Resource Managment

Something that will almost certainly come up at various points, not least during reviews and Kickstarter, will be my decision to make the game without miniatures, multi-material counters, and thick game boards. I enjoy a well made miniature as much as anyone, well not as much as anyone but probably the average amount, and if the game requires a miniature I'm all in favour. I have my lead mountain and armies of WHFB, 40K, Warmahordes, Malifaux, etc. But if I don't need to know where a character's eyes are in relation to their feet or if their head is higher or lower than a nearby wall, then I have to seriously wonder if doubling or more the price of my game at retail is seriously justified. As a rule I unpackage a miniatures heavy game and stop looking at them after a couple of matches, and I barely register card artwork after a few of play throughs. This isn't to say that I don't appreciate the tactile satisfaction of game elements, every time I build a Takenoko bamboo stalk I smile, and just opening Onitama box makes me giggle like a school girl. I love a large box packed with elements when in Pandemic Legacy it feels like every one of those elements is providing a real game play benefit. When I think of the games I go back to time and again, Pandemic, Carcassone, Hanabi, all are finished to a high level but none of them expect their artwork or elements to do the heavy lifting of entertainment to any degree.

Now, I have game ideas and even prototypes that would require more elements, but I don't currently have the financial backing, artistic department or name recognition to bring them to fruition. I also believe in making a virtue of necessity which means that S.S.O. will consist of a box 200mm x 100mm x 20mm, containing 80ish cards, a rule book and some punch boards, all of which should retail at £15 before postage for a space based game to put 1-6 players through the experience of surviving on a space ship controlled by a murderous artificial intelligence.