Grifbd@aol.com
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Overview

Trireme is a two-player naval combat game.  It simulates ancient naval combat in a way that is simple to learn and play, but difficult to master.  The game features "direction dependent" game pieces; that is to say, the angle a piece is facing dictates the way it moves and attacks.  Trireme was inspired by Go, Chess, and Hnefatafl.  It builds upon these games while providing players with a unique experience.

Player Experience

Trireme challenges players to exercise their long-term planning and spatial reasoning skills. To sink an enemy ship, you must ram its side with the prow of one of your own ships.  Each enemy ship is a moving target capable of sinking your ships in the same manner.  Trireme combat is like a dogfight: you have to lead your target, predict its evasive maneuvers, and keep the enemy off your tail.

Design Challenges

While working on Trireme I learned how to create strategic depth within a lean system. Depth and complexity are two separate features of a rule set. A game's depth reflects the number of possibilities created by its system of mechanics. The more interrelated mechanics are, the larger the possibility space and the greater the depth of play.  A game's complexity increases with the number of mechanics that comprise its system. As a rules set increases in complexity, it becomes less accessible and more time-consuming to learn. Achieving maximum depth relative to a game's complexity requires careful evaluation of each mechanic's role in the system. In a strong system, mechanics interact with each other to create interesting dynamics.

Production Details

Genre: Historical Open Field Board Game
Role: Sole Developer
Development Cycle: 3 Weeks
Released: April, 2012

Rules & Production Documents

trireme_rules.pdf
File Size: 1151 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

trireme_postmortem.docx
File Size: 15 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

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