Why Left or Right

The phenomenon where positively perceived protagonists face right whereas antagonists face left has been studied in much greater detail in film theory than in games. The most popular explanation for this is in the western world the majority of written scripts are...

Cooperative Win/Loss conditions

In chapter 1 or in the MOBA scenario, a player’s success or failure is measured by how quickly the player progresses relative to the other players. In the co-operative scenario (chapter 2), player success/failure cannot be measured by their development relative to...

On Balancing Aethermon Specific Moves against General Moves

Last post identified the formula that determined the rough value of a Battle Card in Aethermon.Damage (or equivalent value) = 2*XgValue+2 Of course not every Battle Card can be easily assigned a Damage Equivalent Value – and those that can might not fit an nice...

Drawing Straws (Simultaneous Turns cont.)

Last week we described the rationale that led to the reshuffling of encounters between every turn. This resulted in one playtester questioning whether the order which the player draws their encounter card affects the odds of drawing the special character encounter. So...

Aethermon Focus, The Water Aethermon: Aquus

In the penultimate Aethermon Focus we discuss the Water Aethermon Aquus.  Overview: Just as the tides ebb and flow, so does the power of Aquus’ attacks. Each of Aquuses unique abilities affects or is affected by the use of Energy Cards. As such Aquus can employ...

Ludonarrative Dissonance

We’re trying to tell a story with Aethermon. Most of this is done via visual assets and writing. But fundamentally Aethermon is a game, and if the game doesn’t tell that same story we’re faced with what is known as ludonarrative dissonance.   Ludonarrative...