ars ludi

“Hey, you haven’t talked about Kingdom in a while. What’s up with that?”

Good question, caller.

Imagine a cave. A dark cave. In a swamp. Lit only by the intermittent glow of fireflies.

Now in the cave put a figure. A figure facing a wall of rock. Solid rock. Rock from the heart of the world.

And in that figure’s hand put a chisel. A very sharp chisel. A chisel that *could* carve rock. Even really hard rock.

Now imagine that figure isn’t moving. Or lifting the chisel. Imagine that figure is bending his total will towards the rock and trying to carve it with the power of his mind!

That’s how Kingdom is going.

To be fair, that’s exactly how Microscope was in the homestretch too. It’s also how I wrote a paper about Oedipus Rex my freshman year in college. Apparently it’s just a thing I do but clearly I save it for the important stuff.

To translate that from drama into English, I’m scrutinizing every detail of the text with my piercing gaze, making sure it’s what I want it to be and that it’s doing what I want it to do. I’m looking back on all the very best Kingdom games I’ve played and making sure I am emphasizing the things that spawn games like that. And I’m looking back on all the very worst Kingdom games I’ve played (there have been a few) and putting procedural snipers on rooftops to prevent games like that from happening.

I’m rather pleased with how it’s going.

There will come a time soon(ish) when I will let slip the dogs of kickstarting. When that time comes I will dearly need your help to get the word out and make Kingdom happen. I’m not bad at designing games but I’m ass at marketing and self-promotion. I’ll seriously need your help.

She looked me dead in the eye and uttered two words: “Santa. Kingdom.”

A lot of the time we play serious, challenging games; dramatic examinations of life, society and the human condition. But sometimes you know you need a break and some surefire ace-in-the-hole fun. And in a situation like that you might just decide to call in your chits and demand some Santa Kingdom. Real friends would not say no to you. So we didn’t.

Our Kingdom was specifically Santa’s Workshop. We’re the elves hammering away making gifts and toys for good little girls and boys. The bad ones: they get the coal. Santa himself is technically outside the Kingdom, a decision that had major (awesome) ramifications on the course of our game:

What We Played: Santa’s Workshop (Kingdom)

So much elf-drama! There was hugging and weeping and attempts to form an enlightened republic founded on the principle that all elves are people and slaves to no Kringle. I got to play the elf whose heart was entirely too big for his/its tiny felt suit, so every time we thought Santa didn’t love us I got to throw myself in the snow and wail or hug the knees of Robo-Santa for consolation.

From a rules point of view it was fascinating to play a game with a clearly established authority (Santa) that was a complete vacuum in the fiction. Right off the bat Santa was shown to be a weary old slacker who wanted to take a year off and catch up on his reality TV but none of the elves started off willing to step on Santa’s toes (dude, it’s Santa!) which made the unfolding action extremely interesting. Someone finally taking Power was a big deal. Filling the void that was Santa — both in the Kingdom and in our tiny elfin hearts — became the central theme of the whole session.

And no, to answer your question, Robo-Santa is incapable of love, but he will choke an elf if crossed.

Calling all Kingdom playtesters! The playtest has been going great but I think we’re ready to wrap it up. Your deadline to send in feedback is December 20.

I’ve gotten lots of feedback already. It’s sitting in a giant iron pot that hums and glows and occasionally shudders with the wails of the damned. It is some hardcore feedback. But there’s still room in the crucible for more. So if you have thoughts now’s the time to put them down on paper. Even if you already sent back feedback, if you played more and had additional thoughts let’s hear them. Second impressions are just as interesting as first impressions.

There are definitely things I already want to change about the game so don’t think it’s set in stone. Your feedback can make a difference. Would I be using too recursive of a metaphor if I said you could still change the Kingdom? I’ll risk it.

After careful deliberation, painstaking revision, and piles of fantastic feedback from players around the globe, the new version of Kingdom is ready to come out and play.

Is it hot? Yes it’s hot. But it needs playtesters, playtesters to slake its savage fires and tame its molten heart. That could be you.

If you gave feedback in the last round you’ll get the new invite automatically, because you rule. If you’re someone who wasn’t in the earlier playtests but told me you wanted in, sit back and relax because I’ve got you on the list.

But wait, what about brand new folks? People who’ve never played Kingdom before? Never fear, you are very wanted. New eyes are vital. If you want in, leave a comment here with your address in the email field (which will remain hidden) or send an email to kingdom-playtest at lamemage.com. Same caveats as always: I’m looking for people who will play the game, not readers. Only volunteer if you’ve got some people to game with and you plan on playing and giving feedback.

The rules will go out in the next few days. Probably Monday.

Sneak peak from a Kingdom playset I’m working on:

Starfall, weapons-smith to the galaxy.

A hidden world-clave of scientists and technocrats, Starfall is the ultimate arms dealer to the planets. Humble and discrete, they are both corporation and independent nation-state, the kingmakers of all interplanetary affairs.

Starfall’s weapons have no equal in known space. They don’t fight battles, they end wars. They are weapons of mass destruction on a planetary scale. Moons are pulled out of orbit. Oceans boil. Skies are turned into lenses of fire.

The new calculus of war is simple: the side that Starfall arms, wins.

Starfall is taken from a real game we played, our third session of Kingdom ever. I expect that most of the time people will make their own Kingdoms from scratch but playsets are useful for when people just need to sit down and get going in a hurry (I’m looking at you con slots!).

The one lesson I’ve learned from game design is that when I have doubts about a game I’m working on, sooner or later I should stop thinking and play it more. Sooner, actually.

To wit: I had a pretty fantastic time playing Kingdom at GoPlayNW. Playing more immediately clarified some questions I had. Combined with the wealth of playtest feedback I received from the outer planets, answers are emerging. We like answers.

All of which is to say, there will be another playtest draft of Kingdom. I’m working on it right now.