Archive for Chris Fanchi
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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As many of you now know, Fanfare Games is a very new game company. If you have been following this blog, you should know all about our first official release, Basketball G.M. As a company, it is always important to have an eye on the future and plan for your next move, and with Basketball G.M. being fully rolled out, the time has come to look ahead to a new project. Today I’d like to talk a little about the game design process and how we have approached it. I would love to hear from you, as well, about how you like to approach designing a new game for either your own personal use or for eventual publication.
When we set out to make Basketball GM, the game was just a very basic idea. As Tony laid out in a previous post, Basketball GM began development late last year and by this summer, we felt we had reached a point with the game that it was ready to launch. Of course small issues have come up since we rolled the game out, but overall we continue to feel like the game is strong and ready for public consumption.
Obviously the product that you can buy from The Game Crafter today is quite a bit different than the initial prototype we made for Basketball GM, and this is to be expected. Now as we head into future game designs, there are a series of questions that we ask ourselves, and that I would like to ask you.
*When you begin designing, where do you start? Do you start with a theme that you think is underrepresented in the gaming market? Do you start with a mechanic that you enjoy and think you can improve upon from other games you’ve tried?
*When you pick a mechanic, or combination of mechanics, to center the game around, do you worry that "it’s been done to death?" This has come up quite a bit as we have looked into new projects to develop, and it’s a difficult issue to move past. Although we know that virtually everything has been done, it’s still hard to embrace a concept that focuses on a mechanic which is commonly seen or, worse, is seen in a very popular game.
*When considering a theme, do you care how common or uncommon that theme is in the board game universe? Take Basketball GM, for example. In this case, we chose specifically to do a sports-themed game because we felt that there was a hole in the marketplace as most sports games tried to simulate single games, rather than allow players to control the franchise. As we approach our next project, however, we wonder if there’s a reason some holes exist in the marketplace, and if we’d be better off going with a more well-represented theme.
*Where do you start on development? Most of us designers are going to do a bulk of the prep work in our heads, but at some point it reaches time to put pen to paper, so to speak. I know some people that try to flesh out a basic rulebook before anything else. Others like to design cards and boards first, to see how everything looks. Is there a best and worst place to start, or is it completely up to personal opinion?
At this time we have a couple of projects already in the pipeline and as we work to bring these from the idea phase to prototyping, playtesting and eventually to the market, we think about the questions above. I have spent the last few months trying to immerse myself in the gaming universe as much as possible, playing with a diverse group of people and trying to learn what is and is not successful, appealing and fun in a board game. In some ways this experience has really only muddied the water, but for the most part it has been very enlightening.
For those of you wondering what types of games we have in development, right now our most developed game is a territory and resource control based board game. For this game, the mechanics came first, and the theme has developed as the gameplay has developed. We are also working on the "G.M." concept for a couple other sports, and we will reveal more about those as the projects progress.
So now it’s time to hear from you. What do you game designers out there think about the questions above? Post your responses here!
Basketball G.M. is on sale now for 20% off! Get your copy today! For the latest updates, check out our Twitter feed (@fanfaregames). Also be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games) and check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) for more about our games! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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As we wrap up our demo game for Basketball G.M., it seems this would be an appropriate time to discuss some alternate gameplay options that we enjoy. The beauty of Basketball G.M. is that it closely imitates a fantasy-style draft at the beginning of the game. The rulebook contains two options for GMs to try for the draft: a "Quick Draft" (pick and pass) and an "Auction Draft." The most common draft is going to be the Quick Draft as it allows GMs to quickly get through the draft and on to the heart of the gameplay. The Quick Draft is the method we chose for our demo game and is also the method demonstrated in our tutorial video.
Auction Draft
The Auction Draft is far more time consuming than the Quick Draft but gives GMs much greater flexibility in building their team. Rather than being "stuck with" the Star that came in your draft pack, you could potentially get a different one. And rather than being limited to one Star (unless an opponent passes on his or hers for some reason), you could potentially get two or more! Additionally, an Auction Draft can create greater strategic opportunities as all GMs will know the complete content of the draft pool and will also know who their opponents’ coaches are, thus allowing for more defensive drafting. The Auction Draft is definitely a fun alternative for the more serious players. Check out the Basketball G.M. rulebook for details on how to run an Auction Draft.
