Megagame

Megagames cover subjects such as modern and historical military conflicts, political scenarios, Machiavellian historical drama, science fiction and fantasy genres.[9]

A megagame will take place over a number of turns which can represent time intervals ranging from days to months depending on the scenario being played. Each turn can be broken down into phases again depending on the scenario. These phases can consist of:

• Team time, where the team must stay together at their table to discuss their approach to later phases and update each other with their progress during the turn.
• An orders phase, where map players will move and/or place units to reflect their attempts to influence the map state.
• A meeting phase, where the appropriate team members can meet with other teams in order to try to influence them.

A game might consist of an 'adjustable' number of turns to create a level of uncertainty and to reduce the likelihood teams or players attempting 'extreme' actions in the last turn. For example, a game could be scheduled to run for 8-10 turns, with the final turn being declared at the end of one of those turns.

The games are moderated by members of Control (or referees), who perform a similar role to that of the dungeon master in a traditional roleplaying game. It is their job to react to the actions players attempt to take during the game.[9] Megagames of between 50-60 will include 5-10 Control players - the largest Watch the Skies megagame had about fifty moderators for 300 players.[1]

In large megagames specialist Control roles may be needed to facilitate specific aspects of the game mechanics. In some scenario or plot based theme Plot Control will help manage the various storylines that may have been seeded by the original setting, or have been created by players during the game. In most games where maps are used to represent the locations involved Map Control will coordinate the activity of players and non-player factions on each map and help resolved the outcome of conflict if needed. Overall Game Control will oversee the game as it unfolds and deal with escalations and major plot elements if they are an aspect of the game concerned.

In most scenarios winners and losers are not determined - the players judge for themselves how well they have performed within the game and their outcomes against team and personal objectives. Operational megagames may well have victory conditions that can be achieved. The general aim of a megagame will be the group generation of multiple responses to the scenario and starting conditions in the game. In general the end result of a megagame is the stories created by the players at the end of the game.

There are a couple of main formats of megagames.

Operational megagames are typically military "what if" scenarios and will include an extensive and detailed rule set to reflect the capability of forces and equipment that might be found in the era the game is set in. There is little room for improvisation around the rules and players will be expected to operate closely within the game mechanics.

Political megagames, like Watch the Skies, will have a light rule set and there is large scope for improvisation and suggesting plans to Control, who will moderate of the potential for those plans to succeed based on the game scenario and the level of rationale that the players can provide. Other games may have mechanics for political states, economic and trade mechanics and in some games they can include a science side game which may benefit the players teams if they invest in those options.

A common format is one which combines the political and operational, providing a political framework in which any combat will be resolved.

In the US, most active designers stem from the board game scene and their designs are reflected in their origin. Several have designed highly mechanical megagames with rigid rules that don't differ substantially from very large board games. Within the community, there has been debate about whether these new megagame-board game hybrids are actually megagames (and thus eligible for broad community endorsement and support). These typological debates are not unique to the Megagaming Community and are likely to continue into the future.

There is a growing community around megagaming, with organisations being formed around the world, including the United Kingdom, United States, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan.[14] Megagames are often run at board game conferences, with the MegaGame Coalition organizing multiple megagames at the Gen Con board game convention each year.[15]

A key designer throughout much of this period has been Jim Wallman, one of the primary megagame designers in Megagame Makers and a professional game designer consulting with the British military on simulating conflict scenarios.[1][9]

• Megagame Makers list of events
• Megagame Assembly list of events and podcast