer and asked for a few more days. Finally, I got an email from Fredrik and Thomas offering me the job. It was a no-brainer, and I happily accepted.

WHAT I DO

My first few weeks at the company consisted of completing a list of introductory tasks, to learn more about the tools and the engine. This was a lot of fun, and culminated in the creation of a silly mini-game where I got to put everything I had learned to the test.

After I had completed the introductory tasks I got to work on Safe Mode for SOMA, which was something I was really excited about -- contributing to a game I truly thought was great. From the get-go, we felt it was important to maintain the monsters' threatening presence in order for their new behaviours to gel with the overall tone of the game. We couldn't just disable their ability to harm you; doing this would end up breaking immersion (imagine repeatedly throwing a toolbox in Akers' face and him just standing there, taking it). Instead, we tried to focus on how to best tweak each monster's behaviour in a manner that suited that particular encounter. For instance, some might eerily walk up to you and size you up, and can even bluff charge you if you've strayed too close. To further enforce the behaviours fitting with the world, we decided that if you were to actively mess with monsters (like invading their personal space for too long, hurling trash at them and so on), they should still be able to hurt you, just not kill you. Overall it was a very worthwhile experience, and I'm quite happy with how it all turned out.

Now I'm working on one of our secret projects. As the gameplay programmer/designer workflow has already been described in previous posts I won't go into detail, but my days in general are spent designing and scripting events and scenes, as well as programming gameplay systems.

THE OFFICE

Additionally, I thought I'd talk a bit about the differences in working from home compared to working in the office. We're also gonna do a proper office tour later on, so stay tuned!

This is where the magic happens.

This is our office! Currently, we're around seven people occupying this space, probably with more to come. It's quite seldom all of us are here at once though, but there are usually a few people around. And on the off chance that you're here by yourself one day, fear not; there's always the noisy, seemingly stiletto heel-wearing, tap-dancing travel agency crew upstairs to keep you company (seriously).

So, it really isn't all that crowded here. But, seeing as most of us don't work from the office, we often have meetings over Slack. It can easily get annoying for your desk-mates if you keep babbling on and on in various meetings throughout the day, which is why we've set up a separate meeting room. It also moonlights as a test room, complete with a TV, some dev kits and a monster webcam.

The fact that the company is split into people working from home and people working in the office could potentially lead to complications, such as communication issues. In order to prevent this we've made sure that all important decisions and discussions still happen over Slack, to keep everyone in the loop. So far this policy has worked well, and the transition has been quite smooth.

In the end, a typical day of work in the office is very similar to one at home. There is of course the added social aspect of working in the same physical space as you colleagues, which is great, but if you one morning feel like you'd rather stay at home and work, you can. Having this option every day really is quite luxurious.

Other than this, and the requirement to wear pants, the routines of working in the office and and working from home differ very little.

Wanna see who else works at Frictional? Check out the rest of the People of Frictional posts!

Busy Day!

What's going on everyone!?

Today makes 4 days before we have to be out of our old home and in our first ever house that we will own! This meant a LOT of moving today and even more tomorrow as our goal is to be out and sleeping in our new home by tomorrow night!

So with all of this in mind, please understand the reasons for me repeatedly playing all these app games. I will get to physical games as soon as I am able but currently our new house is so small that we can't even fit a kitchen table in there, lol.

Today for the #2019gameaday challenge I played another game of Zombie in my pocket and ALMOST walked away with a win but at the last second I ran out of time and all was lost.

It really is a fun game and I love that its just as easy to win as it is to lose!

As always, thank you for reading and don't forget to stop and smell the meeples!  :)

-Tim

Project Gutenberg is Temporarily Unavailable

The New Angry Birds Game Is A Master Class On Hyper Casual Game Design

I have already discussed this subject here and here, but, from time to time, I like to bring it up again just to remind myself of the huge potential of hyper casual games in the contemporary scenario.

