I've been working on a game tentatively titled Addict, which is about obsession, dependency and recovery. It runs off of a modified version of the twelve-step program, but it does not deal solely with substance abuse-- the initial vision for the game was one focused on any behaviors, people or relationships which individuals rely on to fill a void inside themselves, usually to the point of hindering or destroying their own functionality.

One of the themes which I saw as important was dysfunctional interpersonal relationships; most recovery programs emphasize that this is not something you can do on your own, but it's also really easy to turn the people who are helping you into excuses for relapse. However, I've been getting feedback lately which seems to say that the interpersonal dynamic isn't what's coming across-- the draw is the potential for the individual narrative and a (hopefully) well-modeled experience of addiction and recovery.

If it's best for Addict that I do my "dysfunctional relationship" game separately and at a later date, I'm all for that. But before I decide one way or another, I'd love to get some feedback. The design blog is here, complete with brainstorms and rambles; I think there are only 7 or 8 posts. If you want to skip to the rough draft of character generation, it's here.

If you have any other thoughts on the game-in-progress, of course, I'd love to hear them too!

I can offer you a general design advice: don't get too attached to your ideas. Sometimes it's best to toss everything you had out the window and start from scratch, with a fresh approach. If you reached the point where you consider splitting the game in two it might be (note the might part) the moment when it could be good to re-examine your design goals, consider their compatibility, and look for a completely new way to realize them all at the same time. Cause, it might be a sign you've experienced a shift of gears early on your way, and you're already some steps past losing your initial goals from sight.

Basically, you need to ask yourself a question: do you actually want two separate games, or do you, in the first place, want a single game that does both things? If it's the latter, designing two games simply won't do the trick and it's probably all or nothing. On the other hand, it's possible you actually want only one of these two games. Either way, you're the only one who can answer these questions.

Elizabeth,

I think you should stick to your original design goal of a game in which addiction exists within a reinforcing social and emotional context. Those of us who grew up in a western scientific tradition spend a lot of mental effort trying to understand how the world works in observably causal and physiological ways. And so it's easy to pursue mechanical game design as an extension of our effort of articulating the causal and physiological mysteries of life. But I think what you'll find when you playtest your game is that carefully modeled causal/physiological factors aren't particularly engaging or fun to play. And this is because it's not particularly hard to quickly learn everything the modeled mechanics have to teach you. What's fun is when a game continues to teach you new lessons. And for your game I think that will come from the reinforcing social and emotional context.

Can I ask, have you read Drew Pinsky's Cracked?

Paul

Filip: right, I'm starting to see that. :) The more I think about it, and run ideas past friends, the more I think you're right. The mechanics are currently a bit fussy, and need to be simplified; if I can just figure out how to fold the emotional context in with simplified Obsession mechanics..

Paul: thanks so much for the encouragement! I think you're right, I should stick with the original vision. I'm not sure how compelling or even how realistic the game would be without the social dynamic; and one of the main lessons of the twelve steps is to really accept your own helplessness, that you can't do it on your own. Yeah. The more I think about it, the less I want this to be a game about four drunks dying alone.

No-- do you recommend it? I'll put it on my Amazon wishlist and pick it up when I get the chance. The concept for this game was actually partly inspired by More, Now, Again: A Memoir of Addiction by Elizabeth Wurtzel, which is phenomenal.

Cracked really gives an observer's perspective on the social fabric of addiction. Get it from the library. You'll read it quickly.

Paul