The Complexity of (Ugghh) Complexity Design

Complexity is a weird thing in Board Game design. Complexity for the player is not necessarily the same as complexity of design, or vice versa. There are also levels of complexity, usually called 'Weight', and there are great games at all 'Weights'. This is all to say, complexity is not a bad thing, but it can be. Games with seemingly simple decisions that actually have far reaching consequences, like Everdell or Agricola, can feel especially challenging for players who want to eke out every single victory point from every turn. This leads to lots of downtime for other players and a generally bad experience. Of course, I am not saying either of those games are bad, I own them both and play them both. Just that, there is a decision complexity that can bog these games down. On the other hand, you get games like Beyond Humanity: Colonies that have incredibly complex systems working in the background to determine the outcomes of your cards and choices. The complexity is almost entirely removed from the player. Honestly, when I played it, I felt like I didn't have much control or understanding of what my orders would do; the complexity is almost entirely in the design, behind the scenes.

For me, complexity in a board game is best when the system is understandable but not necessarily controllable. On the lighter end of the spectrum, CLANK! has a very understandable noise system. If you clank, your cubes get put in the bag. When the Dragon attacks, there is a random chance that you will get hit. You have some control over how likely that is, and an understanding of the system. Gloomhaven, a reasonably complex game, does this fairly well. You have 100% control over your cards and can build a complex plan, a path through your cards, to finish the quest, defeat the monsters, whatever the goal is. However, you have no control over what the monsters do, and limited control over whether your attacks land, but you can adjust your play to take advantage of HOW they do their actions.

It is a difficult line to balance on. Not enough complexity, and hardcore players will get bored, too much and you put off the newbies and bog the game down. Sometimes complexity for the players is just there to pad the play time. We call this busy work. Game mechanics that take time, and have complex rules, but don't add anything meaningful or fun to the game, are to be avoided at all costs. I love Terraforming Mars, but some of the expansions padded the play time (Already super long) without being fun, or adding meaningful choices. Players have so many games to choose from, as a designer, I shouldn't be wasting their time.

As a general principle, Lifeship is designed so that the game takes care of the uninteresting parts, while providing fairly deep, complex decisions for the players to make. It avoids downtime between player's turns by resolving cards in initiative order. This requires some reasonable communication skills and encourages team planning. Cards in Lifeship also have multiple options and you get to choose when the initiative comes up, not when you play the cards. This limits the amount of absolute planning required for each player, because when the enemy actions are revealed, they can shift tactics mid stream (And often have to). So, we have a complex initiative system, interacting with player, class, and enemy special rules, resulting in an understandable, but not 100% controllable, system where teamwork, and adaptability are paramount to success or failure.

Most of Lifeship's systems are intuitive, and can be explained in one sentence (Two for our very complex rules). The complexity of the game comes from rules interacting with each other and wherever possible, we have simplified the player side so they can focus on strategy and winning.

Mission 0 is a tutotial mission that takes 20 minutes, is self directed, and teaches you pretty much every thing you need to know about how to play the game. We also build player skills throughout a run by introducing new mechanics, special rules, and gameplay complexity over time.

Lifeship is a huge game and I am not here to say that it is not complex. Only to say that "complexity" is ^(Ughhh...) complex. It can be amazing and my favorite games have complex machinery working in the background, but it can also be awful. No one wants to waste their time. They want to spend their time. Lifeship is an adventure and spending time with its systems always feels rewarding to me, and I am hoping it will for you.

Until next time...

-Chris

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