When I published French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR] in 2021, I didn’t give myself a designer credit.
That isn’t the game I’m writing [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]today[/BGCOLOR]’s designer [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]diary[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]about[/BGCOLOR], but it’s [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]where[/BGCOLOR] the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]story[/BGCOLOR] begins. French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR] started as a classic “car” game, something that you need zero components to play. I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]first[/BGCOLOR] learned the game in 2015 from my friends at Greater Than [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Games[/BGCOLOR], then proceeded to [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]teach[/BGCOLOR] it to dozens of people.
[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]After[/BGCOLOR] the success that GTG had with Medium (another “car game”), I thought, well, why not [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]adapt[/BGCOLOR] French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR] in a similar way?
It was a surprisingly challenging process — I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]swear[/BGCOLOR], that’s not what that this designer [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]diary[/BGCOLOR] is [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]about[/BGCOLOR] — but [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]after[/BGCOLOR] a few months, I’d done it! I’d come up with a way to turn the car game into a product, one that we not only [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]could[/BGCOLOR] sell in physical form but that was greatly improved by [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]doing[/BGCOLOR] so.
But it hadn’t been my original idea, so I didn’t list myself as the designer.
Did you know that Balderdash is just an adaptation of an old parlor game, Dictionary? Scattergories, too — that was originally just Categories, a game you’d play with pen and [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]paper[/BGCOLOR]. And Medium, of course, is an adaptation of a game that I’d learned in dozens of improv classes over the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]years[/BGCOLOR].
All of [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]those[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]games[/BGCOLOR] (and many more: Jenga is a somewhat controversial example) credit designers who didn’t strictly “design” the game.
It’s been [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]three[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]years[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]since[/BGCOLOR] we launched French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR] on Kickstarter, and my opinions have somewhat softened on the matter. At the risk of getting too philosophical here, what does it even mean to “design” a game? Keith Richards once told Eric Idle that he couldn’t [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]claim[/BGCOLOR] credit for writing his [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]songs[/BGCOLOR], only for [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]being[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]awake[/BGCOLOR] when they came in. An idea is only as good as its execution, and Thomas Edison famously said that genius was one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.
If you’ve ever designed a game and properly gone through the process, you’ll know: The work isn’t in coming up with the idea; it’s [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]about[/BGCOLOR] honing it and presenting it in its best form.
I didn’t come up with the idea for French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR], but I did recognize its potential as a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]boxed[/BGCOLOR] product. Anyone else [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]could[/BGCOLOR] have – I’ve played the game with many designers over the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]years[/BGCOLOR]. (Christopher Badell himself was the one who taught it to me!) And as I mentioned, it took me months to hammer it into a functional product. When something is a car game, the standards are [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]lower[/BGCOLOR]; once you’re asking people to pay [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]money[/BGCOLOR], they want it to work consistently and reliably…in the amount of time the box claims it will.
(French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR] – the car game — can last for anywhere from twenty seconds to three [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]hours[/BGCOLOR]. [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Turns[/BGCOLOR] out people don’t want to buy a game with that [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]range[/BGCOLOR] printed on the side.)
[BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Which[/BGCOLOR], at long last, brings me to Fiction.
Like many of us, I got obsessed with Wordle when it came out, and [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]while[/BGCOLOR] I [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]still[/BGCOLOR] love the original game (and play it [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]every[/BGCOLOR] day), I’m far more interested in the variants. [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Every[/BGCOLOR] day, I play Fibble, Wordle, Symble, Quordle, Octordle, Octordle Sequence, and Octordle Rescue.
Fibble (by “K & R Garfield”, [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]coded[/BGCOLOR] by “keldor”) was particularly fascinating to me. It’s a simple variant: Wordle, but one clue [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]every[/BGCOLOR] line is a lie. You don’t know [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]which[/BGCOLOR] clue, you don’t know what kind of lie it is, (it [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]could[/BGCOLOR] turn a yellow to a grey, a [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]green[/BGCOLOR] to a yellow, etc.) and the game becomes a game of logical deduction as well as word puzzle.
That intersection is such an interesting [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]space[/BGCOLOR].
