Civilization IV designer Soren Johnson, founder of recently announced Mohawk Games, will be at GDC to lead a talk on how board games can influence video game design.
With the recent success of video games inspired by mobile ports of tabletop games, Soren will talk about how game designers can incorporate aspects of tabletop design—deep engagement, player comfort and meaningful choice—when making video games:
Soren Johnson: A Study in Transparency: How Board Games Matter
GDC session
Room 3007 in the West Hall
Thursday, March 20
2:30pm – 3:30pm
What defines a board game? If a video game is described as being “like a board game,” what does that mean exactly? Judging by the recent success of video games inspired by mobile ports of tabletop games, the defining trait of board games is not, in fact, their actual physical components.
Instead, the key factor is the transparency necessitated by the physical design. This transparency fosters many positive traits, including deep engagement, player comfort and meaningful choice. This talk will go into extensive detail on how transparency works for successful tabletop games and what lessons apply to the design of digital games.
Official Website: http://schedule.gdconf.com/session-id/826132
