Designer Notes

MARCH 31, 2023

So, why should I go back to make a historical, tile-based 4X game? Civ inherited this mechanic directly from Empire, a game from the 80s which had much of the same tile-based, turn-based combat as Civ but without the scope of all human history. Every Twitch stream, you’ll always see a “is this the new Civ?”

Tile 98

Tile Point and Click AI Mechanics 98

Brand Game Development

OCTOBER 19, 2020

ALSO earn the most points by the end of the game. The cards are projects, which act as event cards you can play to get points and try to terraform Mars. At that point, the “Production Phase” begins. My husband is a bit more into game mechanics and the nitty gritty (can’t you tell I’m pleased I married a game developer?

Point and Click 130

Point and Click Games Concepts Mechanics 130

Designer Notes

AUGUST 10, 2021

The big change that always gets mentioned when going from Civ 4 to Civ 5 is one-unit-per-tile (1UPT), which is interesting as 1UPT is purely a mechanical – as opposed to thematic – change. Generally speaking, opinions were divided over (although largely in favor of) the success of one-unit-per-tile.

Tile 40

Tile Point and Click AI Mechanics 40

The Liquid Fire

DECEMBER 29, 2023

Overview My very first blog project involved creating mechanics for a Tactics RPG. A lot of people asked about making 2D maps and how to use different types of tiles like water vs dirt. For this lesson I created a couple of simple images to use for tile maps. It has everything we did in the previous lesson ready to go.

Tile 52

Tile Point and Click Asset Scripting 52

Interesting Choices

FEBRUARY 25, 2015

I've been fascinated by board games that revolve around drafting for years now, and in early 2011 I wrote a post on the pillars that make these games click. These guilds mostly provide variable point bonuses based on the types of buildings the players to your left and right have built. Science is purely all or nothing.

Build 40

Build Tile Point and Click Games 40

Designer Notes

APRIL 1, 2023

For example, at the start of Civ 4, you can just click on Gunpowder, and the game will show you exactly which 11 technologies to research to get there. The system is certainly more complicated than a traditional tech tree, but it helps a lot that many players are already familiar with deck-building mechanics because of their popularity.

Tile 78

Tile Build Point and Click Technology 78

Grid Sage Games

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

And based on the current situation, or plans for what’s to come, you can even pivot your whole build at one point or another. In this test recording, a robot created by the Botcube is represented with a Mutant tile, but will have their own once released. D This is the fourth post in a series on new item mechanics.

Mechanics 52

Mechanics Build Point and Click Tile 52