On the website, the lie is random. It just [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]picks[/BGCOLOR] a letter, then [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]which[/BGCOLOR] direction to lie: grey > yellow > [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]green[/BGCOLOR] > grey or the reverse. (The lie each row is the same for everyone who [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]plays[/BGCOLOR] Fibble that day, but it’s [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]still[/BGCOLOR] random.) That [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]leads[/BGCOLOR] to a dominant strategy: If the starting word is, say, “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]NIGHT[/BGCOLOR]”, then guessing “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]MIGHT[/BGCOLOR]” or “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]LIGHT[/BGCOLOR]”, or “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]SIGHT[/BGCOLOR]” [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]gives[/BGCOLOR] you a pretty good chance of finding a contradiction, immediately giving you a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]bunch[/BGCOLOR] of [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]known[/BGCOLOR]-for-sure [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]clues[/BGCOLOR]. Less useful when you mostly have grey results, but if you stumble upon a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]bunch[/BGCOLOR] of yellows and/or greens, it’s a good idea to [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR] very similar [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] so that you can lock in some of [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]those[/BGCOLOR] letters.
I [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]still[/BGCOLOR] love the game — like I said, I play it [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]every[/BGCOLOR] day — but once I discovered that reliable pattern of play, it diminished the game a little.
[BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Every[/BGCOLOR] two [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]weeks[/BGCOLOR], I have a playtest session with my friends Sara [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Perry[/BGCOLOR] and Will Kirkpatrick. It’s mostly just an excuse to hang out regularly, but it also serves as a good motivation to get a prototype [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]ready[/BGCOLOR].
I’d just [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]spent[/BGCOLOR] a day playing a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]bunch[/BGCOLOR] of Fibble’s “unlimited” mode, and I kept wondering what it [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR] be like to play it with someone as the liar. The battle of wits in one vs. many [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]games[/BGCOLOR] (Specter Ops, Tragedy Looper) is one of my favorite formats, and this felt like the perfect candidate.
So when Sara and Will logged into Tabletop Simulator, they were met with the single most polished prototype I’ve ever made:
The answer was “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]voice[/BGCOLOR]”
The game was fun enough to keep working on, so I kept messing around with it. A few days [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]later[/BGCOLOR], I played with Daniel and [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]David[/BGCOLOR] Stephenson and ran into the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]first[/BGCOLOR] hurdle:
It took three [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]hours[/BGCOLOR] for one game.
[BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]There[/BGCOLOR] were almost no [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]rules[/BGCOLOR] at this [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]point[/BGCOLOR]. (I was just testing the premise.) I had a five-letter word, they made a [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR], one clue was a lie, and they lost if they couldn’t get it within ten guesses. We were playtesting online, so I was able to do [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]other[/BGCOLOR] things [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]while[/BGCOLOR] they deliberated, but it was [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]still[/BGCOLOR] long.
The Stephensons are logically-minded fellows, and they refused to make a [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR] unless it [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]could[/BGCOLOR] definitely be the answer, so by the time they got to four [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]clues[/BGCOLOR], they had to [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]check[/BGCOLOR] each word against each possible lie from each earlier [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR]…
A younger [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Peter[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR]’ve been annoyed at them for playing the game [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]wrong[/BGCOLOR], but I’m increasingly of the opinion that players are [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]never[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]wrong[/BGCOLOR] to, y’know, try to win. I’d [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]given[/BGCOLOR] them infinite time to [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]solve[/BGCOLOR] a tricky puzzle, so of course they were [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]going[/BGCOLOR] to make use of it. They were correct to do so! And if that results in an [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]unfun[/BGCOLOR] experience, that’s on the designer, not the players.
Fortunately, this was a problem I’d solved during the development of French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR], the game this designer [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]diary[/BGCOLOR] is not [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]about[/BGCOLOR]. The single [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]worst[/BGCOLOR] (and most fruitful) playtest of French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR] had the same [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]issue[/BGCOLOR]: players debating what [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]their[/BGCOLOR] next [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR] was for minutes on end. As the designer, it was fascinating to see them suggest the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]right[/BGCOLOR] answer ([BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]often[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]quite[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]early[/BGCOLOR]), then talk themselves out of it.
The Stephensons had done the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]exact[/BGCOLOR] same [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]thing[/BGCOLOR]…multiple [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]times[/BGCOLOR]. Had they made any of the guesses they were debating, they [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR]’ve likely solved the puzzle just a [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR] or two [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]later[/BGCOLOR].
Puzzle game design tip: If more guesses [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR] give players more information, and more information [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR] lead to them having more fun, [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]force[/BGCOLOR] them to make more guesses.
The solution that [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]fixed[/BGCOLOR] French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR] worked here, too: Add a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]timer[/BGCOLOR].
