[Mob Justice] What I learnt (long)

[iain]

Well the final version of Mob Justice hit the shelves at Gencon this year and I thought it might be interesting to look back on the process that got me there and share some thoughts on the things I should have done differently, what I learnt from the experience as a first time game designer.

Early days
Mob Justice originally started out as an idea for a card game about 6 years ago now. I was playing a lot of CCGs at the time, had a love of mob films and decided to combine the two. It was rubbish and I quickly moved onto other projects.

However, shortly after delving into card game design, and game design in general, for the first time I started thinking about how I could make an RPG, the kind of work that would be involved and what I would make it about. Mob Justice popped back into my head and I began work on it with able assistance of my many gaming friends, who also became my playtesters.

Getting it Together
Over the next year or two I worked slowly on Mob Justice, writing, rejecting, polishing and generally messing around with it until I was happy with it. During that period it stayed as a very traditional game with lots of stats, combat, not very good social mechanics but an interesting resolution mechanic through the medium of poker. It was also a very GM centric game, which sat well with me at the time because that is all I had ever known.

One day I browsed over to a site that I had been told about called ‘Contested Ground Studios’ who were a local games company producing a game called a|state.  I downloaded the free version of the game and had a look through it. I liked it, noticed some errors and emailed the writer ‘Malcom Craig’ to point out some minor errors. He emailed me back and asked if I would edit the first version of the game and the rest is history.

During the next few months the CGS team met several times and during one such meeting I mentioned that I was working on a game and pitched it to them. They seemed interested, encouraged me to work it up and then we could see where we sit. I did, they liked it and agreed to put it out for me.

Tearing it all apart
However nothing, as I have discovered, is ever that easy. A|state was well received on launch and Malcolm headed to Gencon for that year’s Ennies. I had always wanted to go to Gencon and buoyed by his reports from the show saved up to make the trip the following year, a single ashcan version of MJ in my hands.

Gencon basically changed everything about the way I look at games. I had checked out the Forge and RPGnet for the first time just before going to the con and had read up on some of the theory stuff floating about. Meeting these people in person was a fantastic experience and I learnt a whole lot from the different games I encountered from Capes to Elfs.

However there was one experience that really capped the whole thing for me. I had spied in the schedule a set of game design seminars by people like Vincent Baker, Luke Crane and Jared Sorenson. Having a lust for knowledge when it came to game design I dutifully went along dragging my good friend Gregor Hutton in tow.

I was blown away by these talks and they totally changed they way I approached game design. In the second one run by Luke and Jared they asked people to pitch their games to them. I jumped at the chance. My game was torn apart but I cam away happy, knowing that I now knew where to take the game. On top of that Luke sat down with me in the evening and allowed me to bounce ideas off him. It was fantastic.

Rebuilding and regrouping
By the time I landed back in Scotland a new version was written. This version eventually went the way of the previous but all the time I was moving closer and closer to what I wanted. Gone were the more traditional mechanics, replaced by a smoother system that actually emulated poker, using chips to represent things about the game world.

This idea went through several iterations using reputation and stature as your chips, even using the environment off the world as something that could be bet. Eventually the idea of having a more general ‘story chip’ came out of all the playtesting.

All the stats I had had been thrown out replaced by the only two things that matter in a mobster film, Reputation and Stature. These basics in place I came up with ways for individual skills to matter and also for a way for conflicts to centre around loyalties to people and the things that pushed your buttons, the tells. I was getting increasingly happier with where the game was heading and got around to a draft for CGS in March of 2006.

Aschcans
When we got around to putting Mob Justice together for that year’s Gencon, which was the original plan, it was felt, and I agree with them in retrospect, that the game wasn’t fully ready for release. It worked fine, just my writing was a little patchy to say the least and it needed a full edit and reworking here and there.

We decided to release an ashcan version, a concept which was just kicking off that year, of 50 copies that I could take to Gencon and get people interested in the game. It did fairly well, selling about 20 copies, and I also got invited back to the seminar Luke and Jared had done the year before to show off the new game. It was an honour to be invited back and I had a blast answering the same questions I had the year before, proud of what I had managed to achieve.

When we arrived back in the UK Malcolm went to work along with the fantastic Brian Nisbet on reworking some of my ropey writing into a more professional product. I am forever in their debt as the final book is nothing short of astounding. Paul’s art perfectly complementing, as always, the tone of the book. The day I got the final book in my hand was one of relief and satisfaction, the sheer length of the process having frustrated me a bit.

Future plans
Now the game is out, I am back playing it with some friends, and am once more thinking about what else can be done with it. I am itching to try some more noir, detective stuff with it having dabbled with that during the playtesting process.

As for support, any con game I write will go up on the CGS website and I will be attending numerous cons over the course of the next year to give people a taste of the game. Also any actual plays from myself will be posted on numerous forums to make people more aware of the game and what you can do with it.

Lessons learnt
So there you go, a long path certainly but it doesn’t always take this long, and there are some lessons I learnt that I though may be useful to some of the people just setting out to design games.

1) It takes as long as it takes: It’s all good and well setting yourself a writing schedule, playtesting times etc. but only release your game once YOU are satisfied with it. In the end if you release a product you are happy with that will be reflected when you are selling it at cons and when you talk about it online. If you produce something you hate you may as well not have bothered.

2) Reread your own work: I learnt a lot of writing technique lessons from Malcolm over the course of Mob Justice and this is by far the most valuable. I didn’t distance myself sufficiently from the project towards the end to give myself the chance to reread it and see if it was what I intended. I can’t emphasise enough how important this is and how much it will speed up the process of getting your game up. Like playtesting this should be done as many times as you see fit.

3) Know when to stop: No game is ever going to perfect, tough. There is always going to be a little niggle, something that could have been done differently. Get the game as good as you can and then release it, minor niggles will drive you to distraction if you don’t.

4) Talk about the game as you develop: something I didn’t do nearly enough whilst I was writing Mob Justice was talk about it on places like the Forge. Public development is not to everyone’s taste but it really does provide a way to get a lot of different eyes on your product and people talking about it, even before it is released.

5) Actual play is the key: I have come to release that actual play is the key, even from your playtest sessions. Post about the kind of games you are having, what you are learning, what you are changing etc. Again this is just a way to get people enthused about your game.

Anyway that is my tale, I hope it is useful to those who are just thinking about setting out on this path. It is rewarding to produce your own game but you will be amazed at the amount of work it will take. Take it easy and only release when you are ready.

Cheers

Iain