Messing around with graphic design
One of the things I’ve been trying to do with Grand Trunk Games is not to just make 18xx more available, affordable, and approachable, but also to give it a much needed face-lift. Now I know that there are a lot of fans of the “barebones” look that 18xx games have, I know because I’m one of them.
Thus far, most attempts at making 18xx look more aesthetically appealing actually ended up compromising on the game’s usability. There is a balance that needs to be struck between functional graphic design and appealing game aesthetic. The aesthetic should not get in the way of the game’s usability, but should complement it. I don’t believe that balance has been struck yet for 18xx which is why I think a lot of the fans of the genre hate the idea of changing it. They’d rather have a presentation that is functional over one that is pretty but a hindrance to gameplay. Perhaps that balance can’t be struck and it’s just a pipe dream, but I think as long as I’m at least pursuing it, I’m hoping it will be better than anything currently out there.
So the first reaction is then “So Josh, you’re going to put a bunch of graphics/textures on the board and try to have it complement what’s already there?” Well… no. Before I go down the road of doing anything to the aesthetics, the first task is to dig into the current presentation of graphic design and ask “Is this really the best way to present it?” I think that first step is what was missing for a lot of the previous games when it came to balancing usability and aesthetics.
As an example, many 18xx games put phase information on the company charters. Makes sense right? We have these big charters, instead of having blank space, let’s put some info there. I was convinced for a long time that this was the best place for phase info — so convinced in fact I tried shoving even more info on the charters for my 1830 print-and-play. I was convinced of this until I started regularly teaching 18xx to new players.
After operating your company for one round, you might have money, trains, private companies, shares, tokens, loan markers all on a single charter. A new player at the table would ask “Oh when does so-and-so happen?” I’d point out the info was on the charter and there’s this moment of shock when they say “Oh, that was there??” It dawned on me that while printing that info on the charter saves space, you have to pick up and shift around all kinds of components to utilize it. It seems so obvious now, but I was so convinced that the info should be on the charter I rationalized the fact that it was covered up half the time.
This is around the time that I started working on double-sided player aids.
One side has phase info and the other has actions a player can take during various rounds. I found that a new player is often looking for information as they are getting introduced to the flow of the game. Having a component that acts as a lifeline for knowing what to do or where they are in the game makes a big difference for learning. Something intuitive for a veteran player like the operating order of “lay, station, run, pay/withhold, buy trains” is not at all intuitive to a new player. Every new player I’ve seen goes step-by-step with the player aid for the first few operating rounds as they start committing the procedure to memory. So yeah… an embarrassing amount of time spent to have the revelation that “Oh yeah… player aids are a good thing.”
As a second example, isn’t it kind of funny that the change of phases in 18xx affect all players universally yet that information is often not universally tracked? In a lot of Euro games, you’ll typically see some kind of round tracker that will either trigger events or signal the progression of the game. In 18xx, that round tracker is the train cards, yet when I buy the first 3 train, how come I have to look somewhere else to see the effects of that purchase? There is a visual disconnect between the triggers that progress the game and what those triggers do. I’ve been experimenting with a “Train Yard” similar to what is included in Lonny Orgler and Helmut Ohley’s 1848: Australia and following the arc of the game just seems to click for newer players. They start to see the Train Yard as the game’s clock and are internalizing upcoming phase changes whenever they go to purchase a train. Sure, after playing your first game this might not be as necessary, but wouldn’t you have liked to have something like this for your first play of 18xx?
That’s all for now, but I might come out with more stuff related to other points of graphic design I’ve been experimenting with like trains, charters, shares, etc. later.
