Game Design + Mechanics

‘Fog of Love’ is the Most Unbearably Awkward Board Game on Earth

On the Mechanics of Doubt

DOUBT, n. A feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction.

Fog of Love explores the ULTIMATE source of doubt: romantic relationships. The fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. The terror of committing to another human. The uncertainty of said human being worth the time, effort, pain, money, energy, and sanity.

Fog of Love is a two-player game, each player trying to reach their own personal goals. The players aren’t opponents, but they’re not on the same side either.

Good board games generate a certain amount of doubt. Usually this doubt is about strategy. Should you have moved 20 armies into Russia? Should you trade four Bricks for three Wheat? Good games make you sweat your decisions. Doubts are usually only removed by curb-stomping your opponents. Or by being curb-stomped. Either way, once someone’s been stomped, you know where you stand.

Chess makes you doubt your intelligence. Our culture, even with its…