In a vacuum, I don’t have much interest in designing a real-time game, yet Fiction is my second such one, and the reason is the same for both: to stop players from getting in the way of themselves, that is, to add a constraint to a puzzle so that it [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]doesn[/BGCOLOR]’t take three [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]hours[/BGCOLOR].
Over the next few [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]weeks[/BGCOLOR], I kept playtesting Fiction as much as I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]could[/BGCOLOR]. [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Every[/BGCOLOR] few [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]tests[/BGCOLOR], something [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]break[/BGCOLOR]. My friend Sean [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]chose[/BGCOLOR] the (technically-a-word) “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]karts[/BGCOLOR]”, winning heartily because [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]there[/BGCOLOR] was no way that I was ever [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]going[/BGCOLOR] to [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR] it. (He wasn’t [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]being[/BGCOLOR] a dick; he’s just really into [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]video[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]games[/BGCOLOR].) The solution: a pre-set list of [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] from which to choose.
My friend Christina [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]found[/BGCOLOR] the [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]start[/BGCOLOR] of the game frustrating. She wanted to [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]start[/BGCOLOR] with a concrete [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]piece[/BGCOLOR] of information. This one was a little trickier to [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]solve[/BGCOLOR]; I didn’t want to add the burden of “come up with a starting word with exactly one lie that also [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]gives[/BGCOLOR] some information but [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]doesn[/BGCOLOR]’t give the farm away” to the liar. The (eventual) solution: Give players one letter that’s definitely in the word.
By the time I brought the design to Unpub 2022, I had a [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]theme[/BGCOLOR] and a working [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]title[/BGCOLOR]: “Lie-brarian”. The [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]cards[/BGCOLOR] of random [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] were [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]taken[/BGCOLOR] from public domain [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]books[/BGCOLOR] (Sherlock Holmes, The [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Great[/BGCOLOR] Gatsby, [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Pride[/BGCOLOR] and Prejudice) with all the five-letter [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] highlighted:
This was something I [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]never[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR]’ve done even a year or two earlier, but I’d been co-designing a lot with Alex Cutler. One of the reasons we work so well together is that we come at things from completely different angles. In our big three-hour Eurogame “Providence” (another game this designer [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]diary[/BGCOLOR] is not [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]about[/BGCOLOR]), [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]there[/BGCOLOR]’s a “church [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]board[/BGCOLOR]”. It came into [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]being[/BGCOLOR] for entirely mechanical purposes; it’s just a ring of five connected [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]icons[/BGCOLOR], but Alex insisted that even in the prototype, we needed to find a picture of a church from the 1700s and put it in the background:
I did as I was told, and to my surprise, playtesters constantly commented on it. I’m a mechanically-minded fellow, so the idea of that sort of “[BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]fluff[/BGCOLOR]” drawing so much attention genuinely surprised me — but players [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]loved[/BGCOLOR] it, so when I needed [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]lists[/BGCOLOR] of random [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] for Fiction, I made the fronts look like [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]pages[/BGCOLOR] from a book and the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]backs[/BGCOLOR] were actual covers of the [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]books[/BGCOLOR].
It turned out so much [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]cuter[/BGCOLOR] than I expected, and – [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]again[/BGCOLOR] – players [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR] comment on it constantly.
Design tip: Players like cute [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]stuff[/BGCOLOR].
When a word has a repeated letter (like “[BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]title[/BGCOLOR]” or “[BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]books[/BGCOLOR]”), the Wordle [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]rules[/BGCOLOR] are actually a little complicated. For my game, I highlighted [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] with all unique letters in yellow and [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] with repeated letters in red, as an “advanced” mode – I do all I can to help [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]avoid[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]speed[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]bumps[/BGCOLOR] in your [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]first[/BGCOLOR] few [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]plays[/BGCOLOR]). I didn’t want a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]first[/BGCOLOR]-time Lie-brarian to make a mistake and ruin the game for everyone.
(The publisher was also concerned [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]about[/BGCOLOR] this, so in a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]later[/BGCOLOR] playtest I put a player who’d [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]never[/BGCOLOR] played Wordle in the Lie-brarian role and gave them a repeated-letter word. When they inevitably made a mistake, they noticed a few [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]turns[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]later[/BGCOLOR] and told the players…and instead of ruining the game, everyone was delighted by how much [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]bonus[/BGCOLOR] information it gave them. Not the outcome I’d expected!)