"Rochester" Draft
Another style of draft not included in the rulebook is similar to a Rochester draft from games like Magic: The Gathering. In this draft type, all of the players in the draft are laid out in rows of 2 x the number of GMs in the game (for example, a 2 GM game would have 4 players in each row). The first row will contain one Star per GM and one Starter per GM. The second row will contain 2 Starters per GM. The third through fifth rows will each contain 2 Role Players per GM. The sixth row will contain two Free Agents per GM.
Coaches will be drafted in the same way as a Quick Draft, with all players getting two Coaches, picking one, and passing the other until all initial Coaches would be passed around the table fully once. A draft order is then determined. This can be by coin flip, die roll, or any other way the GMs agree on. The draft rounds will be snaking, like a fantasy draft, so the player that chooses first in the first round will choose last in the second, first in the third, etc. The first player makes the first pick and the last pick of the first round, the second player makes the second pick and the second-to-last pick, and so on.
This draft type can be a lot of fun but it may favor the GM that goes first, depending on the distribution of the players and the quality of the Stars. This draft type may in fact work best in a game with 3+ GMs, as opposed to a 2-GM game, because that would potentially increase the value of picks in the middle of each round. Something to note about this draft type is that the Free Agents are drafted rather than randomly distributed. More than anything, this is to produce an even number of rounds so that the GM that goes last in the first round at least has the consolation of getting the first pick of Free Agents.
Fantasy Draft
A true fantasy draft is an option that could eliminate some of the possible imbalances of the Rochester draft. The primary difference here is that, rather than creating 6 rows of players, all players will be set out and the GMs will have the option of drafting anyone they want from any player caliber. As with the Rochester draft, this style will be a snaking draft with the order, reversing after all GMs have made their picks. Also similar to the Rochester draft, this draft style can lead to some moderate imbalances depending on the draft pool, and these imbalances are more likely to be mitigated with a greater number of GMs in the game.
The many different draft styles available with Basketball G.M. are sure to provide increased replayability. Try them all and let us know which is your favorite!
Basketball G.M. is on sale now for 20% off! Get your copy today! For the latest updates, check out our Twitter feed (@fanfaregames). Also be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games) and check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) for more about our games! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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This past Saturday I made the trek from here in Arlington up to the Dallas Games Marathon, a monthly weekend-long gaming extravaganza. This was my first chance to get up to Plano, about an hour drive from my home, to play some games. This was a good chance to take Basketball G.M. public, but unfortunately I didn’t get to stay long enough to play it with anyone. Instead, I played three games I hadn’t played before (none of which I won), met some fun gamers and passed along a handful of business cards. I was very impressed by the turnout (reportedly 135 people) and the facilities, a nice big storefront in a strip center with plenty of tables and chairs and an incredible selection of games. Note that I am terrible with names and I will probably have misremembered multiple names and some I simply don’t recall at all. If I played with you this weekend, please don’t be offended. Also keep in mind that I would consider myself a novice board gamer. Most of my gaming experience is with customizable card games like Star Wars CCG, Star Trek CCG, Lord of the Rings TCG, Magic: The Gathering, etc.
I’m sure you’re all wondering which games I played. Basically I just wandered the room and hopped into whatever game was looking for players, so I literally didn’t care what the game was. The first game I played was a card game called Chrononauts, which I played with two other players whose names I unfortunately don’t recall. If you’ve never tried it, it’s a time-travel game in which each player had a mission to fulfill to try to change events in human history. Each time a player changes an event, it has ramifications on future events which lead the player to succeeding in his or her mission. It was a fun, fairly quick game that was easy to pick up but definitely requires some familiarity with the cards for a player to be able to successfully disrupt his opponents’ actions.
The second game I played was a card game called Caylus Magna Carta, which I played with 3 other players named Shane, and a pair of Jeffs. This will probably show how much of a board gaming novice I am, but I had never heard of Caylus, which is evidently a quite popular Euro-style board game. Evidently Caylus Magna Carta is the card version of the board game. This one was definitely tougher to pick up quickly and this led me to make a few mistakes in the early game that basically killed me in the long run. This is a city-building, resource-collection game in which the players strategically place buildings along a city street and place workers to collect money and resources, hoping to eventually collect the most victory points. I managed a decent final score in this one, but was unable to overcome my poor start.
