Offside report – Rain of Drones: v2 – Ivanika

Just some brief thoughts on Nick Luft’s run of “Rain of Drones”, this time at version 2; bouncing off Nick’s report from running the game.

• I liked the use of Conceptboard, especially that in the double-blind game it would allow Control to quickly copy and paste unit positions between board. As always I’m pleased to see people leaning into the benefits of online.
• The game was clearly not finished, but in a good way. I think Nick trying to design around such a complex subject was really revealing, and made for a particularly interesting post-game debrief. The situation is current, evolving, and complicated – even for the game’s setting in 2024. You might just manage an accurate simulation of this kind of conflict if you were a professional military analyst with the time and resources that comes with that, but this subject at this level is too much for a recreational interest.
  • Also, from the rules and the map, it was clear how much work had gone into this already.
  • Also in his write-up Nick does point out he’s taken on too much. In general I’m in favour of that, push a design until you’ve gone too far – then you knowingly prune the edges for aspects that either aren’t relevant or can easily be simulated.
• One idea that didn’t work, but I liked seeing it tried – was the idea that each side would resolve their own drones’ attacks, and tell their opponents the results.  This potentially speeds the game up, and is an interesting wrinkle. It assumes and needs complete honesty and transparency from the players, but for easing administration in a professional game, it’s an interesting choice.
  • But this can’t be done without revealing the impact of electronic warfare on the results, so in the end Control ended up resolving these attacks. But could it be done the other way around, under the eye of Control could each team resolve the result of their opponent’s drone attacks?
• I wonder if the game should be drones only? With either Control giving instructions from their higher ups on what the attack or defense needs, or that aspect being some kind of card driven system. That allows a focus on the effect of drones, without expecting them to manage everything on the board.
• As per the debrief, and my own choice with Water Water Everywhere ( that’s still in development ) I think the game should be set in the near future – which gives you the freedom to make decisions that suit the questions you want to explore, rather than being beholden to contemporary reality, and all the research requirements that go with it.
  • Or, as per the debrief suggestion – play it twice, once with drones, once without.

Overall it was interesting game, I hope Nick Luft has the time to continue exploring the subject at some point.