Game Design

Randomization

• Characterising Score Distributions in Dice Games. (GAPD 2016)
  • Qualitatively works through impact on closeness and predictability of various combinations of numbers of dice, number of dice faces, and tiebreaker rules.

Combat Mechanics

• Elegant Combat in War Games. (GAPD 2016)
  • Informal history of attempts to capture fog of war and command limitations.

Design

• The Effects of Biasing Win Conditions (GAPD 2015)
  • How do changing weights between alternate win conditions change strategy?
• Defining the Abstract (GAPD 2015)
  • What defines an abstract strategy game?

Graph Theory

• Graph Theory in Game and Puzzle Design. (GAPD 2016)
  • Very lightweight review of basic graph theory, but some interesting graphs.
• Influence Maps and New Versions of Risk (GAPD 2015)
  • Using influence maps to construct Risk maps to break common strategies.

Ontologies

• Narrative Progression Traits for Role-Playing Games. (GAPD 2016)
  • Applying game theory characteristics to describe roleplaying settings.

Physical Design

• Embed the Rules (GAPD 2015)
  • Use physical piece design to embed rules directly into play.

Puzzles

• The Nature of Puzzles (GAPD 2015)
  • Puzzles are a game between designer & solver.