Finally I played an auction/bidding style game called Priests of Ra. If you haven’t played it, this is a reworked version of the Reiner Knizia game, Ra. This one I played with four other players, Joel, John, one of the Jeffs from the previous game, and the fourth player’s name I forget. Sorry. Anyway, the game lasts three rounds with each player getting three valued tokens to bid each round (at least this is how the five-player game worked) to win tiles. These tiles are either buildings, priests, workers, pyramids or plagues. Each of these tiles give victory points based on the quantities that you collect. This was probably the most entertaining of the games that I played, although it is also the most luck-oriented of them. Again, as I had just learned the rules I didn’t know which strategy would be best so I basically bid kind of high early and saw what happened. It worked fairly well but I didn’t get enough of the permanent structures early in the game, and it seems that’s the best direction to go. I believe I finished 2nd in this game.
Before I left, I had a chance to meet CW, the designer of a number of board games including a game called Dragon Valley, a game that was successfully funded through Kickstarter earlier this summer. It was very interesting to chat with another game designer that has gone through the same processes that we at Fanfare Games are going through right now, including a Kickstarter project. I hope to have more contact with CW and other independent designers in the future as we are always looking for advice and a chance to cross-promote (hint hint (: ). I watched CW and some local Arlington-area gamers play a prototype of a game called Hidden Empires, about building and running an ant colony (seriously!), and I ran out of energy about halfway through their game. Unfortunately I didn’t get in to the DGM until after 7 PM, and by the time I left at 2 AM I was totally wiped out. It was a lot of fun and I got to play some games I’d never played before and meet lots of fun people. I can’t wait for next month and I will be sure to let everyone there have a crack at Basketball G.M.!
For the latest updates on Fanfare Games, check out our Twitter feed (@fanfaregames). Also be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games) and check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) for more updates and spoilers! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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With Basketball G.M. now available through The Game Crafter, we decided a great way to introduce our readers to the ins and outs of the game would be to play a game over the Internet. As Tony (admiralacf on BoardGameGeek) is located in Iowa and I (Chris, fanfarechris on BoardGameGeek) am in Texas, we will be playing long-distance and we will go through an entire game from setup through the end of the season. If you want to check out or brush up on the rules before we get started, the latest rules document is available here.
There are a couple of things to keep in mind as you follow this game. First, we will go ahead and reveal and discuss our draft piles, including Coaches and Players, in order to talk you through our decision making. Second, we will also reveal and discuss our Strategy hands so that we can talk you through our decision making there as well. During a normal game, these moves would be kept secret from the other player as much as possible, giving you a small strategic advantage. We will try to play as we would if the game were a normal one with this information not being available, and hopefully the results will show that.
We encourage you to follow along with the game and make comments on what you see. If you have a different perspective on the strategy one of us takes, comment and we will discuss it. If you would have done something differently, tell us why. You will have all of the same information that we have!
I will be "hosting" the game, setting the cards up and maintaining all of the piles. I will send Tony information on our hands and the cards in play, and he will make decisions based on the cards that are drawn. We will be using the Complete Set, using both the Introductory and Advanced cards.
Game Setup
Getting ready to start the game, we shuffle all of the individual piles (7 in total) and place them face-down on the table. The piles are: Star Pool Players, Starter Pool Players, Role Player Pool Players, Coaches, Free Agents, Occurrences and Strategies. As we will be doing a Quick Draft, I then deal 2 Coaches to each players along with 1 Star Pool Player, 3 Starter Pool Players and 6 Role Players to each player.
Today, I will take a look at the Head Coaches and Players that I have been dealt, and then tomorrow Tony will examine the coaches and players that he was dealt. Keep in mind that as GMs in a normal game, at this point we would have no knowledge of the cards that the other GM has been dealt.
Head Coaches
Harvey Jackson, Former Guard - Ability 0, Salary 6, Strategy 4. Text: Your Guards are Ability +1.
Thomas Dauxtrive, Rookie Coach - Ability 2, Salary 5, Strategy 3. Text: If you have no starters below age 22, your total is +3.
Players
Star - SF/PF Joshua Jones, Athletic Phenom. 25 years old, 6’9", 240 lbs. Ability 10, Salary 17, Value 13, Personality DIVA, Skills REBOUNDER, DEFENDER. Text: If you have a Passer in your starting lineup, this player gains Scorer skill.
Starter - PF Sal Hartford, Young Stud Power Forward. 22 years old, 6’10", 245 lbs. Ability 8, Salary 10, Value 10, Personality SECOND FIDDLE, Skills SCORER, POST PLAYER. No game text.
Starter - SG Jon Jacobson, Big-Time Scorer. 29 years old, 6’7", 240 lbs. Ability 9, Salary 17, Value 11, Personality SECOND FIDDLE, Skills SCORER, FREE THROWER. No game text.
