Heisei Series Review Part 1: The Return of Godzilla

As I posted on Facebook last month that I wanted to start increasing and diversifying posts on the Daikaiju Director website. This is the first in what I hope to be a long line of fun kaiju movie reviews with a special look at how each film influenced the design of Daikaiju Director. I'm going to begin with a series of reviews looking at the Heisei Godzilla movies paying special attention to the evolving human response to the threat of Godzilla and other giant monsters. The first film that I'll be reviewing is 1984's the Return of Godzilla. There will be spoilers, but do we really watch giant monster movies for the plot anyways?

Background

Before I start I want to layout some background information regarding the Return of Godzilla and the Heisei era in general. If your a big kaiju movie buff then you probably already know all of this so feel free to skip to the next section.

What is Heisei Godzilla? For the sake of brevity, the Heisei era includes the 7 Godzilla movies made from 1984 to 1995. This series is characterized by practical effects and tight continuity, which is why it's such a great opportunity to examine how humanity's response to giant monsters changes and evolves over time.

The Heisei Series named after current political era in Japan, which started in 1989. Yes, I know that doesn't make total sense since the Return of Godzilla was released in 1984, but just go with it. Technically the later Millennium series and Legendary series also take place in the Heisei era of Japan, but they aren't considered part of of the Heisei film series. Confusing, I know. Maybe I should do a Kaiju History post sometime down the road...

Anyways, the Return of Godzilla is the first entry in the Heisei Series. It ignores all previous Godzilla movies besides the original 1954 film, Gojira. If you can't stand the cheesiness of some of the older films, then this is the perfect jumping on point. This movie can be enjoyed without having seen any other Godzilla movies. The only thing to keep in mind for younger viewers is that this movie was made in the middle of the Cold War and it pulls a lot from the politics of the time. This movie has only recently been made available on DVD and Bluray so it is finally easily accessible in America.

The Review

After 9 years out of the spotlight, the King of Monsters makes a triumphant return in the Return of Godzilla. While I normally prefer my kaiju films to feature the clash of two or more titanic monsters, this solo outing hits all of the right notes with me. It has the ridiculous monster movie science that I love and an interesting conflict centered around the awkward complexities of Japan's position during the Cold War.

The conflict of the movie is threefold. In one theater, you have Japan dealing with Godzilla's first appearance in 30 years. The atomic horror that is Godzilla has returned to a vulnerable Japan. The Japanese government isn't entirely caught off guard though. They quickly re-purpose the anti-nuclear aircraft, Super X, to deal with Godzilla instead of a  Russian or American attack. With its titanium-platinum alloy hull and newly added cadmium missiles, it represents the government's best hope at defeating the King of Monsters. While I can't speak to the actual properties of the platinum titanium alloy they used, cadmium is used in real world nuclear reactors to slow and control the reaction. It makes sense that these missiles would be particularly effective against Godzilla and his nuclear powered biology.

The second conflict involves the two super powers of the era: the USA and the USSR. As Japan scrambles to repel Godzilla's attack, these two countries send representatives to urge Japan to allow them to nuke Godzilla. They both say that they want to strike him while he's in the Sea of Japan, but they won't hesitate if he moves into Tokyo as projected. Obviously hits a sore spot for Japan given not only Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the plethora of nuclear tests that inspired the 1954 Godzilla movie.

Given the Cold war politics and a anti-nuclear super aircraft, how could this get any crazier? Well the third facet of the conflict involves a group of scientists that want to lure Godzilla into a volcano using birds. Yes, you read that right. The heroes of the film try to trick Godzilla into falling into a volcano by manipulating the same magnetic navigation instinct that birds have. While his magnetic navigation instinct never comes up again in the Heisei series, it does set the stage for the monster mind control technology exhibited in the later films.

All things considered, this is a serious monster movie with some great cinematic moments. While the characters are sometimes forgettable and the science can be hilariously inaccurate, it's miles better than many of the Godzilla movies Toho gave us in the 70s. It's an excellent reboot for my favorite franchise and one of the top 3 Godzilla movies I'd recommend to monster movie newbies.

How Did This Film Influence Daikaiju Director?

It didn't, at least not yet. I began development on Daikaiju Director 2 years ago and I only watched the Return of Godzilla for the first time in September. As I tinker with the military faction and armed response deck this movie will definitely leave it's mark. I want the human military player to have a variety of avenues of attack. Much how the government in the movie argues between deploying Super X, luring Godzilla into a volcano, and using nuclear weapons, I want interesting choices to be the hallmark of the human player. I'll delve more into this later in this series where I talk about the variety of super weapons developed to defeat Godzilla.

