I’m sure there must be lots of strategy board gamers on 'Nauts. I’ve long wanted to design one myself, and I’d love to theme it on synths. Just not sure what the mechanisms and aims would be! Anyone else given this any thought?
Modular is perhaps the form of synthesis that best lends itself to a game. Perhaps a worker placement game where you place workers in order to connect patch cables? I can also see a tile-laying game somewhere involving cards, each a Eurorack module, and you have to somehow build a coherant setup. Some units work better than others together. (At this point my total lack of knowledge about modular becomes an issue…)
(To non-gamers, if this sounds like madness, there are plenty of successful based on really specific, niche things. Gutenberg, which is about the invention of the printing press, and Cellulose, which is about the inner workings of plant cells, are two such examples. Not sure it’d allow me to retire, but hey…)
Maybe a worker placement/engine builder in which you are a synth manufacturer and have to collect cards/components to build synths to sell off. You’d take the sales to hire more workers who do various task like RnD, building, and store front. The more workers you have, the more you can do in those areas. RnD is where you’d get the component cards, and you can choose to do simple synths for less payout/victory points, or go for the hefty 16 voice analog monsters which take more of everything but yield more rewards. Perhaps there could also be a consumer side in which demands fluctuate and yield more resources and victory points if supplied. Would be cool if you had tangible synth pieces/minis that you could actually construct like Legos to create your wares.
I just came up with all that. So probably unconsciously ripped off a couple of other game designs.
Thanks everyone. Ah so there are some existing games. Good to know! I’ll have to check those out.
Great ideas! I’m going to give this some serious thought. I’ve never published a game but people Kickstarter them all the time (not, of course, that all get funded.)
Could be something mechanically a bit loke Splendor where you are collecting synths and exotic outboard gear for your studio to attract artists.
But I think some kind of card set matching game would be cool, i.e., collect the set of gear used to make classic early synthpop/techno tracks. Both track and synth cards having a bit of history included on them.
You get missions in the form of synth afficionados customers.
All have different profiles, one is a starter who needs a simple substractive system, one is a fm nerd, the other a vintage analog fan etc…
You have to build each of them his perfect system/unit. The first to build the 3rd/4th/whateverth synth stops the game and the respectives shops count their scores.
There is a collective market where you can buy/sell equipment to build synths.
Hidden missions ( build a 16 voices poly/build a synth with three vco of one brand, build with 3 types of synthesis etc…)
Tools which can help bulding faster ( you need one vco to build 2 voices, each filter gain a multimode option etc…
Maybe an augmented reality glasses thing where you see virtual patch cables. Designate objects in your environment as different synthesis functions (window is an OSC, door is a filter, bed is VCA) and connect them.