The inspiration for this text was the new Angry Birds mobile game named "Dream Blast". Created by Rovio Studio, the game is an excellent example of how it is possible to create an interesting gaming experience using hyper casual game design. 



The game mechanics consist of a very simple touch-screen gesture where you must destroy two or more connected balls of the same color. If you destroy four or more balls, you will create a red bird. If you create two red birds side by side they will become a yellow bird; and, finally, if you create two yellow birds side by side you will create a big black bird. Each one of them, when touched, explodes in a different way destroying more or less of the scenario. 

The interesting part of the gaming experience comes from how the levels show interesting and varied challenges just by using a touch movement in the screen. The video below shows the intro and some of the main features of the gameplay:



Obviously, Dream Blast uses a business model based on virtual coins that the player can earn by playing or just buying them from the game store. 

Another interesting point of this subject is: how platforms like Google Stadia and Apple Arcade will change the "ecosystem" of the hyper casual games. Will they attract this kind of players to simple experiences with multiscreen possibility? But that's a subject for another post.

#GoGamers

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Warhammer 40000: Space Wolf Review (NSW)

Written by Patrick Orquia

Title: Warhammer 40000: Space Wolf
Developer: HeroCraft
Publisher: HeroCraft
Genre: tactical strategy RPG
Number of Players: Up to 2
Release Date: 23 January 2020
Price: $17.99
Also Available On: Android, iOS, PS4, Steam

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I have heard about the Warhammer 4000 game series over the years but I have not played any of the games until now. I had no idea how the gameplay goes or what it is about. I had to go to Wikipedia to learn that the games are based off miniature board games from way back in the 80s. I will not dwell too much into the entire franchise in general, but will just focus on this game that got recently ported to the Nintendo Switch, Warhammer 40000: Space Wolf.

This game was originally released way back in 2014 on iOS. Yep, this is a 6-year old game trying to find a new home on Nintendo's hybrid console. I don't know how it looked way back on an iPhone but it doesn't look remarkably good on the console. Despite that, the gameplay is pretty solid: it's a tactical strategy RPG similar to X-COM mixed with deck-building mechanics. You control an elite space military team called the Space Wolves and battle against hostile enemies. You attack or move using the cards in your deck. Attacks can be guns-based or melee-based. You can choose which enemy to hit if they are located within the area of attack. If you intend to not attack you can either use movement-based cards to move around the map within a grid allowed or use the attack cards for movement if the former is not available. If you don't end up attacking at the end of a turn, you can choose which way to face in preparation for your next turn.

The order of turns for you team members and the enemies is visible at the side of the screen. You can check the grid on which they can move to or attack next, thus you can plan ahead, but not too much, since the enemies usually far outnumber your team members. On most maps, enemies would respawn until you meet the condition that would end the level, either by reaching an end goal on the map, kill a certain enemy, reach an NPC, etc.

The game's campaign mode is divided into 4 chapters, with multiple missions each. Completing a mission unlocks the next one and ranked in gold stars depending on the goals that you have accomplished such as mentioned above. Missions can be replayed if you're a completionist and you have to win all the gold skulls. The higher your rank is, the more prizes you win, such as new cards, coins, etc. Your squad members also level up, and there are skill trees for them where you can unlock new abilities and buffs to make them harder to kill. This game is surprisingly hard, even on early stages. You will be very much forced to revisit previous missions and grind a lot to level up your squad.

Since this was originally a free-to-play mobile game, it was originally designed for players to engage in microtransactions, such as buying new cards. All of those have been removed on this version, and players can forge new cards. Players can craft common ones which can be used rarer ones. There are even legendary cards, but that takes a lot of tries and you more likely to end up with multiple copies of cards. The game can get pretty hard even at easy difficulty, so you may tend to grind more to get better cards to be added to your decks, and the whole shebang is just a frustrating mess that I myself only tried it a couple of times since it is not very satisfying, to say the least.