What's Next?

The next entry into this series will examine 1989's Godzilla vs Biollante and how humanity ramps up it's response to Godzilla. I hope this review was informative, and if you haven't seen the Return of Godzilla I hope you give it a shot. Until next time, keep the good times rolling!

Dayton Designed: The Aftermath

Last Saturday we had the opportunity to run a playtest with other local game designers at Ohio Gaming Brigade's Dayton Designed event. It was a resounding success. The event itself went amazing and we got a ton of great feedback. If you made it out and got to play Daikaiju Director, thank you! If you didn't, fret not. Ohio Gaming Brigade will be running similar events in the future and Daikaiju Director will be making appearances at other gaming conventions. We want to thank Star City Brewery for hosting the event, Ohio Gaming Brigade for organizing it, and all of the playtesters for making it as amazing as it could be!

Now on to the nitty gritty...

The Good

We got to show off the new Daikaiju art last Saturday and people responded very positively to it. The artist did a fantastic job and we will be showing each piece off as they get colored by our colorist. As said before, this playtest went amazing! People were so excited to play Daikaiju Director that we had a line that we couldn't get through with the time allotted. Next time we hope to have more copies of the prototype and more tables so everyone gets a chance to play. The people who did play only had positive things to say and there were more than a few epic moments that surprised everyone at the table, like the Double Earthquake!

When the player playing Vulcanus played "What a Twist" before dropping "Earthquake" everyone at the table knew something big was happening. After demolishing most of the city with excellent attack rolls, the player just laughed and said, "I do it again."

The second "Earthquake" was just as effective as the first and helped cement his lead in Ratings Points. At that point, the other players began to gang up on Vulcanus, but it was too late in the game. A few double-crosses and failed attack rolls later, Vulcanus emerged victorious in the third and final game of the night.

The Bad

Two obvious issues arose at Dayton Designed. The first is that when teaching the game to new players, they often didn't know how to best utilize their Daikaiju's specific strengths and abilities. This is normal for any game that people are unfamiliar with. This led to a few players mimicking other players' moves to their own detriment. This will hopefully be mitigated by improved Daikaiju cards that have strategy suggestions and a story blurb for each monster. Unfortunately, this issue meant that sometimes, monsters didn't perform to the best of their ability and feedback was skewed towards monsters that weren't necessarily as good or bad as players thought. We realize now that feedback isn't always helpful when it's just "Eelian felt the most powerful" and "Vulcanus won this game" unless it's put into proper context. More about that in a future article though...

The second problem we had was in one game the scene counter got bumped and nobody noticed. This led to a game lasting somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 turns instead of the usual 10. While it was great that the testers enjoyed playing Daikaiju Director so much that they didn't mind playing a more, the people waiting to play were understandably unhappy about this. In an effort to mitigate the risk of such a thing happening in the future we are switching from a scene counter die to a large card with a track printed on it. We will also use this track to mark each player's Ratings Points, which hopefully will help clear up player's positions relative to each other.

The Ugly Gi-Ant Elephant in the Room

Or lack thereof we should say. In our last post we promised a playtest of the new Gi-Ant variant at Dayton Designed. Unfortunately, we didn't feel that it was ready in time for the playtest and elected to just run normal games of Daikaiju Director. It will happen in the future, but it needs a few things before we are confident in sharing this new variant with the world:

1. It needs to be complete and tested by the designers of the game. We don't want to give you an unfinished, broken product to play with.
2. It needs the space to be played. As we are focusing on finishing the core game, we don't want to sacrifice play space for the core game to test a variant that probably won't be included at launch.
3. It needs to look good. With the quality prototypes presented thus far, we want Gi-Ant's twist deck and the Gi-Anthill prop to look like it belongs with the rest of the game. 

 That being said, we will be testing this variant along with others at future playtest events.

In Other News

We want to expand the content on this site so be on the lookout for more game design posts related to Daikaiju Director and other games in general. We will keep you updated on other fun events in the Dayton area as well as other cool games being made around here. In addition to that, since research for this game requires multiple viewings of every kaiju film we can get our hands on, be on the lookout for movie reviews! We plan on review individual films as well as series while providing insight into their historical context and their influence on Daikaiju Director. Hopefully this diversification in content will expand our audience and entertain you guys, the readers.

That's all for now. Check out the Facebook page and Twitter for more updates and keep the good times rolling!

