Minigame Theory

I’m still very pleased with my first attempt at a minigame. But it didn’t feel like a minigame when I played it. It felt like every other procedural dungeon I’ve run: a vehicle for its game system. Which means, in this case, it ultimately felt like running Into the Odd.

I also thought there would be some symmetry in writing a dissection of the minigame as thorough as my examinations of random events or skills. But while this has the general form of those pieces, I don’t believe it matches them in rigor. The definition is loose, the examples are wishy-washy. And perhaps this is best: minigames feel important to RuneScape, but not as critical as those (and modular enough to fix later).

Tai Bwo Wannai Cleanup. Image © Jagex, modified.

Definition

A minigame is a game within a larger game that is dissimilar to and distinct from it.

• It could be played by itself with reasonably little adjustment. It doesn’t have to be fun or compelling on its own, just functional. (“A minigame is a game”)
• There needs to be a “minimum size” to a minigame. A single die roll, a single quick time event, it feels weird to include these, but I don’t know how better to draw the line.
• The outcome of the minigame is important to the larger game, and any initial parameters are determined by it. (“Within”)
• The minigame cannot be the bulk of the other (“larger”) game.
• The minigame feels qualitatively different from the larger game: either it has its own unrelated rules or it recontextualizes existing rules. (“Dissimilar to”)
• Necessarily, this means it cannot be a significant component of it, and this is subjective. This line could be drawn definitively, if imperfectly, at “necessary.” “Essential” and “characteristic” are also candidates.
• While the minigame is played, other games are suspended. If other games are started or resumed, the minigame is stopped or paused. (“Distinct from”)
• This may give a minigame the feel of interrupting or breaking the expected flow of a game.

Trouble Brewing. Image © Jagex, modified.

Examples

• In D&D 5e, a hexcrawl is a minigame. In 1e it isn’t.
• In D&D 2e, a skill challenge is a minigame. In 4e it isn’t.
• In any D&D, combat isn’t a minigame.
• In MtG, combat isn’t a minigame.
• In MtG, Cursed Scroll isn’t a minigame.
• In MtG, Goblin Game is maybe a minigame.
• In D&D, character creation probably isn’t a minigame because it’s necessary or essential. But it could be considered a minigame if we define “dissimilar” as not characteristic or not expected.
• In Traveller, character creation goes the same way as in D&D. There are no criteria that distinguish between them.
• In Pokémon Red and Blue, a slot machine is a minigame. In a real casino, it is not.
• In Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, the Pokéwalker is a minigame.
• In RuneScape, Castle Wars is a minigame. Although the mechanics of moving and fighting are unchanged, the context is new.
• In RuneScape, the wilderness is not a minigame. It is too open-ended. Perhaps “PKing” is a minigame, but perhaps it is too broad an activity, with too many intersections.
• A single quick time event is not a minigame. A sequence of quick time events might be.
• Do Not Let Us Die In The Dark Night Of This Cold Winter is a minigame.
• In Errant, lock-picking is a minigame.
• In Mario Party all the minigames are … minigames. Overland travel on the game board is not. This is odd, perhaps: a single minigame might be more complex and larger than the “board game” component. But it isn’t the bulk of the game as a whole, or even close to it.
• In Jeopardy, the daily double is probably not a minigame.

Giant's Foundry. Image © Jagex, modified.

Minigames in RuneScape

If minigames aren’t so important to RuneScape, why bother? While RuneScape might still feel largely the same without its minigames, it gains more from having them than it would lose by cutting them. That is to say, they’re very efficient at what they do. And what they do is something I’ve mentioned before: they foreground the fun of play. Sure, each minigame has some convoluted diagetic explanation, but these are all served with a wink and a nod¹ because, really, do you want to just keep running in circles on an agility course or murdering countless cows? Take a break! Minigames (and to various extents bosses, raids, and quests) offer a way to try something different, to play a game that is fun first and everything else second, and to demonstrate varied play styles and modes of enjoyment all within the larger framework of RuneScape. And that’s worth a little diagetic tension.

But that’s RuneScape. Can minigames do the same for a tabletop game? I think so. Games can get bogged down in one mode of play for too many sessions (intrigue, combat, exploration). Adding a minigame can punctuate that, and snap the group’s attention back to other areas of the game. Players remember big boss fights and clever ploys, but anecdotally, they also remember “that one time we did something completely different.”

