Compounding Thematic Elements

I had an amazing time at Tabletop Network '22. I came away with new ways of looking at design topics and several ideas for upcoming posts. This post expands on several points made by the group I was in during the conference. 

If your design goal includes a transportive* thematic experience, a knitted theme may not be enough to provide that experience. In order to provide a deeper thematic experience, thematic elements must build on one another to add texture and tension to gameplay. There are a number of techniques you can employ that all fall under the umbrella of compounding thematic elements. 

When thematic elements are presented as separate items that primarily interact mechanically but not thematically with each other, a game will provide a thematic experience that is nonetheless more strongly focused on the mechanical experience. When thematic elements build on each other and respond to each other, the resulting experience will have a stronger focus on theme. 

Compounding thematic elements indicate a dynamic game world to players. A dynamic and responsive world provides a deeper thematic experience than a static world. Compounding elements may be as simple as synergies between resources, but for more dramatic effects you can utilize one or more of the following techniques. 

Progressive goals are way points or win conditions that change as players progress thru the game. Open world games and certain kinds of campaign games may employ progressive goals in order to hide the main conflict/antagonist from players at the beginning of the game. Other games may present all possible win conditions up front, but some may be locked until certain conditions are met. These types of goals must be tightly woven with the theme to produce a compounding thematic effect. So, while the 'You Win' card in Space Base is a progressive goal, it is not a thematic goal and thus does not qualify as a compounding thematic element. 

One way to keep players engaged with the theme is to have outside forces intrude on them during play. This can break players out of a pure numbers/efficiency mindset when executed well. Persistent effects, positive or negative, can shift player focus back to the game world. These effects are most impactful when layered on top of a thematic core game loop. Persistent effects can either be individual effects or global events that affect every player. Global events can be used to increase tension by providing an escalating threat to the players. Persistent effects can also raise tension by afflicting players with multiple negative effects at once. Multiple individual negative effects are a safer design choice for cooperative games, where a temporary goal may be to rescue a player from their negative effects. Multiple individual effects in competitive games will likely feel unfair to the player(s) who falls behind as a result of the effects. Global events are particularly poignant in competitive games, because they can unite the players in moments of shared frustration or elation. 

The goal of the mechanics discussed in this post is to create a game world that feels dynamic and a game arc that has thematic tension. Designers are lauded for their ability to interweave mechanisms together. The same care can be taken to interweave theme such that the end result is a game that is both thematically and mechanically compelling. 

*Transportation is an aspect of immersion. Absorption is another. I prefer the clarity of these terms rather than using immersion. 

ShippBoard Games is a board game design blog that updates most Mondays.