The [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Unpub[/BGCOLOR] playtests went smoothly. [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]There[/BGCOLOR] were two [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]minor[/BGCOLOR] issues. Even with a twenty-minute time [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]limit[/BGCOLOR], some people were [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]still[/BGCOLOR] playing like the Stephensons, debating [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]early[/BGCOLOR] guesses instead of just burning through them to get information. On multiple occasions, I saw people run out of time with six guesses to go.
The solution? [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Force[/BGCOLOR] them to make more guesses. I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]split[/BGCOLOR] the [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]board[/BGCOLOR] in [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]twain[/BGCOLOR]; [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]after[/BGCOLOR] ten minutes, the players lose any of the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]first[/BGCOLOR] five guesses they haven’t yet made.
If [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]there[/BGCOLOR]’s one [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]thing[/BGCOLOR] players hate beyond all else, it’s having [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]stuff[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]taken[/BGCOLOR] away from them. [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Since[/BGCOLOR] then, I have [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]never[/BGCOLOR] seen anyone [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]waste[/BGCOLOR] any of [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]their[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]first[/BGCOLOR] five guesses. (Counterintuitively, this “restriction” on the players [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]makes[/BGCOLOR] the game much easier for them! Making guesses [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]gives[/BGCOLOR] you information; debating what to [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR] does not.)
The second [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]issue[/BGCOLOR] was a strange one. Now that players were taking [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] from public domain [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]books[/BGCOLOR], and [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]since[/BGCOLOR] they knew [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]which[/BGCOLOR] book each clue was from, I kept getting the same [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]piece[/BGCOLOR] of feedback: Isn’t it a little [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]weird[/BGCOLOR] that the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] aren’t actually connected to the book? For example, Oliver [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Twist[/BGCOLOR] contains the word “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR]”, but it’s not like that’s a key [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]theme[/BGCOLOR] of the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]novel[/BGCOLOR].
I knew – I knew – that it had to be like this. But I couldn’t explain why, and [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]since[/BGCOLOR] I can be so incredibly [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]wrong[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]about[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]these[/BGCOLOR] things — I once resisted a [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]piece[/BGCOLOR] of feedback for [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]weeks[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]until[/BGCOLOR] finally trying it out…and having it immediately fix [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]every[/BGCOLOR] problem in the game — I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]tried[/BGCOLOR] it out. The next time I played, I specifically [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]chose[/BGCOLOR] a word related to the book it was in.
What resulted was the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]worst[/BGCOLOR] game [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]since[/BGCOLOR] playing with the Stephensons. The book was Winnie-the-Pooh, and players [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]spent[/BGCOLOR] the entire time debating [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]which[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]words[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]could[/BGCOLOR] contain the letter I’d [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]given[/BGCOLOR] them (“Y”) and relate to Winnie-the-Pooh. [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Their[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]first[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]guess[/BGCOLOR] was “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Honey[/BGCOLOR]”, of course, and [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]eight[/BGCOLOR] minutes [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]later[/BGCOLOR]: “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]party[/BGCOLOR]” — [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]which[/BGCOLOR] was, in fact, the correct answer.
Sometimes my gut is to be trusted, it [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]turns[/BGCOLOR] out.
With that one change made and the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]other[/BGCOLOR] deliberately kept the same, the game was [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]ready[/BGCOLOR] to [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]pitch[/BGCOLOR].
I’d met Joe Wiggins from Allplay (BoardGameTables.com at the time) a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]month[/BGCOLOR] or two earlier and had designed the game specifically with them in mind. He played it at [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Unpub[/BGCOLOR], [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]loved[/BGCOLOR] it, signed it a week [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]later[/BGCOLOR], and sent it straight into development so they [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]could[/BGCOLOR] get it to market as soon as possible.
And that’s when things went [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]wrong[/BGCOLOR].
Not with Joe (who has been a pleasure to work with), not with the developer John (who I’d worked with before), not with the graphic design/artist (who I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR] like to work with forever, please)…but with something I hadn’t expected.
As I mentioned, “Lie-Brarian” (now called Fiction, [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]which[/BGCOLOR] we [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]liked[/BGCOLOR] for its reflection of both the [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]theme[/BGCOLOR] and the central mechanical hook) wasn’t an original idea. It was [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]based[/BGCOLOR] on Fibble, [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]which[/BGCOLOR] was – in turn – [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]based[/BGCOLOR] on Wordle. I’d made substantial changes, listed [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]above[/BGCOLOR] (and I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]haven[/BGCOLOR]’t even mentioned the tokens that [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]allow[/BGCOLOR] players to ask whether certain [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]clues[/BGCOLOR] are true or lies, giving another source of concrete information).