Dayton Designed: a Playtest with Other Local Game Designers

If you've been keeping up with the news we've posted on the Facebook page, then you know that the Ohio Gaming Brigade is hosting a playtest night for local Dayton game designers. Daikaiju Director will be there along with many other great games like Galatune, Bellum, and Just Got Real. I'm excited to have the opportunity to showcase a game I've been working so hard on for the past 2 years alongside so many other talented designers.

The details for the event itself can be found here, but the gist of it is that the Ohio Gaming Brigade is running this event at Star City Brewery on Saturday October 22nd from 6pm to 10:30pm. Star City Brewery is a great family friendly establishment that I've frequented myself many times in the past. They have great beer, a fantastic atmosphere, and an extensive board game library that is available to use if play testing is filled up or just not your style. There will also be a raffle with some pretty neat prizes.

As of right now, there will be two regular games of Daikaiju Director games for people to play was well as a never before played 5 person variant featuring the original 4 Daikaiju teaming up to take on the King of the Ant-Hill himself, Gi-Ant, and his newly redesigned Mut-Ant swarm. I recommend everyone who is looking for something to do that evening to come check it out and support local designers. Hope to see you there!

UD Con XXIII: Mad Scientist Con

It's that time of the year again. UD Con is just on the horizon, and I am excited to announce that we will be having not 1, but 2 playtests there this year! That's a 100% increase in kaiju awesomeness from last year!

Click the image below to for more details about UD Con XXIII: Mad Scientist Con

FASFAC is hosting the Con in the Science Center on UD's campus this year March 4th through 6th. If you want to playtest Vulcanus, Space Hunter X, Eelian, and Fenrir come to the Fishbowl between 7 and 8 pm Friday. If you want to tryout 4 never before tested Daikaiju then come to the Fishbowl between noon and 2 pm Saturday. If you're at the convention but can't make those times, find me and I'm sure we can get a game started at an open table.

I'll also be running a panel about giant monster movies for beginners at 9:30 pm Friday in Room 119. Whether your a total newbie or a kaiju film veteran, it's sure to be a blast. Hope to see you there!

Until next time, keep the good times rolling!

An Actual Playtest for Ants

This past weekend I hosted an amazing playtest with some awesome individuals. The purpose of the test was to see how the changes made after the Gen Con Playtest held up while introducing a new monster: Gi-Ant.

Gi-Ant is unlike any other Daikaiju introduced thus far. What started as a joke from the Gen Con Playtest has turned into a monster that may go on to become a fan favorite. It could be said that he is a synthesis of Eelian and Vulcanus, but don't let that fool you! While it's true Gi-Ant can burrow to escape danger and cause city shattering earthquakes like Vulcanus, his real strength lies in his ability to spawn tiny Mut-Ants!

These Mut-Ants are terribly hard to balance. Expanded action economy is no joke in a game like Daikaiju Director. I want the Mut-Ants to provide an obvious benefit to Gi-Ant, without breaking the game, and I believe I almost hit the mark. Gi-Ant didn't win any of the games in his debut playtest, but he was a force to be reckoned with and a lot of fun to play. He'll definitely need to be tweaked before the final release, but there's a solid foundation to build from.

Now on to things that were completely broken...

If you follow the Facebook page, then you probably know that Daikaiju Director had its first kaiju kill in scene 1. This all happened in the first game of the playtest! Fenrir moved, pounced on Eelian, and then played an impressive combo of Twist Cards that ended up doing 6 damage to the space snake thanks to Fenrir's "Vicious" passive ability. Veterans of playtests past have commented on how Fenrir is either really good, or really bad. He's a glass cannon kaiju killer. After this I'm leaning towards believing he's either too good or too bad. I'm going to make some slight changes to his offensive and defensive capabilities, while hopefully maintaining the spirit of the monster.

The other games highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the other monsters. We had a very even spread of winners throughout the afternoon. Only 2 out of 4 of the playtesters had played Daikaiju Director before, and one of them had only played it at the first UD Con Playtest. Needless to say the game has changed quite a bit since then! We were also joined by a fellow game designer, Zac Reed, who has his own game, Life is Card, available on DriveThruCards.com

Please check out Life is Card here!

One of the best moments for me this past weekend was to see the playtesters have so much fun playing Daikaiju Director. Despite minor necessary rules clarifications and balance issues, everyone had a blast, and at the end of the day that's what gaming is all about.

If you don't already, Like Us on Facebook as well as Life is Card. I should be updating soon with details about this year's UD Con playtest along with some other exciting announcements. I'm currently looking for an artist to help with some concept art. If you know someone or are interested yourself please email Daikaiju Director. Until next time, keep the good times rolling!

November Update

Hey Daikaiju Director fans! I know it's been a while since I last posted so I decided it was time for an update despite not having much to report.

