The mist settled slowly over the old soothsayers wagon. Some called it a carnival act. Others believed and took heed. Chris knew not what to believe. Yet he felt draw to ask the oracle his question.
The door opened to receive the man. Wisps of fog rolled into the small room with him. "Be seated," said a voice from the shadows. "What do you wish to know?" it inquired.
"Tell me oh wise one. What will happen next with Matrix Games?"
"Listen, and ye shall be told..."
MGs WHERE THEY'VE BEEN
We all know this story pretty well. Matrix Games grew out of several different sources in the middle 80's. Ideas such as George Jefferys' "Variable Length Bound", Paddy Griffin's "Committee Games", Free Kriegspiels, Role Play Games, a love of philosophy, and a hatred of numbers, all had their part.
In the winter of 1988. Chester Gates and I first debated the idea at Chester's house. He thought I was off base. I thought that it could work. By spring 1988, my brother Ian and I played the first MG. Wargame Development's NUGGET published my article on that game that summer. Many articles have since followed. Matrix Games reached their present form by spring 1989. I realized that this idea was really new. I also realized just how hard it is to get something that is really new excepted. I resolved to do the foot work to make it known. I decided to publish EGG to be a forum for MG development and as a way to get to know people in the hobby. I also decided to run convention games and talk about the idea with anyone who would listen.
It is important to have a goal when setting out. My goal was to introduce the MG idea to 100 people within three years. By 1991, that goal was successfully accomplished. Steve Dake suggested about then that I should write intermediate level MG articles. I figured that this meant MGs were ready to reach a wider audience. I set a new goal. I wanted 1000 people to play an MG within three years (around the end of 1994). To accomplish this I realized I needed to put out an MG produce.
I wrote Campaign in a Day, in November 1991. It was on sale by spring 1992. I printed 100 copies and am nearly sold out. My matrix articles shifted from basic idea articles to scenario articles. These have generated interest and now I believe the goal of 1000 players is probably near completion.
Other Game writers have now picked up the idea and are writing about MGs in both Europe and America. So much has appeared about MGs in the NUGGET that people have actually started to complain that they are taking up too much of the magazine. I'm staying out of this argument. But it is interesting to see MGs important enough to be attacked.
As you all know I'm wrapping up EGG since I think that the next step in MG development has to be in larger forums. (By the way I'd still be glad to pass on the editorship to anyone willing to take it on!) Which leads me back to the question of what next. THE FUTURE
Matrix Games have a life of their own now, so the following predictions are so much hot air. Still I think some trends can be seen now. I'll try to break them down into areas of effect.
GAME DESIGN INSPIRATION
MGs are like the variable length bound, and free kriegspiel ideas. They ask basic questions and come up with different answers than are common in mainstream games. The neatest thing about basic ideas is that they have the power to inspire other designers to ask their own basic questions. I'm certain that MGs are working in this way now.
What games will result from this inspiration I can not imagine. What I hope is that they build on the idea that rules do not have to be rigid and long. It is possible to resolve highly complex disputes by using a simple dice resolved dialogue (MGs at their most raw). But I imagine other things will come of it than that.
MATRIX GAMES AS A VIRUS
Virus' sneak into living cells and alter their DNA. This leads to cancer, A.I.D.S., and genetic drift. I expect MGs will do the same thing amongst mainstream wargamers without their even knowing it.
Mainstream games (even RPGs) give the impression that the rules of the game can resolve every type of conflict. Players expect the referee to fumble around in the rule book, frown, roll some dice and then tell them what the rules say. They seems to remain oblivious to the fact that the referee is making up 60 to 70 percent of all the things he is telling them. MGs could alter this.
Rules bound games reward players for coming up with ways to maximize outcomes. This means doing exactly what the rules say. MGs reward players for coming up with their own solutions. This involves making a fundamental shift in thinking.
MGs make players think more in terms of possibilities than in certainties.
As this way of viewing games spreads, it will open up a lot of minds to seeing what might happen as opposed to what should happen.
This effect will spread much farther than MGs themselves. It is likely that the effected people will have no idea where this idea came from. It is likely that they will think that it is natural.
MGs AS SYMBIOTIC PARASITES
MGs are quite versatile in how they can fit into a game. They do not demand all of a player's attention. Nor do they require all the players to participate. Consequently they can coexist inside other wargames.
A referee or player can use a simple MG to solve problems that arise on an ad hoc basis. Or the MG can be a more regular part of a game that resolves issues that are not easily handled by other games. For instance...
- 1. The rules don't cover a certain issue. - Use an argument to come up with an answer.
2. Recruiting/supply/transport rules are cumbersome. - Use a partial campaign MG to handle these problems.
3. Players spend large amounts of playing time doing spell research and routine shopping. - Us an argument to settle these issues quickly.
4. A referee finds that his players feel no stake in the world they are gaming in. - Give the players arguments at the end oŁ each playing session with which they can develop their social lives.
5. A referee finds it near impossible to keep track of all the events that are going on in his world. - Avoid a head ache, have the players make arguments each turn about what happens next in the world.
6. etc.
