Introduction
Welcome to HOWTO: Make Forum Games! In this thread, I'll be going over how you can make the best game you can for this forum.
Please keep in mind that this is not the Forum Game Resources & General Discussion thread - if you want to talk about new game ideas and general Forum Games topics, please use that thread instead.
Definitions
Common phrases, words and game terms you'll find in this thread:
- Small-sized: Fewer than 10 players (not including substitutes)
- Medium-sized: 10-20 players (not including substitutes)
- Large-sized: 21+ players (not including substitutes)
- Creative: A game that relies more on the player's creativity than skill/strategy. Things like The FanDex and Broken Picture Telephone fall under this.
- Complex: A game that relies on strategy and/or skill more than anything else. Things like Werewolf, Kingdoms and The Challenge fall under this.
- YPPY: The YPPY rule is a posting restriction that only lets you post in the thread again after 2 or more other people have posted - you-person-person-you. This rule helps to prevent spamming in games, especially ones that rely on players posting a lot.
If your game is not very complex and/or encourages players to post short posts, your game should have a YPPY rule.
Things like Crush A Wish, Finish The Above Poster's- Sandwiches, and The FanDex need a YPPY Rule.
- Light Games: A 'light' game is a game that doesn't require much of a commitment to play (time or otherwise). Some people might consider them 'casual' games, compared to things like Werewolf. So, light games are typically easier to produce and easier to both play and host due to how small they are. If you're just starting out in Forum Games and haven't played in or hosted many games here, try to spot a few light games and get involved in them.
A light game will usually have a simple goal and is very straightforward. Broken Picture Telephone is a good example of a light game as it is very straightforward and doesn't revolve around any complex mechanics or ideas - players will read one message (either text or image) and attempt to recreate it (as either image or text). It doesn't encourage posting in the thread due to how players progress through the game, but still will generate some fun regardless of how low the participation and time requirements are.
- Heavy Games: 'Heavy' games require much more from both the host(s) and the players in terms of commitment, participation, and time. These types of games usually also have a lot of game mechanics - a framework that provides players with a lot of things to do.
For example, in Kingdoms players must battle other players during day phases and be the player with the most 'land' at the end of the game. During night phases, players can purchase Pokémon and items. Regardless of how complex or numerous the gameplay mechanics are, the game encourages a lot of participation and requires a lot of commitment and time from its players.
Things You Should Consider When Making Your Game
As the game host, when you create your game there are several things you need to keep in mind:
- Player count - A game built for 10 players plays very differently to a game that is built for 30 players. On top of this, you may not get a full game of players too. To prepare for this, you should build a game that can easily be scaled up or down depending on how many players you get. YPPY games are different in this regard as players can usually drop in and out of the game with minimal consequences.
- Game size - When building your game, you have to make sure that the game you're making isn't too big for people to handle. As a host, you have to be able to run and maintain all aspects of the game. For your players, the game can't be too overwhelming or hard-to-understand.
- Commitment - As the host of the game, you are the one all of your players are going to come to if something doesn't work quite right. You have to be prepared to manage the game for a certain period of time (a couple of weeks for YPPY games, a month or two for complex games) and visit the forums frequently with no issues. If you think you're going to have any commitment issues while hosting your game, you should organize a backup- or co-host of your game so they can carry the game on when you can't.
- Organizational skills - To tie in to the point above, you (as the host of the game) need to be organized and on top of everything regarding your game. If something goes wrong, you have to be prepared for it. If your game is complex, you have to have a decent way of keeping track of everything. This behaviour is usually reflected in the presentation of your thread, so players will be able to spot an unreliable host at the first glance of your thread. (And an unorganized game typically doesn't get approved, too!)
- Game goals - In this forum, a game will be approved, played, and closed. What are your players going to achieve during that time? You have to set some realistic goals/tasks/objectives/missions for your players to complete while your game is active - a game that does not progress loses players' interest very fast. Common goals are to defeat an enemy group of players or to have the most liked post in a thread.
- Fun, Challenging, Competitive - This is the triumvirate of why people play games. While your game might have a mix of being fun, challenging, and competitive, typically one of those attributes will really stand out and draw players in. So, you can harness that. You can look at the players on PokéBeach and see what type of games are really being enjoyed at the time and thrive on the current trend (or make a really good game to push a new trend!). A lot of complex and/or heavy games are usually more challenging or competitive, while YPPY and other light games lean more towards generating fun. Remember, you can have a fun complex/heavy game and a competitive light game! This isn't set-in-stone, mutually exclusive stuff!
Presenting Your Game
Once you've made your game, you have to present it as a thread in Forum Games. The thread you make will be what the Forum Games moderators see (and use to either approve or unapprove your game for the public) and what your players will see (and use to decide whether or not they want to play your game).
