The most common concern expressed about the Hero Generations concept is that the "1 Turn = 1 Year of Life" rule feels limiting. How are you supposed to get anything done in that amount of time? This short article hopes to answer that question, and explain why that constraint leads to fun gameplay and drives interest in the game over the long term.

Constraints Lead to Thoughtful Play

Very simply, rules and constraints in games are the engine that create challenge and choice. Making choices, and overcoming challenges are what lead to fun, "a-ha" moments and joy. In Hero Generations, making your limited lifespan be a precious resource leads to a more thoughtful style of play. Turns still happen very quickly, but understanding the cost of each moves leads you to think strategically about the path you are charting.

Consider the alternative: if we were to remove this constraint and say that there was no death, and no limit to the amount of years you could live, the moment-to-moment gameplay would have a very different focus. You would not care about the actions you take because there would be no consequence, and you would be able to achieve most goals in the game without having to think.

Overcoming Time and Investing in Future Generations

So a huge part of the game is all about overcoming the constraint of time, by either giving yourself more years to play with, or finding a way to make the value of each year more worthwhile. Just as our ancestors had less technology and knowledge about the world, so too are the heroes of your early generations in the game. By investing in new knowledge and exploring, you set up future generations to be more efficient.

Growth Paths

Here are a few of the ways you can overcome this constraint, and give your heroes more freedom and efficiency in what they can achieve:

Conclusion

You can choose to ignore this investment in future generations, and try to maximize the years you have left completing quests. But as you can see, finding a balance can lead to an easier time down the road. The growth curve is not unlike 4X Strategy games like Civilization or Master of Magic. In the early going, you have little technology, and you spend much of your time exploring the world. But over time you start to acquire power and knowledge, and then can work to achieve more fame.

So yes, in isolation I understand the concern about how limiting losing 1 year of life can seem. But in practice, this rule is the engine that drives all strategy and long term gameplay interest/replayability, and creates the thoughtful experience I think suits the game goals best.
 

(Hero Generations is now on Kickstarter: http://kck.st/1fXPM7J)