Every so often, one comes across a thing or a moment – a book, an article, a conversation…. a podcast – that sings to one’s heart. This podcast episode is one such moment for me. 

Where to start. 

First I want to applaud you both for drawing out such an interesting conversation. Hearing more about Cole’s design process is such a breathe of fresh air. The core of his process, of establishing a set of experiential goals to achieve and then iterating through different design expressions until the game nails the landing is awesome. It is a welcome break from the retreading past ideas and the formulaic designs that result in nice, pleasant, fine things that don’t push any boundaries. 

Second, I was thrilled to hear about the background science fiction / speculative fiction reading that inspired many of the narratives of Arcs. Hyperion is one of my all-time favorite book sequences. More obscurely I just finished re-reading The Book of the New Sun (including Urth of the New Sun) and am just so blown away by the writing, depth, and scope of that work every time. Amazing to hear those were inspirations for Arcs and makes me even more excited to try the game (waiting for retail release). 

And then on the topic of making 4X games. I designed a 4X game (of sorts) and spent years as a critic writing about them at eXplorminate. I came away from all of that very jaded and cynical towards the genre. 

To use the parlance of Space Biff, the fundamental “argument” being put forth by most 4X games is not at all compelling to me. Whether set in a historic, fantasy or, most disappointedly, sci-Fi setting – 4X games are narratives about conquest and expansion, and the “victory conditions” such as they are often have no thematic justification or purpose (and I level this criticism at my own prior game too!). Sci-Fi stories, like those discussed, have so much more compelling things to say about who we are and what the future might be than recreating yet-another-colonization plot line. 

A unicorn design project I’ve been working on for a few years is aiming to fuse 4X-elements (like trick-taking being an “element” albeit central of Arcs) with a narrative and event-based system. Have either of you played King of Dragon Pass? A bit like that – but potentially deliverable as a tabletop game (or more realistically a digital game with the mechanical transparency of a board-game). The concept also takes the attitude that other players & civilizations that are encountered are not de facto rivals but can take on a fluid range of relationships as everyone works towards a greater purpose (which ties into a grander narrative about the universe – very much in keeping with the spirit of Hyperion). 

I’ve rambled enough. But suffice to say the conversation here was greatly enjoyed and helped rekindle excitement for ideas that I’ve been screaming into the void about. Indirectly, I feel a bit vindicated by this podcast 🙂