Page 43 - spielbox_0717_EN

– a detailed analysis of the events or situation he’s studying. Miranda has the ability to distill the factors involved in a clear manner, and these factors are gen- erally discussed in articles that accom- pany his games. The topics he chooses are the ones that pique his interest from any number of sources – books, casual conversations, or things he learns while researching other topics. An innate curi- osity and a desire to learn fuels his drive to put thoughts into analytical form.
And his analytical skills are not limited to game design; he writes on a wide range
victory with General Erwin Rommel cam- paigns in Egypt.
Creating games from his analyses is another way of making his thoughts tan- gible, creating, as famed designer and writer Jim Dunnigan called , “a paper time machine.” The articles that accom- pany such time machines give players perspective.
As with most designers, Miranda’s main goal with his games is to create something he wants to play himself, with primary focus of getting players to see things from the perspective of the “com- mand” level they are playing. He takes
a couple approaches to the historical situation he wants to design. There is the systems approach, where he puts together mathematical models of events that drive the narrative. An example is the first game he co-de- signed, Nicaragua, where the various insurgency groups had political and military events modeled as number inten- sive systems. The other approach is designing for effect, where he just models the outcome of decisions and events, usually with random marker draws. An example of this type of design would be his Died with their Boots On series where players pick command markers to work toward their goals. This particular series has seen games on the American frontier (War with the Indians of the Ohio Valley, Pershing in Mexico), World War II (The Finnish Front), and modern topics
(Musketeer, 1956.)
I One time boosts
Among his design criteria for games
is the requirement that players have a way of influencing game actions, like movement or combat, rather than simply going with rock solid mechanics. As he notes, “You can expend certain types of assets to give you a one-time boost when needed; for example, a boost in combat. This models the planning and buildup for operations, e.g. armies do not just attack from a cold start position (usually) but
400 NEW WORDS
What would you miss more: BOARD GAMES or SATURDAYS?
NICARAGUA: The first of many to come
of subjects all with the same attention to detail. For example, a recent Modern War magazine from Decision Games included a game hypothesizing a war between Russia and a coalition of East- ern European and Scandanavian forces, called Putin’s War; the game was accom- panied by his article entitled: “Putin’s War: Geopolitics in the 21st Century.” Another issue had a game and analysis article on The United States’ Operation Enduring Freedom” in Afghanistan, plus an additional article , “Global Terrorism, Insurgency, and Guerrilla Warfare in the 21st Century.” In World at War magazine, his solitaire game on Midway was accom- panied by his article, “Grand Strategy in the Pacific: Coral Sea and Midway 1942.” Plus another analyzing Axis chances of
A NOVEL!
spielbox
czechgames.com
41