Starter - PF Paulo Gallegos, Elite Power Forward. 25 years old, 7’0", 250 lbs. Ability 9, Salary 14, Value 11, Personality LEADER, Skills SCORER, REBOUNDER. No game text.
Role Player (RP) - PG James T. Hinson, Journeyman Point Guard. 30 years old, 6’4", 190 lbs. Ability 3, Salary 4, Value 3, Personality TEAM PLAYER. No skills or game text.
RP - SF Sacha Diop, Stat Sheet Stuffer. 25 years old, 6’8", 235 lbs. Ability 3, Salary 6, Value 6, Personality CHECK CASHER, Skills PASSER, REBOUNDER, DEFENDER. Text: If you do not have another Passer, Rebounder or Defender in your starting lineup, this player is Ability +1 (+3 if none of the three are in your lineup).
RP - SG/SF Dudley Garrett, Tweener. 23 years old, 6’7", 225 lbs. Ability 5, Salary 5, Value 6, Personality ENERGY GUY. No skills or game text.
RP - SF Steve Johnson, Point Forward. 27 years old, 6’8", 215 lbs. Ability 6, Salary 7, Value 7, Personality BASKET CASE, Skills PASSER. No game text.
RP - SF Akeem Warwick, Long Forward. 28 years old, 6’9", 219 lbs. Ability 5, Salary 6, Value 6, Personality TEAM PLAYER, Skills DEFENDER. No game text.
RP - SF/PF Marciss Jenner, Downsliding Forward. 34 years old, 6’9", 235 lbs. Ability 5, Salary 9, Value 5, Personality CHECK CASHER. No skills or game text.
Analysis
Right off the bat I’m not too excited because I got arguably the worst of the Star players. While he has a lot of skills (potentially 3), Joshua Jones is the only Star in the game with a "negative" personality type (Diva). Still, his multiple skills and positions do offer some flexibility, so I’m sure I’ll be drafting him anyway. My second impression is that it is a very forward-heavy pack, with only 3 guard-eligible players. When I look at my coaches, I can almost immediately eliminate the Former Guard because of my lack of guards in my pack. With this particular coach, I like to have a good selection of quality guards, meaning Stars/Starters, before choosing him. My only hesitation is that Role Player Dudley Jarrett is a strong bench player that I could play as my third forward while getting the +1 from the coach. While I love that this coach has a Strategy of 4, which is above average (most coaches are 3s in Basketball G.M.), it just feels a little to risky to take this coach and hope my opponent has some good guards.
The next thing I notice is that there are 0 centers! None! This means I will have to draft Centers aggressively from my opponent’s pack since we’re required to have 2. As for my other coach, I have no players under 22 in my pack and I know that it’s not hard to stay that way in the starting lineup, so this coach is a cheap, almost guaranteed +5 for the whole game. Finally, I note that my 3 Starters are all very solid players, so I know my second pick out of this pack should be very strong.
In the end, I think I will pass the Former Guard and hold on to the Rookie Coach knowing that he is a solid option if my opponent passes me something I don’t like.
Coming Next: Tony’s Coach Selection
For the latest updates, check out our Twitter feed (@fanfaregames). Also be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games) and check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) for more updates and spoilers! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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That’s right, it’s football season, and since there may not be a basketball season this year, Fanfare Games will be hosting our first Fantasy Football League! We are looking for 6-8 die-hard sports fans looking to challenge me (fanfarechris) and Tony (admiralacf) on the gridiron this fall. If you are a football fan and want to join us, respond to this blog, Geek-mail one of us or contact us through our website. Here’s what we need from you:
1. Your preference as to which site to use - Historically we have mostly played Yahoo! leagues, but we would be open to any free league out there including ESPN.com and NFL.com. If you know another good one, let us know about it.
2. When you would be available to draft - Day of the week and time of day, or specific date if need be.
3. Your preference as to league scoring/rules/draft type - We’ll probably run it pretty standard, with the usual fantasy draft style, but we’re open to suggestions!
4. Your contact information (name and email address).
That’s it. We are hoping to get 8 to have a league of 10. We have not decided on prizes at this point, but we may have something special planned for those who participate!
UPDATE #2: Just 3 spots left! I am locking us in as a standard Yahoo league with points per reception counted. I will decide what exactly they'll be worth and when the draft will be held once the league is full. - Chris
Don’t forget to check out the amazing Basketball GM tutorial that Tony posted here yesterday!