There's not much going on in the development of the game at the moment, but I should be starting a new round of playtesting of the original 4 Daikaiju alongside 5 brand new monsters sometime in December/January. I'm also working on getting some concept art put together so look forward to seeing some images of the monsters you know and even some you don't in the near future.

I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month again so I'm busier than ever. Any updates this month will be brief, but after November I might start posting some short fiction featuring the monsters of Daikaiju Director. I'll have to see if writing 50,000 words in a month inspires more creativity or burns me out.

Until then keep checking the site, Twitter, and Facebook for all things related to Daikaiju Director and giant monster movies in general.

Gen Con: "What is This? A Playtest for Ants?"

When they say that GenCon is "the best 4 days in gaming," they aren't joking. It was simply amazing. All of the play test slots went fantastic. Seriously, it was better than we could've ever hoped and thank you so much to everyone who participated or showed interest in Daikaiju Director. I want to especially thank Double Exposure Inc for running the First Exposure Playtest Hall so smoothly. We learned a lot and had a blast. Over 50 games were played over two days by 32 people, and we got a huge amount of feedback.

So what exactly did we learn?

Where's the Ants?

Due to a quirk with the typography of the play test slips, some people thought the were signing up for an strategy board game based on "Ant Monster Movies." With Ant Man in theaters this undoubtedly helped to a attract a few more playtesters and it inspired me to create another monster to be included in the game's release. But more on that later...

Players were very excited to play the 4 different monsters, but they wanted more. Whether they were taken straight from the Godzilla franchise or unique new monsters 1/4th of the playtesters explicitly asked for more Daikaiju in the questionnaires I handed out at the end of the play test slots. This is great because Space Hunter X, Eelian, Fenrir, and Vulcanus are just the tip of the iceberg. I really want Daikaiju Director to grow, and I've got 8 more monsters to playtest.

A Lot of People are Interested in a Kickstarter

A lot of people were interested in investing in a Kickstarter, which is fantastic. It was great to see so much support from complete strangers. Originally I was planning on starting a Kickstarter around tax return season 2016, but I don't think that's feasible anymore. I'm getting married next summer and I frankly don't think I'll have the time to get Daikaiju Director into investors' hands and on store shelves is a reasonable time-frame. I've got to push any Kickstarter or crowdfunding effort back to 2017, but don't be alarmed. This just means I'll have a bigger, more refined game when the time comes to actually produce it.

The Look

Comments on the look of Daikaiju Director varied greatly. It is going to change substantially as we get closer to the finished product. It's going to look sharper and a lot more professional. Specialized art for every twist card as well as monster art for every daikaiju is going to be commissioned. The prototype we had at GenCon was just a taste of what the finished product will be.

Game Length and Complexity

From all of the data we gathered, I believe the game length is pretty much perfect. People who had a lot of fun thought the length of games was either too short or great. People who didn't have as much fun playing thought it was a tad too long. Time flies when you're having fun. I'll include rule for modifying game length in the final release, but I think 10 scenes is pretty close to perfect. The complexity appears to be at a happy medium of not too simple and not too difficult. Those that had more fun with the game found it more simple than those that had less fun.

Randomization of the Set

More than a few people asked if the board could be rearranged or randomized. With the prototype this wasn't possible, and honestly I'm not sure randomization will be possible with the final version. I do want multiple map configurations, both to accommodate various numbers of players and to provide a multitude of scenarios. Balanced gameplay is paramount in any game, and set configuration is one area of Daikaiju Director that needs to be carefully redone. I'm working on it, and the base game is shaping up to have around 6 or so configurations, possibly more.

Wording Clarifications and Balance Tweaks

Of course, the main purpose of this play test was to uncover any wording or balance issues, and there were about as many as I expected.  Eelian's attack needs to be raised and Fenrir's defense needs to go up as well. Earthquake's range needs to be reduced one space and the wording on Vulcanus' water weakness needs to be completely redone.

Overall, most people thought Eelian was weak and under-powered compared to the other monsters, despite winning the most games. Fenrir was also viewed as under-powered in games where he died early, but overpowered in games where he stuck around until the end. This is probably caused by playtester playstyles conflicting with the Daikaiju's playstyle, but I am making some adjustments to try and make them more consistently balanced. Vulcanus was the second most frequently suggested weakest monster, which surprised me since in previous playtests he was consistently singled out as the most powerful by a large margin. I must have overcompensated in the most recent revision.


That's all for this update. I'm going to continue to tweak and test Daikaiju Director as well as implement a lot of the feedback I got at GenCon. Thanks again to everybody who came out and played!