So, to make your thread look as nice as possible you need to:
- Keep your thread organized. Format it properly, make it easy to read. Don't use long walls of text - images and small paragraphs help to break up a wall of text. You can use section two of the Newbie Guide ("Basic MyCode") for formatting codes. Use spoiler tags for long sections, bold and/or underline headings (or even change the font size!), and embed images all via MyCode.
- Use good grammar & spelling. English is the main language of PokéBeach, and writing with poor spelling and grammar makes both you look bad and your players' eyes hurt.
- Be interesting. If your thread is boring to read, players might not even read the whole thread and just decide "Nope, not gonna play this" very quickly. You want to be straight to the point when explaining what your game is - time spent trying to learn your game is time not spent playing it.
- Keep as much of the information in your thread as possible. Your game (in most cases) will be played solely on this forum, and run solely through your thread. Don't say things like "Read the rules of this game in this other thread" - stuff like that just means it's more effort for your players to understand your game. Keep your thread as self-contained as possible.
Title
Optional subtitle/catchphrase/tagline.
Introductory paragraph! Be exciting! Wow, this game is going to be really fun! Here's a quick summary of what this game is - it's totally awesome. This paragraph should be short, so keep your introduction and game explanation quick and to the point.
Flavour paragraph. Optional. This is entirely game-dependant - you might not have a theme to your game, and that's perfectly okay. If you have a theme to your game, don't take up more than 2 or 3 paragraphs of the thread with it. If your writing skills are great, you can get away with a lot of flavour. If your writing skills aren't decent, overdoing the flavour can have a negative impact on your game. Luckily, a lot of games can exist without flavours or narratives.
How To Play
- It's important that your game is straightforward enough for new players to pick up.
- You can do this by being extremely clear and easy to understand in this section.
- How do you play? By doing this!
- Things like game mechanics may be explained in this section.
Rules
- After explaining what your players can do & how to do things, you can explain the rules of the game.
- Things like how long day/night phases last can be stated here.
- This section may also be used to explain player restrictions (YPPY posting restrictions, no outside-conversations, no posting in the thread during a night phase, etc etc).
Sign-Ups
Optional. If your game has a sign-up phase, put this section at the bottom of the thread. Keep your list of players in a table, or a numbered list (the list using one player per line, too).
- Player 1
- Player 2
- Player 3
- Player 4
Banners/Promoting The Game
Optional. If your game has signature banners that players can use to promote the game, put this section at the bottom of the thread (below even the Sign-Ups). Remember that signature banners can't be larger than 680x250 pixels in size!
Code:
[SIZE=6][CENTER][b]Title[/b][/CENTER][/SIZE]
[CENTER][img]https://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/9171b99a750c6bb2932ab68f75db1f2e/tumblr_neybjqvDFV1tl3xcao1_1280.png[/img][/CENTER]
[SIZE=2][CENTER]Optional subtitle/catchphrase/tagline.[/CENTER][/SIZE]
Introductory paragraph! Be exciting! Wow, this game is going to be really fun! Here's a quick summary of what this game is - it's totally awesome. This paragraph should be short, so keep your introduction and game explanation quick and to the point.
Flavour paragraph. Optional. This is entirely game-dependant - you might not have a theme to your game, and that's perfectly okay. If you have a theme to your game, don't take up more than 2 or 3 paragraphs of the thread with it. If your writing skills are great, you can get away with a lot of flavour. If your writing skills aren't decent, overdoing the flavour can have a negative impact on your game. Luckily, a lot of games can exist without flavours or narratives.
[u][b]How To Play[/b][/u]
[list][*]It's important that your game is straightforward enough for new players to pick up.
[*]You can do this by being extremely clear and easy to understand in this section.
[*]How do you play? By doing this!
[*]Things like game mechanics may be explained in this section.
[/list]
[u][b]Rules[/b][/u]
[list][*]After explaining what your players can do & how to do things, you can explain the rules of the game.
[*]Things like how long day/night phases last can be stated here.
[*]This section may also be used to explain player restrictions (YPPY posting restrictions, no outside-conversations, no posting in the thread during a night phase, etc etc).
[/list]
[u][b]Sign-Ups[/b][/u]
Optional. If your game has a sign-up phase, put this section at the bottom of the thread. Keep your list of players in a table, or a numbered list (the list using one player per line, too).
[list=1]
[*]Player 1
[*]Player 2
[*]Player 3
[*]Player 4
[/list]
[u][b]Banners/Promoting The Game[/b][/u]
Optional. If your game has signature banners that players can use to promote the game, put this section at the bottom of the thread (below even the Sign-Ups). Remember that signature banners can't be larger than 680x250 pixels in size!
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