Check out our Twitter feed (@fanfaregames) as we will be releasing daily Basketball G.M. spoilers up until the August 30th release, and be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games) and check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) for more updates and spoilers! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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Previously we discussed the Trading Block, a game mechanic in Basketball G.M. (BBGM) that allows GMs to bid on players who are conceptually on other teams that are not controlled by one of the human GMs. GMs can acquire players off the Trading Block by putting together the most attractive package of players. However, since the Trading Block is not controlled by any GM, who decides whose offer is the best?
This is where player value comes in. A player’s value is one of his three main attributes, along with his ability and salary. The value attribute is a numerical representation of a player’s value to other teams in the league. Player values are influenced primarily by the player’s ability, but are also influenced by the number of positions the player plays, as well as by the number of skills that the player possesses.
A successful Blockbuster Deal can be tough to pull off, but it can also propel your team to a more successful season.
When putting together a Trading Block offer, GMs can include any number of their players. The value of the offer is the sum of the value of the players included. Additionally, GMs can spend cash to increase their trade offer, but be careful not to overspend. BBGM includes a salary cap that teams cannot exceed, and spending cash counts against this cap.
Player value also places a limit on trades between two GMs. GMs must offer packages of players that are roughly equivalent in value (within two points), or else the commissioner will veto the trade. This prevents a team that is out of the running for the playoffs from passing all of its good players to another team that is in the hunt. For the sake of simplicity and balance, GMs cannot include cash in their trades with other GMs.
Check out our Twitter feed (@fanfaregames) as we will be releasing daily Basketball G.M. spoilers up until our August release, and be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games) and check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) for more updates and spoilers! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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Last time we discussed Occurrences, one of the two main card types in Basketball G.M. (BBGM) that will affect your team’s performance each week beyond your coach and players. Today we are going to take a look at the other card type: Strategies.
Strategies are much like Occurrences that you can control. These cards represent coaching decisions, gameplanning, players that get hot and even some off-court actions that teams can take to help themselves. Each coach has a Strategy attribute that determines the number of Strategy cards that the GM gets to draw. Each GM may play one Strategy each turn (this action is optional, but there’s rarely a reason to skip it) and may discard one Strategy each turn. At the end of the turn, all GMs draw back up to their coach’s Strategy number.
Roster Shakeup is a Modifier Strategy card that gives your team a bonus for bringing in a new player.
GMs should carefully consider the Strategy attribute of each coach when choosing who to take at the start of the game. While a coach that provides a big Ability bonus can be great, getting only 2 Strategy cards will significantly limit your options each turn and can lead to poor performances in key turns.
Dr. Andrew James is one of two cards designed to help teams recover from an injury that could derail their season.
While the bonus from a Strategy may not be huge, it can often be the difference in a given turn. GMs that know the Strategy cards well will be able to build their teams to better take advantage of the cards they are likely to draw. GMs that ignore things like skills, ages, and personalities of their players can be caught without a good Strategy to play each turn.
Check out our Twitter feed (@fanfaregames) as we will be releasing daily Basketball G.M. spoilers up until our August release, and be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games) and check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) for more updates and spoilers! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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We’re back! So far in this blog we have covered the ins and outs of players in Basketball G.M. (BBGM). Today we are going to take a look at one of the two main card types that will affect your team’s performance each week beyond your coach and players: Occurrences.
Occurrences are the random things that happen to a team during the course of the season that will affect your team’s success and failure. Occurrences include injuries, suspensions, chemistry issues, off-court problems and scheduling issues, among other things. In BBGM, each GM will draw an Occurrence card each turn and have to deal with the consequences of the card. Some Occurrences are Global and will affect all GMs in the game. Most, however, will only affect the team that drew the card.
A Trap Game is a matchup with a weaker team preceding a higher-profile game.
Many Occurrences are injuries or suspensions that may cause players to miss time. These cards can be particularly devastating to the player drawing the card, so Occurrences have a built-in mechanism to try to lessen the blow. This is called the Performance number, and it is found in the white box on the right-hand side of the card. Each turn, each GM will roll a number of Performance dice to add to his or her team’s Ability total. The number of 6-sided dice each team can roll is determined by their Occurrence card. Thus, the more damaging the Occurrence, the more dice the player gets to roll. Performance numbers range from 1 to 3, with Occurrences that are helpful to the GM drawing them generally receiving 1, while Occurrences that are painful to the GM receive 3. Thematically, this can represent a team coming together and playing extra hard to make up for their missing teammate or to overcome their collective hardship.
Lingering Injury is an example of an injury card. Some make players miss time, others only affect the player’s ability to play at the top of his game.
