Mezmorki

Great episode. As a boardgame designer and player of 4X video games, I desperately want to see the intersection of these two things come together. I've been wondering for a while now we don't see more games "designed as boardgames" but with a slightly larger scope and with all the processing (and graphical wizardry) handled by the computer. Seems like a lot of potential in that realm that is untapped. And I wonder if the audience to try and pitch such games to are not the video gamers, but instead the board gamers. Someone mentioned the Battle for Polytopia (previously named SuperTribes) as a great example of distilling an entire 4X game down to almost the barest level and constraining the play to 30 turns. I'd love to see more games along that line. If Polytopia plays in 20-30 minutes, what would a game that was a just a little bit more complex, that plays in 60-90 minutes, look like? I'd like to see it. Last, something that wasn't mentioned at all are browser games - I'm thinking of Neptune's Pride but also even more so UltraCorps (a long running Steve Jackson 4X game). Some browser games (newer ones mainly) fall into the idle games / clicker territory, but many do not (like NP and UltraCorps). UltraCorp is a fantastically deep and engaging game - but turns proceed at one turn / day (typically). It might take 15 or 30 minutes to get your turn all sorted out ... but then you're off until the next day.