Indie Games at Arcanacon (Melbourne, Australia)

[lev_lafayette]

There was some lovely people showcasing some indie/forge games at Arcanacon XXV today.

We got to play My Life With Master, Agon, Mexican Stand-off and Best Friends.

Agon's unfamiliar crunchiness was a little daunting at first, but I can certainly see how the conflict resolution system could be quite entertaining for a variety of circumstances. The combination of competitive goals and competitive play has a lot going for it.

Mexican Stand-Off gets a pat on the back for designing something that had such simple and sublime mechanics that required such quick thinking. Unfortunately (like many games of its ilk, e.g., Scruples) it is possible to take an entirely gamist perspective on play thus reducing the value of clever speeches.

I think I also scared the GM by suggesting that wealthy Americans could play with lots and lots of money and (due to the rather permissive legal code concerning guns I believe you have over there) real guns. Not with real bullets of course.

I'd heard lots of good things about MLWM in the past, but was a bit nonplussed during actual play. Sure, it was a short session so my minion didn't quite suffer the prolonged torture that would have been appropriate, but I wasn't happy with the lack of detail. Just the same, I didn't mind the conflict resolution system.

The real winner however was Best Friends. The capacity of that game to engage in both narrative (and often literal) truth of the 'bitchiness' between so-called 'best friends' and build it into the competitiveness of the game system of itself was great. Saucer of milk for table two, I think...

[muddlepud]

Glad you had fun with them. We managed two good sessions of a smattering of the games. Such a headache to memorise so many rules though so I might not have shown some of them off as much as they deserve.

[lev_lafayette]

Glad you had fun with them. We managed two good sessions of a smattering of the games. Such a headache to memorise so many rules though so I might not have shown some of them off as much as they deserve.

*nods* I understand the difficulty. A lot of indie games can be quite innovative with their mechanics, but when there is several innovative rulesets to remember on a single day it can certainly get quite confusing.

I really appreciated the demo and will mention some of the experiences with our Friday night indie-gaming group.. Erica, Michael and I all forsee some "Best Friends" gaming in the near future.

[Aaron]

I cant believe I totally forgot about Arcanacon!  And they had indie games!! Its too much!