Shades of Mort'ton. Image © Jagex, modified.

Applied Minigame Theory

The Catacombs

We can look at this definition, partial though it is, and try to see where the catacombs failed. And I think it’s this: the catacombs tried to change the context of normal gameplay, but they weren’t different enough from what was expected. The resulting game was neither dissimilar nor distinct from the systems it was built on.

Another way to frame this delineation is with loops. A minigame is (perhaps not definitionally, but at least usefully) a kind of “orphaned” loop. Its content is dissimilar to the core loop, it has no parallel loops, it has no nested loops of its own, and although it necessarily nests within some overarching loop, it is above all rare in that context.

In this light, we can see that my attempts to “fix” the catacombs actually brought it further from the ideal of a minigame! By more tightly integrating parallel loops like light tracking and encumbrance, or by “improving” the dungeon generation components, I really only further obscured the distinctive part of the minigame.

So to make a real “minigame,” let’s start over.² I think the matrix of clues and encounters still has appeal here, but the environment in question needs to be as minimal as possible. I want to strip out all the depth-crawling and default dungeon play. As soon as a player asks for more detail about an omen, they’re playing Cairn or Into the Odd again, not the minigame. (As an additional benefit, I hope this makes gameplay go faster.)

Let’s also strip out all the complexity of the deck: no different rarities, no hazards, random encounters, caches, or nulls. Necessarily, we need to keep the foreshadowed encounters, and probably they should keep some amount of stats, but ideally, finding an encounter should be fast and educational.

Ilkley Moor. Image by Tim Green, CC-BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified.

Spoor on the Moor

I’m not yet playtesting this, but if you think you might be joining in the future, you may prefer to not read any further.

Rules

1. The GM reveals three omen cards from the top of the deck.
2. The players choose one to follow.
3. The GM checks for encounters.
4. Repeat. When the deck runs out (9 “turns”), the run ends. To allow some space to learn and adjust, encounters can be negotiated with for omens. If we say that a “run” takes only one watch, a second attempt could be mounted in the same day after some necessary regrouping.

Other rules as Cairn.

Reactions (2d6)

2: Attacks 3: Flees 4: Deceives (roll 1d6+6 for apparent reaction) 5: Waits for the party to make first move 6: Open to negotiation or appeasement 7: Can offer one rumor (random) 8: Can offer one useful rumor (relevant to your quarry) 9-11: Can retrieve a discarded omen 12: Joins the search

Ilkley Moor. Image by Tim Green, CC-BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified.

Hooks

1. Young Murdo ran away from home this morning. Last seen in the thick woolly jumper his ma knit him for Christmas last year. (Quarry: Runaway)
2. Terrible news about that murderer who escaped. Hear he’s hiding out in these very hills! Great big bounty on him too… (Quarry: Criminal)
3. Dr. Leth is the real expert on a subject like that, but he’s been out in the field for days. Something about “the growth of unknown mycomicoids” or other nonsense. (Quarry: Naturalist)
4. …Broke the lady’s heart it did. Hear she ran off into the hills. I’ll pray she doesn’t do anything rash… (Quarry: Poet)
5. The reverend says she’s just a myth o’course. Nowt to it, every town and thorpe in the hills has their own “woman in white.” (Quarry: Ghost)
6. I’m sorry to say you’ve just missed Sir Everett, he’s taking the little dog for a walk. (Quarry: Noble)

Ilkley Moor. Image by Tim Green, CC-BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified.

Omens

	Baying	Boots	Bubbling	Button	Coins	Cordon	Frost	Fungus	Green	Grouse	Gunfire	Keening	Knife	Music	Paws	Plover	Rot	Smoke	Stillness	Stones	Tobacco	Violence	Weeping	Wheels	Whistle	Witchbottle	Wool
Angler			X										X												X
Cave People								X										X		X
City Folk					X																X			X
Criminal				X									X									X
Fairy					X									X						X
Ghost							X					X					X
Hermit										X								X	X
Hunters											X				X							X
Mourners									X			X														X
Naturalist						X		X									X
Noble	X																				X				X
Poacher										X	X					X
Poet									X										X				X
Police		X				X																		X
Runaway				X																			X				X
Searchers	X	X														X
Shepherd														X	X												X
Witches			X				X																			X

Baying

The sound of a lone dog that’s found something.

