User:Thijshijsijsjss/PTMoMNBM/Web-to-Print and Play

Earlier wiki write-up

What is it?

This project is a Print and Play game making use of Web-to-Print functionalities to provide a cutomizable experience. It is self hosted

Most of this proposal focusses on the format, not the content of the game, which is yet to be decided upon.

Why make it?

Print-and-Play (PnP) is a genre of boardgames that are available for download, so that you can print it yourself.

A large appeal of PnP games is their customizability: they allow (and often encourage) players to get crafty and (literally) built their own experience (example 1, 2). Usually this has aesthetic results, but there are examples of content-customization as well (for example Dungeon Pages, playthrough example). These customizations can give variety, provide control over difficulty settings and stimulate replayability.
 
However, there are limits to this customizability. People are restricted to their printed matter, and for content customizations are dependent on what is served to them by the creator. 

Web-to-Print provides a solution to this: through a web-interface, players can achieve even more fine-grained control over their experience, by allowing for pre-print customizations (both cosmeticor gameplay tweaks). This web-interface could even provide a multimedia experience typical PnP games don't allow for, like an accompanying soundtrack.

From a creator's point of view, this also gives rise to a nice way of self-publishing the game, of being in close contact with the players and of updating the game.

Workflow

Timetable

Rapid prototypes

Previous practice

Relation to a wider context

Resources and references

* Dedicated subreddit
* One of many online PnP stores (with many free games)
* Shut Up & Sit Down video (Vegan content warning for first 20 seconds)
* boardgamegeek.com's page on PnP with links and resources

Roll and write games have come full circle, and many PnP games are heavily inspired by video game content and UI. For example, Utopia Engine mimics pop-up menu's from video games by sliding sheets of paper over each other.

Choices made