The Scummie for Best Mechanic [Winner Announced!]

[Scummies]

Best Mechanic/Mutation

Something_Smart (XP Mafia)
Nahdia (Trial of Evoker)
Nahdia (Civilization)
Alisae (Once Upon a Time)
Camn (Camn's Revenge)

[Scummies]

The Winner of the Scummie for Best Mechanic/Mutation (Mad Scientist) is:

Something_Smart for XP Mafia (Mini 1953)

f"Many, many times has an attempt been made to hybridize an RPG mechanic of evolving powers and the game of mafia...but few ever materialize into an actual game, and of those that do, even fewer still manage to pull it off so successfully.

And yet Something_Smart did so magnificently. It's so easy to screw something like this up--yet he DIDN'T. He got everything right, nailing it down perfectly, and created a game which featured unique mechanics that were interesting and forced the players to think, town and scum alike.

The players had to make decisions on paths for what to choose, akin to choosing paths in an RPG for characters. The players had to choose how to use their XP. Everyone had an upgraded role they could unlock. Everything was just done so well.

The game was balanced incredibly well with multiple anti-swing features built into the game. While the nature of the complex mechanics meant some swing was inevitable, the game was incredibly well-designed such that it would never be overwhelming.

While good townplay would be rewarded just as good scumplay would be rewarded, and poor townplay would be punished just as poor scumplay would be punished, it was never impossible for one side to be left utterly screwed over because it was always possible to recover, something demonstrated magnificently in the game where both town and scum were forced to recover from setbacks.

This is EVERYTHING a game moderator should strive for when creating something unique, original, and ambitious. The result was immensely satisfying, owing to the feeling of the game having been handled with the incredible delicate care necessary for a good game."

Link to the game

[Something_Smart]

Thanks so much!

I hoped that this game would turn out well... but I never expected it to turn out THIS well. I'm glad it did though, because I think it really shows the limitless possibilities for theme games. My goal was to create a situation where people would have to not only play the mafia element, but also decide how to manage their resources and choose their abilities, giving the players more agency but with constraints and responsibilities to go along with it.

There's so much potential here... and all the other awesome finalists have demonstrated this too. Every game on that list was one that branched out into new and unexplored territory, with very positive results, and they all should serve as role models for how to make an enjoyable and interesting mechanics-based theme game.

I'm honored. But though I am happy I won, I'm really happy that I was able to create a game that people enjoyed so much.

[zoraster]

Congratulations to Something_Smart!

[MagnaofIllusion]

Congrats SS!

[mallowgeno]

Congrats Something_Smart!

[RadiantCowbells]

Gj make more games

[mutantdevle]

Congrats S_S! I remember seeing your game just as it started and thinking "Damn, I wish I could have signed up for that!"

[zoraster]

That's a fantastic victory speech.

[Alisae]

Thats nothing like my speech.
Gj btw

[Mathdino]

Nice, I actually never saw that game before. Cool concept, Smart.

Reminds me a lot of wgeurts's Evolution Mafia. Implementing player choice without choice overload (leading to analysis paralysis) is fantastic for the players.

Theme game mods should take note.

[xRECKONERx]

what a cool concept

[Nahdia]

Congrats dude! Well deserved!

[Srceenplay]

Congratulations.

[camn]

Congratulations! That ~was~ a pretty bangin idea!

[Assemblerotws]

Congratulations to Something_Smart! It's not often a game manages to keep my complete interest throughout the whole game, but your XP mechanic kept me invested all the way.

[Gamma Emerald]

Well done Smart! I hope to see more inventive ideas like this, because if this succeeded I'd love to see what else can.