Bootprints

Many people passed through and around here. Searching for something?

Bubbling

The light sounds of liquid, carried through the air.

Button³

Small, shiny, brass. Perhaps from a pant pocket or a shirt sleeve, snagged on a thistle in haste.

Coins

Easy to spot, recently dropped.

Cordon

Someone doesn’t want you mucking about in this area.

Frost

A shaded patch where the snow is slow to melt. You can see your breath.

Fungus

Big round-cap mushrooms and bright-hued rosettes. Maybe some of these are good to eat?

Green

A rich, fertile patch of moor with sun and water and maybe a little magic.

Grouse

A brace of grouse, dropped in a hurry.

Gunfire

The blunt sound of a shotgun, once, twice, then silence.

Keening

An eerie deathly wailing sound.

Knife

Small. Used but kept sharp. Surely dropped by mistake.

Music

An echoing song across the fields. Unearthly perhaps, but joyful.

Pawprints

A few dogs were here, eagerly about their business, whatever it was.

Plover

Over the top of the fog, a cloud of small birds, disturbed by something.

Rot

The scent of decay. Something foul or dead.

Smoke

A blurry black pillar in the distance, the familiar and comforting smell of peat. But who lives out here?

Stillness

The sun and wind wind haven’t yet driven the morning haze from this drowsy little pocket of peace.

Stones

Weathered and ancient though they are, they at least make decent markers.

Tobacco

The warm, sticky smell of tobacco. Nice stuff, too.

Violence

Loose earth, bent stalks, a drop of blood. There was a struggle here.

Weeping

A stifled sob punctuating the ever-present wind.

Wheels

The unmistakable patterned tread of an automobile. Not many of those around.

Whistling

The carefree sound of a mind distracted.

Witchbottle

These little glass baubles are meant to keep witches away. But you wouldn’t need them unless there were witches about…

Wool

What sheep are made of. Coarse, wispy. If it was spun, you can’t tell anymore.

Ilkley Moor. Image by Tim Green, CC-BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, modified.

Encounters

Angler

• d4a0, encountered alone.
• Omens: Bubbling, Knife, Whistling.
• Weird little guy, buggy eyes, secretive.
• Wants: their knife, their spot.
• Has: fish, patience.

Cave People

• d6a1, 1d2 encountered.
• Omens: Fungus, Smoke, Stones.
• Vocabulary: “we,” “you,” “that,” “eat,” “hide,” “find,” “oof.” Can learn one new word a day.
• Wants: technology, food.
• Has: stone tools and weapons.

City Folk

• d4a0, 1d4 encountered.
• Omens: Coins, Tobacco, Wheels.
• Out on a holiday.
• Wants: an “authentic” experience, to see the scenery.
• Has: money, connections.

Criminal

• d6a0, encountered alone.
• Omens: Button, Knife, Violence.
• Pretends to be someone else, until inevitable betrayal.
• Wants: to not be found out, to kill again.
• Has: garrote (d20 damage but 0 HP when wielding), a newspaper clipping.

Fairy

• d4a3, encountered alone.
• Omens: Coins, Music, Stones.
• A minuscule figure in bright garish dress.
• Wants: to play pranks, to steal a child.
• Has: illusions, pet snake.

Ghost

• d6a0, encountered alone.
• Omens: Frost, Keening, Rot.
• Only harmed by things holy, unholy, ab-holy, dead, undead, magic, or anti-magic.
• Wants: justice, baked goods.
• Has: untiring strength & resolve, old local secrets.

Hermit

• d4a0, encountered alone.
• Omens: Grouse, Smoke, Stillness.
• Was once some kind of holy man, but you’ve never seen him at church.
• Wants: peace, exotic goods.
• Has: whisky, rations.

Hunters

• d6a1, 2d4 encountered with hounds (d6a0) and horses.
• Omens: Gunfire, Paws, Violence.
• The local lord’s heir, entertaining some school friends.
• Wants: a successful hunt, to look impressive.
• Has: shotguns (d8 damage, blast).

