Thursday Discussions (Complexity can be the Enemy of Fun)

Hey Game Fans, It’s ostensibly Thursday and that means it’s probably an opportunity to talk about Game Theory and systems design and how that works for Players, Game Masters, and Designers. One of the continual discussions (some would say arguments, but i like to think we’re a mostly civil bunch in the game hobby) is how complex is the right level of complexity for a game. This should come as no surprise to any of you who follow my blog on a regular basis, but my answer is “It depends on a couple of key factors.” What are those factors? Well, let’s hop into the Discussion Machine 40,000 and see if we can’t understand each other a little bit better.