Today I’m leaving for a very different kind of city of wonder to attend Burning Man 2010. I’ll be delightfully Away From Keyboard from 8/29 through 9/6. If you find yourself on the Playa, come visit me at 6:30 & Baghdad. I’ve designed two games in keeping with this year’s theme — they’re called MetaTropolis and City of the Phrase, and I’ve love to teach them to you.

I’m still publishing over at the Escapist. This past month’s game is Turfy, a Risk/DiceWars-inspired game about jungle gym warfare. It’s not the game I originally intended on publishing. I’m hoping to polish that one and get it up end of this month. It’s called “omg hire me,” and it’s semi-autobiographical.

On the topic of WordCamp, it’s always nice working in an environment of like-minded individuals. Yes, I came to a conference to get work done. I’m weird like that.

First up is Gygaxian, developed in response to Brenda Brathwaite’s challenge to design a game in memory of the late Gary Gygax. It’s an inverted game of Dungeons & Dragons, with multiple Dungeon Masters (here called GGs) battling for narratorial control.

May’s Escapist game (which actually went up a week early) is myNo, a fun, fast-paced dice game I promised myself I’d work on as a break from headier designs like Gygaxian and Petrol Panic. I’ve been using a lot of dice in my designs lately. Maybe next month I’ll do something a bit different.

Over at Joystiq, my latest Off the Grid column deals with Hasbro’s limited-edition Risk: Black Ops, which is ten times hotter than the commercial re-release of the title coming this Fall. As I write this, only five copies of the game are up for auction on eBay, and each is going for over $400. That has to send a pretty strong message to Hasbro re: the demand for the game.

Sharkrunners is a real-time, browser-based game developed for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. Players take on the roles of daring shark researchers, and take their crews out on the open seas to risk life and life in the pursuit of great white sharks. In their browsers, players set their courses across the water, and are alerted via text message when their crew has spotted a shark. It’s cross-media in a very area/code way, and the game has a tension to it that makes the time-sensitive experience of tracking and observing sharks surprisingly potent.

I worked on Sharkrunners last summer while interning at area/code, composing a lot of the in-game copy, as well as QA-testing the title. The area/code crew deserves a lot of props for the work they did on this game. Show them some love by casting your vote.

As if that wasn’t cool enough on its own, The Escapist was also nominated for a Webby, in the “Games-Related” category. Congrats go out to all the nominees (but especially the ones I work/have worked for).

My contract with The Escapist is not tailored to games, but rather is the same general contract offered to other freelance writers on the site. Because of this, The Escapist publishes my work under a 90-day, exclusive first-publication agreement, after which point the republication rights revert to me, the author/designer.

In other words, my Escapist games can be formally re-published as proper games, provided the actual publication occurs outside of the 90-day exclusivity period. Game publishers interested in working with any of my titles should feel free to contact me at my whole name with no spaces ÄT gmail DØT com.

Not all the features are conducive to proper publication, but games like Petrol Panic and 9am class definitely have that “star” potential.

Last month over at the Escapist I published Petrol Panic, a board game that I consider one of my best works to date. It took two full months of testing, balancing, and hair-pulling to get right. I’m still not convinced it’s perfect, but I’m utterly satisfied with the end product as is.

Interestingly, Petrol Panic taught me the importance of economic theory in game design, particularly in game balancing. A few design problems I encountered were solved with the help of a friendly economics major, who was able to approach certain number issues methodically, rather than chaotically. I tip my hat to him.

I return to the United States two weeks from tomorrow. I’ve been living in France for the past six months, so I expect some degree of reverse culture-shock, as well as a bit of sadness. In April I’ll be moving out to San Francisco. More on that when I know more about that.

The trouble is, designing board games is a difficult process, and designing good ones is even harder. For this month’s game to work, a number of variables, constants, and formulas need to be balanced. How much should gas cost? How much money do players start with? How big is the game board? There’s a right formula to be found; I just need some help finding it.

It’s my hope that readers, designers, and good samaritans will join in the discussion, and help me figure out the finer points of gameplay. A big reason for my attempting this method of design is the potential to create a board game built from user-contributed content. It’s a lofty goal, though, and I might not have the clout to pull it off. Still, I’m definitely open to even the smallest suggestions.

As long as you’re checking out Petrol Panic, you may as well take a gander at Fictionless, last month’s Escapist game. Petrol Panic is actually an attempt to make a fiction-full version of this game. Clearly, that’s easier said than done.