In these cases, the players and referee are consciously using a mini MG to handle a certain problem. MGs can then speed up the rate of play since it cuts out topics that previously took up more time than they were worth.
MILITARY CAMPAIGN MGs
Campaign in a Day style MGs are likely to become more common. They may well bring about a flowering in campaign miniatures games. The formate is likely to change to fit the individual referees tastes, but the ideas will be the same. Players will make arguments to see what happens next in the war. Some form of campaign MG is likely to be on the market, since this is a major vehicle for spreading the idea to miniatures players.
POLITICAL MGs
Politics is one area that MGs truly shine in. I expect that this area will grown by leaps and bounds about five years from now. It will really require a larger audience for MGs to be in place since these games will be purely Matrix GAMES. The MG will be the primary rules system used to resolve issues.
MGs have a long record at resolving political situations in ways that traditional wargames have been completely unable to handle. Expect to see revolution games, insurgency games, political election games, and others.
Again the ideas are basically the same. Players argue for what they want to have happen next. They will be vying for control of groups of population, political power points, control of offices, control of military units, control of provinces, and much more.
These games should have all the back stabbing negotiation of Diplomacy as well as much role playing.
ROLE PLAY FANTASY MGs
In fact these games are just political MGs set in fantasy worlds. I expect these to take off sooner than political MGs. It seems to me that role players are more likely to take to the MG idea quicker than miniatures gamers will since it encourages people to be dynamic. Sadly us miniatures gamer types are not always as open to this as us role play types are.
The beauty of fantasy game is that by giving a list of various characters (each with his own set of conflicting victory conditions) the same game can be made completely different. For instance if the game were about the "Lord of the Rings" and the players chose to play Gandalf, Frodo, Sauron, and Golum, then the game would be very different than if Pipin and Aragon where in play.
Historical fantasy characters like Baron Munchausen (thanks Steve) Harry Flashman or others, could be displayed in games recounting their various adventures. The possibilities are endless. And the game could be packaged in conventional boxed formats.
MYSTERY MGs
Like other political fantasy MGs, mystery games are likely to stand alone as MGs, not part of another game system. They definitely have a niche in play be mail. It is also likely that this system can be used to run Call of Cthulhu games.
PLAY BY MAIL MGs
EGG has shown clearly that MGs are excellently suited for PBM play. I doubt whether this will catch on quickly since PBM games are already pretty quick - ie computerized.
PBM MGs are likely to be another one of those virus effects that no one really sees.
SOLO MGs
Like PBMs, MGs are excellently suited for solo play. I expect this section of the hobby will only be really effected by the presence of straight MG products on the market.
I will undoubtedly continue to play solo games since that is how I test out most of my new designs.
ELECTRONIC MAIL MGs
They will happen. I'm not on the net, and I don't plan to get on in soon so I doubt I'll know what is going on there. If you know please drop me a line.
WHAT MGs ARE GOOD AT
MGs are really good at resolving campaign turns, political actions, social and personal development, and such non-combat situations.
WHAT MGs ARE NOT GOOD AT
MGs fall flat when used to resolve combats. It becomes too much like saying "I win!" This is no fun to play. Miniatures games, simple board game like resolution, or role playing are better at these situations.
WHAT FORMAT WILL MGs APPEAR IN
Personally I am abandoning the card format in favor of the method put forward by Bob Cordery in Wargames Illustrated. Yet I expect that the use of cards will persist for other game designers. It seems likely that when mainstream game companies first try to figure out MGs they will really be making a standard card game. GW already did this with a card combat game that looked VERY similar the first MG product I did (The Swashbucklers - maybe 30 out there).
Some one is likely to try to have players draw cards from a Matrix Deck and then make arguments with what they have. I doubt this will really work. I am certain other card monstrosities will also arise.
I'm moving towards have argument made on one use MG play sheets. Or they can be done with wipe off pens on plastic sheets. I like the idea of stressing the argument part of the game over the matrix card part of the game since that is where most of the action occurs.
I see the matrix becoming just a list of words that are meant to suggest ideas on what to argue to the players. It is not even really needed in such areas where the players know the world they are gaming very well. Players know D+D worlds, so a fantasy matrix of great detail is not really that critical.
I see the matrix beginning to meld in with other game mechanics of the game. For instance, political games will have lists of potential characters (each with a set of political victory conditions/his agenda) which is effectively part of the matrix. Maps, figures, miniatures game rules, political power cards, etc are all part of the matrix. Since any one of these can suggest to the player what he might want to do, they function just like the cards do now.
I expect people will experiment widely with MG formats. My format will likely be considered "mainstream" and old fashion in five years. I'll probably be writing arguments telling people that "so and so's game is not an MG!" As though it matters.
WILL THEY SELL?
I'm trying to sell Campaign in a Day right now. Hopefully the company out west will go for it. If so then I'll be able to move on from C in D happy. By the end of the next five years though, I am certain they will sell.
I expect I will make a few more MG products before I completely burn out on the topic. But I don't make large print runs. 100 is my limit since I know that I can sell that many. For larger print runs to happen some white knight needs to come along and steal this idea from me.
Know any white knights?
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© Copyright 1993 by Chris Engle
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