Due to the volatility of Occurrence cards, teams need to be cautious about trading too many of their bench players early in the game. Often having an extra bench player to cover yourself when an injury hits can be the difference between winning a turn and finishing last.
Stay tuned for more updates on Basketball G.M. as we approach the August release, and be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games), check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) and follow us on Twitter (@FanfareGames) for more updates and spoilers! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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Greetings again, gamers. Today we’re going to take a look at what we feel is one of the most fun and inventive game mechanics in Basketball G.M. (BBGM): the Trading Block. One thing many fantasy sports leagues lack is an active trading block as many players are hesitant to pull the trigger on a big trade. Rather than force you to try to pry players away from your opponents or pick scrubs off of the scrap heap of free agency, we decided to take a different approach to trading. While those other two options remain, BBGM also gives you a chance to bid on players who were not available in the draft. These players are conceptually considered to be on the rosters of other teams in the league that are not run by one of the human GMs. In addition to adding flavor and talent to the game, this also helps give GMs the feel that they are part of a larger league.
George Alexander is an example of a Free Agent in BBGM. While you wouldn't want to start him, he can be a valuable asset in trades.
The Trading Block represents other teams in the league looking to make changes to their roster. So why would they want to trade a Star? Well, sometimes the Star demands a trade, unhappy with his situation. Other times the team feels it needs to cut costs and hanging onto a Star when the team is losing games - and money - just doesn’t make sense. Whatever the reason, it’s not unheard of, and perhaps not even that uncommon, for a Star to get traded in professional basketball. Still, in BBGM, you have only a 1 in 6 chance that the player "on the block" is going to be a Star. You have a 1 in 3 chance that the player will be a Starter, and a 50-50 chance it will be a Role Player.
Each turn, a number of players are added from the player pool (the group of players who weren’t in the draft) to the Trading Block. These players can be acquired by any of the GMs in the league that turn, and if no one wants the player, he remains with his "previous team" (i.e. he is discarded from play). The number of players added to the trading block each turn is dependent on the number of GMs in the league; the more GMs, the more players available for trade. This way, more GMs can get in on the fun. In addition, no GM can acquire more than one Trading Block player in a turn, meaning that the talent will likely get spread around to everyone. What does this signify in realty? If a GM is occupied making a deal on one player, he may lose the chance to get in on the bidding on another player.
Stay tuned for more updates on Basketball G.M. as we approach the August release, and be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games), check out our website (www.fanfaregames.net) and follow us on Twitter (@FanfareGames) for more updates and spoilers! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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Chris Fanchi
United States
Arlington
Texas
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Welcome back! Last time, I gave you a brief look at the foundation of Fanfare Games and an introduction to our first game, Basketball G.M. Today we’re going to dig a little deeper into Basketball G.M. (BBGM) and give you a preview of some of the mechanics that make the game unique in the sports gaming genre.
One of our inspirations for making a sports-related card game is the recent success and explosion in popular culture of fantasy sports. As avid fantasy gamers, we felt that many of the most fun aspects of fantasy sports could translate well into card game form, but the question was: how? What we have come up with in BBGM is a system that takes a step back from the day-to-day, game-to-game grind of an 82-game basketball season and takes a periodic approach to the season. Instead of worrying about 82 games, the players in BBGM only have to fight over 8 turns, with each turn representing multiple games in the season.
In BBGM, you construct your team through the draft (more on this feature will be coming in a later post) and determine your lineup for each turn, trying to put together a winning combination. You must field a full starting lineup with the usual basketball positions: Point Guard (PG), Shooting Guard (SG), Small Forward (SF), Power Forward (PF) and Center (C). You will also have to have a deep, well-rounded team because, in addition to your starters, your rotation of 8 men will also include a backup guard, forward and center. You can play with a short bench, but it will likely hurt you in the long run - just as in real life basketball.
When you’re building your team, it’s important to note that choosing your Head Coach is critical to your success. Having the wrong coach for your particular roster can be the difference between winning a title and missing the postseason completely. In BBGM, your coach gives your team purpose and direction, and gives you, the GM, a blueprint for building a winning rotation.
As a bit of a teaser, here is an image of one of our player cards. We’ll discuss players in the next blog post.
Stay tuned for more updates on Basketball G.M. as we approach the August release, and be sure to like us on Facebook (Fanfare Games), check out our website ( www.fanfaregames.net) and follow us on Twitter (@FanfareGames) for more updates and spoilers! © 2011 Fanfare Games.
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