Dry wit aside, I’m happy with how The Filler turned out. It was my first foray into resource-focused gameplay, and I enjoyed the process of tweaking and re-tweaking the numbers. Next month (fingers crossed), I’ll be premiering the game I intended on premiering this month, which is my first attempt at designing a board game. Panic ensues.

The “big deal” of the conference was the inclusion of Buckminster Fuller’s The World Game, a large-scale simulation of global economy originally designed for the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal. Now referred to as the “O.S. Earth Global Simulation Workshop,” the game has become a educational/team-building tool brought to schools and corporate retreats across the United States. There’s a lot I could say about The World Game, but I’ll summarize by calling it a weak game, and an underwhelming simulation. The data used was ten years old, and the game’s odd bartering mechanic, and emphasis on wealth, made it unclear what differentiated an impoverished country from a human interest organization.

On the second day of the conference, a number of speakers talked on topics relating to simulation, games, and conflict. Bard’s own Gautham Sethi talked about Game Theory (which I still don’t entirely understand). Kathleen Ruiz spoke on the role of empathy in games, with examples from her own work (including the beautiful, quest-oriented “Stunt Dummies”). McKenzie Wark discussed his book Gamer Theory (which I recently reviewed).

Eddo Stern introduced us to Darkgame, an in-development title based on sensory deprivation. Bonnie Ruberg asked “Are Conflicts Sexy?” and presented her argument with numerous examples. Ed Halter spoke briefly on various Muslim games, and their relationship to American war games. Finally, Alex Galloway gave an interesting talk on Guy Debord’s Kriegspiel, and his own work to restore the strategy game and develop a fully playable, digital iteration.

I also presented at the conference, doing a short, ten-minute presentation about the role of conflict in game design. A slightly modified version of the slides is available here in PDF format for anyone interested. All in all, the conference was an interesting experience, and a great opportunity to meet a lot of people who are seriously thinking about games.

Also, I’m graduating next week. More on that later.

How to Play:
Because of the collaborative nature of the game, Spectre Academic is best played in classrooms where all students are seated around a large table, facing each other. Spectre Academic MUST BE PLAYED WHILE CLASS IS IN SESSION. The game begins at the start of class, and ends when the professor declares class over.

The object of the game is to have one unique school-related item in front of EVERY student by the end of class.

To play, place ONE item on the table in front of you, at least 12 inches from the edge of the table (possibly more to keep it separate from the supplies you’ll actually be using).

What to place: School items are materials you would expect to find in the average student’s bag. They include basic items such as pens, pencils, markers, notepads, and paper clips. A school item can also be something commonly brought to class, like keys, water bottles, and watches.

What NOT to place: The Spectre Academic is old, and new technology confuses and alarms him. Do not use an iPod as your one item. Also, this is a male spirit, and will take offense to being offered makeup or other feminine products.

The item CANNOT be something you’ll be using during class. The pen you’re writing with and the notebook you’re writing on won’t count, so place a second pen or a second notebook out in front as your one item.

You also CANNOT place the same item as anyone else in class. If two students put out notebooks, one of them must swap for a different, unique item, or else the game cannot be won. (A pen is a pen, regardless of color. But different-colored markers can be played, as long as the color is easily identifiable).

And don’t forget that you can only have ONE ITEM in play. Your materials for class obviously don’t count, since you’ll be using them and they’ll be closer to you.

The chain: The Spectre Academic can get a little anal retentive when it comes to how his stuff gets organized. It is therefore important to arrange the spirit’s materials in a WELL-DEFINED CHAIN. Each item must be placed parallel or perpendicular to the edge of the table, and all items must be lined up with each other. Incidentally, this will also help your peers identify which items are in play.

Collaborating: It’s beneficial to tell as many people about the game as possible before class begins, in order to maximize its potential success. DURING CLASS, NO ONE MAY MENTION THE GAME. If anyone talks about or asks about the game (including the professor), the game is over.

That said, you may silently help out classmates adjacent to you by placing or repositioning items in front of them, as long as it does not draw too much attention.

End of Play: At the end of class, at least one participating student should stand up and say “The Spectre Academic was here.” If all students successfully played the game, the players should all applaud for exactly three seconds, then stop and resume normal activity.

“Winning” the game means you’ve been temporarily freed from the spectre’s possession. If you find students playing in other classes, however, you should feel compelled to join in…

Spectre Academic. Game Design by Scott Jon Siegel. September, 2006.

» Old classroom, Ruby, Arizona by ricksoloway on Flickr. Thanks!