A useful discussion - 16th September 2026

A useful discussion

Yesterday I had a useful discussion around this game, as part of my role running the Game Experimentation & Development Group for Stone Paper Scissors.

• This game will be set at the strategic level, so orders are going to be relatively general, and it will be played on a “board” of publicly available maps, modified with flood details. But those strategic decisions are going to generate lots of interesting tactical situations. It would be handy to resolve those tactical situations through smaller games, which I could also facilitate. But, as both an intellectual challenge and to avoid my availability being a bottle-neck, how could I generate scrappy hex and counter games for those games, and just wait for players to tell me the result?
• To help generate publicity for the idea I should write a marketing “blurb” summarising the game. This is generally advised as a way of steering what the “product” should be, but in my case I think it will just be good practice for me. I can explain the benefits of this game to others - as I see them - and also it’ll give me a consistent explanation I can refer people to.
• Something I hadn’t realised about flooding, something that makes it particularly difficult, and interesting, and worth gaming - is that it requires a true multi-agency response from authorities.

As I often mention, posts like this are all part of “working in public”, and also to remind myself how far I’ve come while the actual game isn’t running yet. Also it means that anyone following the project can forewarn me if I’ve made any especially bad choices.

Next…

• Work more in public, just to elicit feedback and interest.
• I’m wary of completing that marketing blurb as a way to steer my ideas, but I think writing something just to help others see what I see in the concept would be useful.