Tuesday 20 November 2012

Crossovers: Because Two Games Can Be Better Than One!

Whilst sifting through my Facebook feed this morning, I found a very interesting post from Rick Loomis over at Flying Buffalo. A very interesting post indeed!

Both he and Ken St. Andre are very talented games designers and, it seems that like myself, they can't help but wonder what could be done "better" when they sit down to a game. Even games with high production values. This isn't because we like to think that we know better though.

As I see it, all games designers, and indeed all creatives are free to express themselves and their ideas as they wish through their work. I wasn't there at the birth of the brainchild so who am I to say that they got it wrong unless they've made some glaring error?

So, for me, tinkering with a game is more like seasoning to taste and, we all have different ideas on what tastes good, and what's foul. That's why there are so many games out there! A creative individual sees  something they like, cuts away what they don't and those changes change again and again through active play until what you have is a completely new game that doesn't resemble anything like the original, except the theme.

Frankly, it's a great way to go, and you have to consider that the fans have a lot more freedom than designers. Fans can rummage through other games for components without the fear of being sued! Designers have to make everything look fresh, new, and different. So as a fan, you have a lot more freedom, and, thanks to the Internet, great chunks of the gaming community have ways and means to share their ideas.

What's all this building up to though?

A lot more crossover related content from me hopefully. There are a lot of interesting ideas floating around and I want to hook in the ones that catch my eye to share with you all, starting with the two recent additions by Ken, Rick and, Laura Samuelson.

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