Mourners

• d4a0, 2d6 encountered.
• Omens: Green, Keening, Witchbottle.
• They dare not deviate from the ancient corpse-road they walk, nor set their burden on any unblessed stone.
• Wants: to reach the churchyard (many miles hence), to rest.
• Has: a full coffin.

Naturalist

• d4a0, encountered alone.
• Omens: Cordon, Fungus, Rot.
• Prefers “senior research mycologist,” actually.
• Wants: interesting samples, local lore.
• Has: edible mushrooms, poisons, expertise.

Noble

• d4a0, encountered alone with small dog (d4a0).
• Omens: Baying, Tobacco, Whistling.
• Everyone knows this guy, kind of. It’s the local lord’s cousin. Or nephew?
• Wants: to live up to the family name, to marry well.
• Has: money, land, servants.

Poacher

• d6a0, 1d4 encountered.
• Omens: Grouse, Gunfire, Plover.
• Inevitably tipsy, and in multiples, egging each other on.
• Wants: bragging rights, secrecy.
• Has: shotgun (d8 damage, blast), ferret.

Poet

• d4a0, encountered alone.
• Omens: Green, Stillness, Weeping.
• Brooding and heartbroken, her mind is somewhere else.
• Wants: audience, inspiration.
• Has: eloquence, emotions.

Police

• d6a1, 2d6 encountered.
• Omens: Boots, Cordon, Wheels.
• Something big must have happened for police to come this far out, and they’re not happy about it either.
• Wants: clues, coffee.
• Has: guns (d8 damage), protocols.

Runaway

• d2a0, encountered alone.
• Omens: Button, Weeping, Wool.
• Has been having a rough time since his mother died.
• Wants: to go home, food.
• Has: thick woolly jumper, empty cookie tin.

Searchers

• d6a0, as many as there are party members.
• Omens: Baying, Boots, Plover.
• Like looking in a mirror, their quest is parallel to yours.
• Wants: to find their quarry (similar to, but distinct from your own), money.
• Has: similar gear to your own (rations, weapons, relics, etc.)

Shepherd

• d4a0, encountered alone with 1d4 dogs (d6a0) and some sheep.
• Omens: Music, Paws, Wool.
• A stereotype of pastoral innocence, but an expert on the area.
• Wants: safety of the flock, entertainment.
• Has: dog treats, whistle.

Witches

• d6a2, encountered in triplet.
• Omens: Bubbling, Frost, Witchbottle.
• You know the drill: mother, maiden, crone; speaking in rhyme; brewing something; etc.
• Wants: respect, herbs.
• Has: cauldron, prophecy.

The Three Witches in MacBeth, by Cavendish Morton, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified.

Notes

“Facts”

These could be rumors, but I’ll need to pare it down.

• The existence of an encounter. These should all double as hooks. (18)
• A possible omen/encounter pairing. (54)
• A want of an encounter. (36)

I haven’t written out this table, but it’s potentially important to physical use. Until I have it cleaned up, I’ll probably roll “1d18” for an encounter and then roll 1d6 for:

1. Reason to seek it
2. First omen
3. Second omen
4. Third omen
5. First want
6. Second want

Implementation

I definitely want to use physical cards for this again, and also to investigate digital alternatives. One of the advantages to using single cards is that players are very unlikely to see the same encounter twice in a run, so I could be free to make each encounter more specific and weirder, add in a love triangle and some tragic backstories, and so on.

Influences

I still haven’t read Wuthering Heights. Here’s what’s in my brain instead:

• The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle
• A Night On the Moor by R. Murray Gilchrist
• Years of passively listening to The Scotland Outdoors Podcast
• Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
• Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers

Three Witches, MacBeth, by Henry James Nixon, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, modified.

Illustrations

The illustrations are animations of Conway’s Game of Life running on arbitrary inputs. Where they are in color, there are really three separate games happening concurrently, one in each color channel. Scripts in a gist, as usual, although they’re not the prettiest.

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1. Thanks to Dom on the OSR Discord server for helping me to articulate this incongruity.↩︎

2. Although to be sure, there are a few changes that should be made to the catacombs anyway. I’ve found that “null” cards add very little to the experience and can easily be dropped.↩︎

3. Thanks to Juliet for the suggestion.↩︎

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