The Mindful Geek

Sequels are notorious for being lesser films than the original.   For example, The Never-ending Story was brilliant.   The Never-Ending Story 2 was only okay.   The Never-Ending Story 3 ?   Well…   Trust me, it didn’t make anyone’s favorite list. But sometimes- albeit rarely- the sequels are not only decent, but can actually be better than the original.   Take Star Trek:   The Motion Picture and Star Trek:   The Wrath of Khan .   The Motion Picture was okay, but it’s sequel was much better. So What Gives? Why are some sequels amazing, but others are really…   less-than?   Well, in my opinion, bad sequels tend to be “Film 2,” as where good sequels tend to be “Film: Part 2.” Let me explain.   In the first example, a movie- let’s call it Wallow - was a blockbuster hit.   It sold out it’s tickets in a month, the critics and the people loved it, and the DVD sales made a fortune.   Then the produ...

W e’ve all seen that player.   The one who never interacts with the group, and only really exists to jam their “slash” button during combat.  No one wants their players to be this way, and these players aren’t having much fun, either.   The only real issue is shyness, or unsureness of what they’re “supposed” to do.   This, of course, can be remedied, and that’s today’s topic. Ask the Player Directly One of the best ways to get players to interact is simply to ask them to do so.   This is very simple, and equally effective.   Essentially, when players are doing something, such as talking to an NPC, and one player isn’t saying anything, simply say something like “Jeff, do you have anything to say?”   They may say no, and if they do, just say “Okay” and move on. Reward Roleplay In psychology, this is known as Positive Reinforcement.   In short, when you reward good actions, people tend to repeat those actions.   In RPGs...

Few things make a human want something more than telling them that they can’t have it. This is a concept we call scarcity, and it’s a very powerful tool.   It’s used by politicians, advertisers, economists, and- last but not least, though certainly least maliciously- game designers.   So what does scarcity look like in a tabletop game?   Going, Going, Gone! Most commonly, it appears in a form I’ll call Traditional scarcity.   In essence, games with Traditional scarcity tend to have a certain resource- sometimes several- that is very limited in quantity, but also very important to gameplay.   Importantly, both players are drawing from the same pool.   You need it to properly function, but once it’s gone, it’s gone. A famous game that involves this form is scarcity is Settlers of Catan .   Most of you have probably played Catan , or at least heard of it, but for those who haven’t, here’s how it goes;   The board is built of...

Hello, fellow geeks and nerds, to the first post of my new blog,  The Mindful Geek , a strange amalgam of a publication combining game design, geek culture, and philosophy. We'll be covering everything from board games mechanics to bad sequels, from the Hero's Journey to the Hobbit, and perhaps even a delve into the design of my own games from time to time.  Oh, and for those who enjoy a healthy dose of humor, I've been known to create geek-themed memes from time to time. The Man Behind the Curtain But wait!  You still have no clue who I am, or why I'm writing any of this.  I'm Ethan, a Graphic Designer by day, Game Designer by night.  I've been prowling the Game Design community for a while now, mostly hanging out on the sidelines and absorbing as much as I could, so now I feel like I should be giving back to this wonderful community, and I decided that the best way to do that would be starting a blog.  Hence this post. For Whom the Ge...