Overall, this game is a decent one, though its age tends to show often. The controls are also not as smooth as one would expect, plus it doesn't have touchscreen controls, which is quite bizarre since it was originally released on mobile devices. Nonetheless, the gameplay is really good and can be quite challenging. It's worth investing your time in it, though there are much better games on the eShop to sink your teeth into, like the wonderful Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, which has a similar gameplay. If you are a fan of the series, maybe this is a game for you.

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REPLAY VALUE: Medium

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PROS

• Decent gameplay mechanics
• Excellent soundtrack
• The visuals look a bit aged but still quite detailed, especially on the Switch screen
• High customization options
• Has all of the DLCs with no microtransactions needed
• Quite challenging even at the easy difficulty, but as your squad level up and more cards get added to your decks, the more manageable and enjoyable it becomes

CONS

• Bland story
• No touchscreen controls
• Numerous and noticeable lags are encountered
• The rules are not fully explained; the game starts right away with the tutorial stage, which does show the basics such as movement or how to use cards, but the tinier details are not, which could be a challenge especially to those who are not very familiar with the genre
• The user interface is quite bad, like seemingly missing buttons to input choices, and it look really tiny on the Switch screen
• Missions could be excruciatingly slow, with some obnoxiously hard goals to achieve, like killing all enemies, with only your 3 squad members battling against 20+ enemies and there would be 10+ enemies present at one time and the others come in as you eliminated some

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RATING: 3.5/5 cards and guns… IN SPACE

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Nepenthes, Short Film, Review And Interview

The doubly deceptive title, Nepenthes, gives this short film a stronger impact of what so many go through in their troubling life of finding something they can be a part of. A tale of wanting something to ease the pain of loneliness versus being trapped.

Nepenthes was screened at the 2019 FilmQuest film festival (website).

This Canadian horror film plays on what we do because of love and loneliness.

Synopsis: Max is desperate to make a meaningful connection, but when she decides to meet an online dating match at home she gets herself into a painfully sticky situation.

Ariel Hansen wrote and directed Nepenthes. She was willing to share what inspired her to make this movie and to be a film maker. She was also kind enough to share some thoughts about what she like to be doing when not writing a script or looking through a camera.

What was the inspiration for Nepenthes?

When writing this film, I was inspired by the world of online dating and how horrifically wrong it can go. Originally, I wanted to make a ghost story, but then I remembered an old creepypasta I'd read that inspired me to make the monstrous circumstances a little... different.

What project(s) do you have coming up you're excited about?

I just wrapped shooting my next short film called Clout. It centres around a social media influencer and her fall from internet grace with a healthy dose of body horror and a pinch of sci-fi.

 

What was your early inspiration for pursuing a career in film?

I actually don't remember a time in my life where I didn't want to pursue a career in film, ever since I was a little kid I've been obsessed with being a part of the film and tv world, initially aiming for acting since it was the part of the industry I could see the most of. Maybe I was inspired by the sheer volume of movies and tv shows I ended up watching as an only child.

What would be your dream project?

Well I would definitely love to direct for Blumhouse someday, but there is one project that I have an idea for a film that I would love to make. The only problem is it would have to be either a sequel or remake to Cujo because it too is about a rabid dog trapping people in a car, just under very different circumstances. Aside from that I want to journey into the occult and folk horror in the future.

What are some of your favorite pastimes when not working on a movie?

I absolutely love gardening, especially growing fruits and vegetables. This year I even tried pickling some of my vegetables and I must say that they turned out quite delicious. When my hands aren't in the dirt I also enjoy sewing and curling up on the couch with a good comic book, my cat and a pot of tea.

What is one of your favorite movies and why?

I'm a big fan of John Carpenter's The Thing. It's one of the first real horror films I remember watching on TV as a kid to really creep me out, especially with the amazing practical FX. It was also the film I saw with my partner on our first date at the local independent theatre so it now holds a very special place in my heart.

You can watch the trailer for Nemethis on You Tube (link).

You can also find out more about Nepentheson

IMDb (link)

Facebook (link)

Twitter (link)

Instagram (link)

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