Multiplayer Manifesto

[KYakerDude]

My inclination is to think that what this really means is that any game with online multiplayer needs a dedicated paragraph in the review for this information.

That would be great. The quality of the online play feature makes or breaks it; it is not enough that online play is available. I realize that reviewing this before the official release is challenging. It seems you really need two reviewers to really evaluate online play. Maybe developers would be willing to help.

it’s a combination of the importance of yomi, the granularity of turns, legibility of the game state, and duration. Games in which very little happens in a turn need to be pretty short or else games take forever.

This really is important to how a game works in online play. A really poor example of this is the new Potion Explosion. I like the game itself; it is light fun. But playing online is a pain because of the many problems I mention above.[quote=“rinelk, post:20, topic:331”]
I’m feeling like there’s enough interesting content in this thread that it might make sense to simply write a front-page post about what makes a good review of multiplayer content. Anyone object to me doing so, and calling out users by username for their contributions?
[/quote]
Please do.

I started this post for two reasons. I expect there are games out there that have great online experience, but I just haven’t found or played them. (I’m guessing Stone Age is one. ) And, I’m hoping if these features are talked about in reviews then board game app developers will think about them and they will not just be an afterthought for online play.

[Blackfyre]

I would like to add my 2 cents here:

1. I think that not all games are well suited to be played online. The target audience would be above 25 years old, majorly above 30-35. Hence async gamemode would usually suit their lifestyles best. Live multiplayer should only be reserved for games that can be played and finished in a very short time. As much as I like the commitment of the Talisman team, I can only hardy imagine anyone would sit continuously for hours in front of his PC or tablet to finish a multiplayer game. Most games of Talisman are still played single player.

2. Not all games are good to be played async. Games with lot of player input in between turns are not suited for that kind of gameplay. Gamedesign should consider this.

3. Yes, an easy setup is a plus

4. Replay of your opponent(s) turns is essential in most games and help bring new players to the game, not just the hardcore gamers, who are satisfied with a log.

5. As point 3 and 4 are about convenience and accessibility, a proper endgame screen is an essential part of that as well, so is the option to replay the game again under same conditions and replay the opponent with a different faction (like SW for example).

6. If you have a bigger publisher/developer like Playdek or DoW, a Friends list is very convenient. You can log in from any game and find/invite your buddies. In all other cases, an option for password protected private game is the way to go.

7. Do not allow cheating. I do not like the Slitherine system for that reason. You play your turn, and if you did not like the outcome just replay it before sending your turn.

8. An in-game Chat option is preferable but not essential.

9. Notifications, of course. Why not per email, it is best for cross-platform gaming. But Badges are most convenient, if implemented correctly.

10. I personally like things like stats. How many times did I win/loose, how is my “elo”, a global/friends leaderboards, etc.

In about 7 years of iOS-gaming, I would give the price for best online gaming without hesitation to Playdek. Second are Coding Monkeys. Starbase Orion is also good. Personally I like the implementation of “Café Internationale” very much, although I am not much into the game itself. BDC get the price for a good effort while missing the essential parts, they messed up good games, believing that they did the best and are not open for correction in the same time.

[JammaTal]

the new Polish studios behind Brass (cublo games) and Steam (mobo studio) did good jobs too.
starting with knowing not much about the needs of async in the beta, they listened, communicated and learned.

now we have two new good async games.
chess timers, notifications, private games (password), replays, consistent chat, in Brass an additional log.
we finished already 3 Brass tourneys. fast and smooth.
way to go.

[Hardco]

Since we’ve got Playdek’s ear, I’ll mention a feature that I don’t feel like I should have to request, but it has been a bit of a nuisance to me.

A couple years ago, I played a 30 minute game of Agricola against a random person from the lobby. It was a great game, but 30 minute games aren’t usually my thing. Unfortunately, this guy has added me to his friend list, and has invited me to 30 minute games several times a day ever since! Without chat there’s no way to tell him I’m not going to play, and me declining every invite hasn’t seemed to get that through either.

Is there any way to lock a guy or remove yourself from a friend list, outside of a system where friends have to be mutual?

[rinelk]

Can y’all think of anything you’d like but have never seen? For myself, I’d love to see greater use of the position-evaluation engine used by the AI to provide post-game feedback. A game which could tell me which of my moves were strong and which weren’t would be a marvelous aid to learning.

Another thing I’m kicking around is what I’m really describing when I talk about a “good” multiplayer game. There are diverse audiences with different needs, after all, and I have various preferences at different times, myself.

[KYakerDude]

A game which could tell me which of my moves were strong and which weren’t would be a marvelous aid to learning.

I’m always curious about how technology can be applied to something when it enables more than simply automation. What can you do with an app that you couldn’t do with an actual board game. Post-game evaluation would be interesting. A similar idea would be for the game to evaluate your playing style. Are you generally aggressive or passive? Are there certain actions or cards you favor? Sure you could keep track yourself, but it would be far easier for the app to do so and to show trends for your play style. There could be achievements for winning games with different play styles.

I just don’t see a developer wanting to spend time making this part of an app though. It doesn’t seem as though it would be used often enough to be a feature that drive sales. I’ve heard thought, that some of the highly popular games, such as candy crush, do this sort of thing but only provide the information to the developers to adjust the game to … drive more sales.

Another thing I’m kicking around is what I’m really describing when I talk about a “good” multiplayer game. There are diverse audiences with different needs, after all, and I have various preferences at different times, myself

I think there are several ways of looking at this. Games that are suited for online multiplayer. Games that are fun to play (that’s what you reviewers do . Games that have good online multiplayer features (thread topic). There are probably other aspects I cannot think of.

Games that are suited for multiplayer seem to be games that don’t actually require much or any personal interaction. I tried Colt Express and found it lacking. I think when playing it in real life you interact with the other players and laugh at their lousy moves. It is just not that funny playing on a screen by yourself.
In addition, games suited for online play don’t require any or much interaction during a player’s turn. Otherwise turns take forever.
I think the history of the turns in the game should generally be less important also. If you need to remember the events from past turns, it is hard to play a game that gets chopped up over days. Carcassonne could suffer from this; you want to remember what tiles have been played so you’re not trying for a tile that is gone. But this is mitigated by the game and app. The game shows all the tiles that have been played and the app lets you see what tiles have yet to be played and tells you which spaces are no longer playable.