Adventure Kids - With a new resolution system

[Larcen]

Hi All,

I was happy to see that this forum is all about game design. Awesome. Having just finished putting together a little RPG for use with my kids, I am looking around for opinions on it since I have never seen the resolution system it uses before.

For quick intro to the game, please see the thread on Enworld:

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3341784

The game can be seen at the webpage I put together today:

http://adventurekidsrpg.googlepages.com/

I am looking forward to if the resultion system is indeed unique.  Thanks for any input.

[Larcen]

Wow, this is disheartening.   It's been a month now and my thread still doesn't have a single response and it's the only topic like that.   Sheesh, I thought this forum was about discussing unique resolution mechanics?   Surely the Ratio System is something worth discussing, if not the game itself.

Hmmmm .... I wonder if I changed the game's subject matter to "mutant assassin robotic alien kids" it would get a better response.... 

[komradebob]

You said you designed this to be used with your kids, right?

Have you gotten some play in?

How did it go? The good, the bad, the confusing?

There are a few people around these parts who have an interest in games geared towards kids. I'll see if I can round some of them up.

[scrandy]

Hi!
I think basically you did a great job!!!
The mechanic is very interesting, because it is simple and someone can comprehend the odds easyly: so great for kids. It is somewhat limited though, because you have very few dice to choose and maybe have to round more than would like, but I think for a kids game this aspect is not that important because I think there will be only limited character development.

The rest, I think, basically sounds great. There is only one thing I wanted you to be aware of:
How, do you think the game will impact on your children?
-- I know this sounds silly, but I am at university to become a teacher and we had that course about learning psychology, and in this course we were told that children do strange things if they are shown to do so in games etc.. And that if these shown things are somewhat in there own limited possibility to redo it on another occasion they will redo that.
Well that was not easy to explain (because I don't tspeak english generally), so I will explain it in some examples:
1.) If you say in your game that drinking a soda will make you speedup, they will memorize it and drink more sugary things later.
2.) If you say that expensive clothes make you more cute in your game, they will in fact buy more expensive clothes later in live instinctively (at least if you play your game more than once)

I don't want to dismantle your game, and in general I think these ideas are fun, but seriously think about it: Your kids work different than us, and while we will recognize the abstract element of a bonus, they won't.

And there is even more:
The more the things you implement in your world are real, the more they will try to redo it in real. If for example they would have to make the giant dragon sleep with a potion, to free a friend, it wouldn't be a problem, because there is no such thing like a dragon or a potion in real.
But if they have to give the neighboors dog some sleeping pills, to get the ball, that has accidentially landed across the fence. They could in fact one day get the strange Idea to redo it in real. And then they will not realize, that in real a sleeping pill is not good for a dog, because they wouldn't realize the abstraction from reality a rpg gives you.

So, I hope you understand me right, I think basically your Idea is great, but you have to consider each element for sideeffects on kids or things that you have to explain while playing (and these things should be in your manual).

Perhaps you know about the kids that put there hamster into the microwave after they played the PC-Game "Day of the Tentacle" from Lucas Arts. - Then you know what I mean.

[Remir]

And there is even more:
The more the things you implement in your world are real, the more they will try to redo it in real. If for example they would have to make the giant dragon sleep with a potion, to free a friend, it wouldn't be a problem, because there is no such thing like a dragon or a potion in real.
But if they have to give the neighboors dog some sleeping pills, to get the ball, that has accidentially landed across the fence. They could in fact one day get the strange Idea to redo it in real. And then they will not realize, that in real a sleeping pill is not good for a dog, because they wouldn't realize the abstraction from reality a rpg gives you.

So, I hope you understand me right, I think basically your Idea is great, but you have to consider each element for sideeffects on kids or things that you have to explain while playing (and these things should be in your manual).

Perhaps you know about the kids that put there hamster into the microwave after they played the PC-Game "Day of the Tentacle" from Lucas Arts. - Then you know what I mean.

I think if parents would talk to their kids more and establish the difference between real life and games this sort of thing wouldn't be an issue.

To the OP, this is a very cool, simple system. Love the different dice mechanic, definitely a cool idea. The whole game seems nice and accessible. Well done!

[Callan S.]

Wow, this is disheartening.   It's been a month now and my thread still doesn't have a single response and it's the only topic like that.   Sheesh, I thought this forum was about discussing unique resolution mechanics? 

It's not really for discussion for the sake of discussion though - its more like a work shop. So, do you have any goals you want to work on in terms of the design? Or state your goals and ask 'Are my mechanics meeting these goals?'.

[Sentience]

Wait, what?! You're not making a game about mutant assassin robotic alien kids?! Gahhh!

No no, just kidding. For realz now. I think you've got something very interesting on your hands. I like the simplicity of it. Sounds like something I'd be interested in doing with my nephew.

As far as how games influence kids, I think a lot adults don't give them credit. Kids aren't stupid. By the time they're five years old, they know the difference between right and wrong. They know what's going to get them in trouble and what won't. I think parents are just looking for something to blame. But anyways, I digress.

I think you could teach your kids a lot if you bring real consequences into the game. In other words, if little Joey decides it's a good idea to dump a pot of searing hot coffee into Mrs. Bipple's lap, he shouldn't just be able to get away with it. If the coffee was hot enough, the teacher would probably have to go to the hospital. Joey would definitely get expelled and probably grounded for a month or two. While this may seem a little serious for kids a game, at least your teaching your kids that doing "naughty" or bad things aren't funny or rewarding. But then again, how you handle situations like this is up to you.

For me, I like the idea of the exciting, spooky summer camp trip. Say, the two kids go on a trip with their summer camp and somehow get lost in the museum they're visiting. Perhaps they see a mouse or something and decide to chase it into the closet which closes behind them, locking them in. Then, once they find the key in a pair of old janitors trousers hanging in the closet, they emerge to find that the museum is closed for the night. Now you've got a semi-realistic fantasy situation where the kids are stuck inside of a spooky museum all night long.

And, as if being locked in a creepy, dark place full of dead stuff and strange exhibits wasn't bad enough, perhaps a group of bumbling thieves (Ala Home Alone) just happens to be robbing the place of the precious Jewel of (Insert important sounding place/person/thing) that night. Now the kids have the choice to try to stop the robbers, or maybe just avoid them long enough to stay undetected.

Anyway, I think there's a lot of potential fun to be had for some lil' pipsqueaks with your game. You should elaborate on it!

[Larcen]

quote author=komradebob link=topic=23360.msg231943#msg231943 date=1174582864]
You said you designed this to be used with your kids, right?

Have you gotten some play in?

How did it go? The good, the bad, the confusing?

There are a few people around these parts who have an interest in games geared towards kids. I'll see if I can round some of them up.
Quote from: scrandy on March 22, 2007, 11:29:09 AM

[Sentience]

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