Description
The starting game state varies from game to game, through changes to shared game components like the map, and/or changes to starting player setups, resources, objectives, etc.
Discussion
Variable Setup is sometimes equated with replayability and can certainly contribute to it, though they are not the same thing. The line between setup and gameplay isn’t always that clear either. But setup can have an outsize effect on uncertainty and overall game outcomes. Catan’s rules recommend new players play with a specific board layout and provide rules for board construction that ensure that no one spot is over-powered relative to others. Players often ignore this rule, and this imbalanced setup can easily advantage one player over the other. Similarly, the randomly dealt alien powers in Cosmic Encounter define the game almost entirely and shape its dynamics even more dramatically than Catan’s setup. Dominion’s selection of ten kingdom cards is similarly impactful—those cards can be considered the last page of the rules (Illustration 6.2). In many cases, variable setups don’t impact uncertainty once the setup is complete, because nothing that happens in the game is probabilistically dependent on setup. After faction board tops and bottoms are selected in Scythe, for example, there is no further uncertainty. This is as distinguished from Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game, where more interactions are
available with the loyalty deck and the makeup of that deck can change prior to the next loyalty phase. Some variable setups incorporate hidden or unknown information. In Specter Ops, the runner who is trying to evade the hunters gets to secretly select a few equipment cards out of the available pool. In theory, hunters can know the complete set of equipment cards and how they work, though whether that’s true in practice—whether players do in fact look in the rulebook to read about all the equipment—is questionable. Designers should provide player aids summarizing this type of information if it’s important that players know all the possibilities. Designers need to be careful that randomized setups don’t create balance issues. This is particularly true in longer games. Often, having limitations on the randomization (like redoing a setup if a certain number of the same type of tile are placed in a row) or giving players a pregame chance to respond to the random setup is required. An example of the latter is found in Catan, where there is a snake draft for placement of player’s initial settlements. This allows players to moderate the vagaries of the initial chance board setup. Illustration 6.2 A sample setup at the start of a Dominion game. The 10 card types played with can be chosen randomly or specifically selected, at the players’ option.
Sample Games
Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game (Konieczka, 2008) Catan (Teuber, 1995) Cosmic Encounter (Eberle, Kittredge, Norton, and Olatka, 1977) Dominion (Vaccarino, 2008) Scythe (Stegmaier, 2016) Specter Ops (Matsuuchi, 2015)
描述
通过改变共享的游戏组件（如地图）和/或改变起始玩家设置、资源、目标等，起始游戏状态因游戏而异（Variable Setup）。
讨论
可变设置有时等同于重玩性，当然也可以对此做出贡献，尽管它们不是一回事。设置和游戏玩法之间的界限也不总是那么清晰。但设置可能对不确定性和整体游戏结果产生巨大影响。《卡坦岛》（Catan）的规则建议新玩家使用特定的棋盘布局，并提供棋盘构建规则，以确保没有一个位置相对于其他位置过于强大。玩家经常忽略这一规则，这种不平衡的设置很容易使一名玩家比另一名玩家更有优势。同样，在《Cosmic Encounter》中随机分配的外星人能力几乎完全定义了游戏，并且比《卡坦岛》的设置更显着地塑造了其动态。《皇舆争霸》（Dominion）对十张王国卡的选择同样具有影响力——这些卡可以被视为规则的最后一页（插图6.2）。在许多情况下，一旦设置完成，可变设置就不会影响不确定性，因为游戏中发生的任何事情都不概率性地依赖于设置。例如，在《Scythe》中选择了派系面板顶部和底部后，就没有进一步的不确定性了。这与《Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game》不同，在那儿更多的互动
可通过忠诚牌堆获得，并且该牌堆的构成可能在下一个忠诚阶段之前发生变化。一些可变设置包含隐藏或未知信息。在《Specter Ops》中，试图躲避猎人的逃跑者可以从可用池中秘密选择几张装备卡。理论上，猎人可以知道全套装备卡及其工作原理，尽管在实践中这是否属实——玩家是否真的会看规则书来阅读所有装备——是值得怀疑的。如果玩家了解所有可能性很重要，设计师应提供总结此类信息的玩家辅助工具。设计师需要小心，随机设置不会产生平衡问题。这在较长的游戏中尤其如此。通常，对随机化进行限制（比如如果连续放置一定数量的相同类型的板块就重新设置）或给玩家赛前机会应对随机设置是必需的。后者的一个例子见于《卡坦岛》，那里有用于放置玩家初始定居点的蛇形轮抽。这允许玩家缓和初始机会棋盘设置的变幻莫测。
插图6.2 《皇舆争霸》游戏开始时的样本设置。所玩的10种卡牌类型可以随机选择或由玩家选择。
游戏范例
Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game (Konieczka, 2008) - 《太空堡垒卡拉狄加》 Catan (Teuber, 1995) - 《卡坦岛》 Cosmic Encounter (Eberle, Kittredge, Norton, and Olatka, 1977) - 《星际遭遇战》 Dominion (Vaccarino, 2008) - 《皇舆争霸》 Scythe (Stegmaier, 2016) - 《镰刀战争/Scythe》 Specter Ops (Matsuuchi, 2015) - 《Specter Ops》