Paranoia is the glue.

 Spent most of the day reading playing at the world and now watching a supper bunny hop video inspired by that book talking about kriegspiel.

Goals for the day?… make pixel art command tokens for grim metal bedlam. That is my first priority I also will post a poll on my mastodon asking if I should share rough rules (more design notes than anything) for grim metal bedlam. While this will serve no other purpose than to shame me into correcting and play testing the game more to refine it into a stable form.

I know a lot of my rambling crap is just that but for whatever reason it gets me thinking. and thinking in terms of what interacting even is (is fun for at least me).

I think the thought of the day will all this kriegspiel madness. Is that tabletop are for the most part good as psychological framing devices that get our brains to interpret verbally not mathematically. Or abstract like chess: deluding the players into thinking creativity has anything to do with optimal play.

Video-games tend to apply narrative to pure calculations… most video-games are skill based reflex puzzles with a narrative tacked on.

Emergent narrative, is very close to decentralizing calculation from the equation (as long as we’re talking about arithmetic). Though might not be enough to get you a passing grade in math class it can be a satisfying result to a game.   

In many ways narrative games and competitive game are one hand washing the other. It simply a matter of what you prioritize. The people discussing the meaning of life a casual chess game not arriving at any definitive conclusion other than “that was a good game.” Or the silent calculation of cold precision of high level graded chess games. Where silently thinking from trained reflex not even intuition… ending most games before they have had an opportunity to make a creative decision in the moves they make on the board.

I am biased, and feel my own bias in what I am typing. I prefer the people even if I don’t understand them. Even if it is from a distance and a selfish desire to understand myself. Even if that self awareness is from speculation on abstract notions like how limited identity can be. Or, a belief that maybe a notion of self is the foundation of sin… pain is a vehicle to understanding with the lesson being learning never ends and maybe paranoia the glue holding that perspective together.