Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Arilyn" data-source="post: 9769890" data-attributes="member: 6816042">I think Masks is a very good example of a game that wouldn't have been created until relatively recently. A superhero game focussed more on teen angst and identity than actual super battles? It took some time, or maybe not so much time, depending on your point of view, for the hobby to spread out and discover all the things it can do.  And over the decades designers have been adding to the toolbox, refining, experimenting, rediscovering, polishing old ideas and creating new ones. And discarding ideas that failed. We have more zooming in on specific design goals with games like Drawsteel, Household, Wildsea and Cairn. Designers are also getting more skilled at designing more flexible systems as well. Daggerheart is proving to be able to encompass a wide variety of fantasy and perhaps even modern, occult or science fiction. PbtA has a huge catalogue of very different genres and flavours. So yes, I think more game designers are thinking about the goals of their games and making a more deliberate effort to choose appropriate tools from the toolbox, and in some cases, creating new ones, if nothing quite fits. This is in no way throwing shade on older games. Some have stood the test of time extremely well. Designers, past and present, have contributed to RPG design knowledge. Little bit like science. We keep learning, stumbling, refining and growing.</blockquote>