Ignacy Trzewiczek: Game Designer’s Journal #6 – Choices Appear

[Editor’s note: Portal Publishing’s Ignacy Trzewiczek, co-designer of the 2008 title Witchcraft, has been penning a weekly “game designer’s journal” for Games Fanatic.pl, detailing the origin and development of Stronghold, Portal’s 2009 Spiel release. This article series, now in English, will appear each Saturday on BGN until Trzewiczek runs out of material or Spiel is at our doors. Links to segments #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5]

The action cards inspired by the craftsmen cards from The Pillars of the Earth wouldn’t work in Stronghold, so they went to the archive and I started from scratch. I took a sheet of paper and listed all available actions. I listed the resources, the catapult, the siege engine, saboteurs, the siege…

I looked at the resources and thought: “Okay, the player can go and collect resources.” I was one step from a cool solution, but I didn’t know it then. The idea was approaching slowly, gracefully. So it took a good few seconds before I drew four squares next to the “Resources” list, each of them with a pointer and an hourglass. Thus, if a player wants to get a resource, he’ll put a soldier on that square, and the Defender will receive an Hourglass, which as I explained previously, is a point to spend on castle defense. If the player wants two resources, he’ll put two soldiers on the squares and the Defender will receive two Hourglasses… Such a simple thing. The player devotes as many of his troops as he wants and gets exactly that many resources, giving the Defender that many Hourglasses by doing so.

The good idea was close, literally round the corner.

I drew three squares and colored them red, blue and white. The first represented a troll with strength 3, the second represented an orc with strength 2, and the third stood for a goblin with strength 1. The good idea was already sitting next to me and letting itself be noted. If the player devotes a troll and sends it to the forest, he’ll get three resources; if he sends an orc, he’ll get two resources; and a goblin will bring back only one piece of wood.

“This is good,” I thought. This idea surprised me a lot.

It was good because it generated choices. It forced the Invader to make decisions. The player had to think whether to devote his best warrior (a troll) to get lots of wood, while at the same time giving the defender only one Hourglass, or send a weak fighter (a goblin) and receive only one piece of wood. He could send three weak goblins to get three pieces of wood, but at the same time he’s giving the defender three Hourglasses.

The set-up is apparently just about resources – supposedly nothing that important – but it’s quite a lot to consider.

This idea nicely exposed and supported the primary foundation of Stronghold: The Invader has the initiative and decides how much the Defender is allowed to do. The attacking player may send a troll to the forest, get a lot of wood, and the Defender gets only one Hourglass, one action point to prepare the castle defense. The attacking player may instead send three goblins to the forest. He’ll get lots of wood, and he’ll save the troll (who’ll be available to march for the walls), but the Defender will get three Hourglasses. Three Hourglasses is plenty; you can build a hot oil cauldron. The attacker may decide to send one goblin to the forest. He’ll have one piece of wood, almost nothing, but the Defender doesn’t get much either. Nay, the invader may say pass and send no one. The defender receives no Hourglass points for defense.

The initiative is on the Invader’s side. Choices and decisions. The Defender’s desperation. I was heading in the right direction. I followed this trail…

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