Four [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]years[/BGCOLOR] ago, I [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]never[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR]’ve considered making the game. The only reason I made French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR] was that I’d researched it extensively and confirmed it had no original designer.
But Fibble is [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]based[/BGCOLOR] on Wordle. And Wordle, when it [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]comes[/BGCOLOR] down to it, is really just Word Mastermind. Mastermind, in turn, is just a commercial version of the pen-and-pencil game [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Bulls[/BGCOLOR] & Cows.
So, no, I didn’t come up with the concept — but who did?
Well, that’s [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]where[/BGCOLOR] I ran into trouble. When I mentioned the team behind Fibble earlier, did anything ring a bell? Because for me, it did not. It wasn’t [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]until[/BGCOLOR] one of John’s playtesters [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]asked[/BGCOLOR], “Oh, is this like Richard Garfield‘s game?” that I realized what had happened.
If you’re not [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]aware[/BGCOLOR], Richard Garfield is the designer of [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Magic[/BGCOLOR]: The Gathering. He’s also the designer of King of [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Tokyo[/BGCOLOR], Android: Netrunner, RoboRally, KeyForge, and – my personal favorite of his [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]games[/BGCOLOR] – Hive Mind.
If I’d [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]known[/BGCOLOR] that Fibble was created by Richard Garfield and his wife, I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR]’ve approached things very differently.
I [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]still[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]think[/BGCOLOR] it’s okay to convert an idea like that (especially [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]since[/BGCOLOR] it was so directly [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]based[/BGCOLOR] on another game), but simply as a professional courtesy: I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR]’ve made contact to say “Hey, [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]would[/BGCOLOR] you mind if I…?”
It’s the difference between “random initials online who [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]could[/BGCOLOR] be impossible to contact” and “someone who [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]works[/BGCOLOR] in the same [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]field[/BGCOLOR] as you”, y’know?
The [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]story[/BGCOLOR] has a [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]happy[/BGCOLOR] ending: I reached out to Richard (on BoardGameGeek!) and he replied almost immediately, giving the game his blessing:
I’d been completely upfront [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]about[/BGCOLOR] the inspiration when I’d signed with Allplay, and we had a few contingency options if he’d reacted differently, but everyone was [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]happy[/BGCOLOR] to get it resolved so seamlessly. It’s such a nice feeling when someone you’ve admired for [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]years[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]turns[/BGCOLOR] out to be so pleasant and professional.
Fiction released at Barnes & [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]Noble[/BGCOLOR] on [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]March[/BGCOLOR] 1, 2023, saw general distribution on [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]April[/BGCOLOR] 1, 2023, and hits Amazon on May 1, 2023. I’m really [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]proud[/BGCOLOR] of it; like a lot of the [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]games[/BGCOLOR] I’ve been working on lately, it’s designed specifically for me, and I can’t wait to play a [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]whole[/BGCOLOR] lot more of it.
When I published French [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Toast[/BGCOLOR], I didn’t give myself a designer credit. When it’s re-released in 2024, I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]think[/BGCOLOR] my name will be on the box.
In no way do I [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]think[/BGCOLOR] this is a solved [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]issue[/BGCOLOR]; it’s something I’m genuinely [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]still[/BGCOLOR] figuring out my own feelings on. (And I definitely don’t [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]think[/BGCOLOR] [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]there[/BGCOLOR]’s a “[BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]right[/BGCOLOR] answer”.)
So I wanted to [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]write[/BGCOLOR] this to ask for [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]other[/BGCOLOR] people’s opinions: What’s your stance? Did I “design” Fiction? Did Richard Garfield? Did John Wardle? Did Mordecai Meirowitz?
We’re all standing on the shoulders of giants (Gloomhaven wouldn’t [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]exist[/BGCOLOR] without Risk Legacy, [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]which[/BGCOLOR] wouldn’t [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]exist[/BGCOLOR] without Risk, [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]which[/BGCOLOR] wouldn’t [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]exist[/BGCOLOR] without [BGCOLOR=#FFCCCC]Chess[/BGCOLOR]…) but at what [BGCOLOR=#FFFF00]point[/BGCOLOR] does inspiration become plagiarism?
I’d be genuinely curious to hear your thoughts on the matter!
