In attempting to make a much more engrossing and complex game, Betrayal At Club Low trades surrealist elements for novel game design.
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Surreality is a hard thing to nail down I think. So much of it revolves around subverting and defying expectations, dancing in the sort of liminal space of your subconscious (you might even call it… subliminal….). Its no wonder however, that gameplay systems present some obstacles in performing notions of the surreal, because gameplay systems require some definition - players need to understand what theyre doing, especially as systems become more complex.
And Cosmo D takes a stab at mixing 2 of some of the most complex genres I could think of in terms of what I might call “mechanical intuitiveness”: Tabletop Role-Playing, and Immersive Sims.
In truth, this pairing is actually quite genius, because both genres revolve around “mechanical interplay”, what some people refer to in shorthand as “sandbox design” (tho thats often a vague term that could apply to many aspects). Another way to say this would be that both genres focus less on predefined situations and encounters and instead try to let things play out procedurally according to a collection of rules and parameters. In an Immersive Sim, structures are given many varied entrances and patrolling enemies are given complex behavior-based AI to sort of create a “sandbox” of possibilities that come together in a (hopefully) exciting and dynamic experience.
(Also I have to say, I fucking hate the term “Immersive Sim”. “Immersion” is a quality almost every genre could have, and “Sim” is maybe sort of accurate but not exactly how that word is typically used in video games genre I digress I digress UGH)
What results is like the ultimate realization of a spy on a mission: a game where you have to break into a facility and react on your feet when luck doesnt break your way. Games that use dice rolls to determine the success of an action arent new but I dont think Ive ever seen a dice rolling system like this. Instead of just upgrading a skill, you upgrade the dice values, roll bonus dice you can customize, and even have to contend with conditional dice you gain as penalties or as rewards from some of the interactions you can have at Club Low. Its incredibly engaging and turns luck into a pseudo-strategic affair.
But this is also a very dense set of mechanics to contend with and this expanded, elaborated complexity in the game design means theres less space for the uncanny and dreamlike experience Cosmo D’s previous work usually involves. With many more things to do and alot more things to understand, theres alot less “vibing” to do. Alot less soaking it in.
But!
I dont think this means the game has less personality. The situations are still patently absurd, its just a matter of the effort shifting into other sectors. Failing dice rolls is its own form of comedy and there is a much greater abundance of writing to read and enjoy and engage with. Its now less a thing you merely witness and much more a thing you participate in. That does feel different of course, but not “worse”. The challenge for Cosmo D might be figuring out how to do both at the same time - but alot of Off-Peaks surreal qualities were often also just creative storytelling concessions in games where you could only really walk around and look at things.
Theres room to innovate here and find ways to bring back the stronger atmosphere but it might be worth keeping in mind that vibing is sort of all you could do in the previous games.
v
v
v
v
v
Surreality is a hard thing to nail down I think. So much of it revolves around subverting and defying expectations, dancing in the sort of liminal space of your subconscious (you might even call it… subliminal….). Its no wonder however, that gameplay systems present some obstacles in performing notions of the surreal, because gameplay systems require some definition - players need to understand what theyre doing, especially as systems become more complex.
And Cosmo D takes a stab at mixing 2 of some of the most complex genres I could think of in terms of what I might call “mechanical intuitiveness”: Tabletop Role-Playing, and Immersive Sims.
In truth, this pairing is actually quite genius, because both genres revolve around “mechanical interplay”, what some people refer to in shorthand as “sandbox design” (tho thats often a vague term that could apply to many aspects). Another way to say this would be that both genres focus less on predefined situations and encounters and instead try to let things play out procedurally according to a collection of rules and parameters. In an Immersive Sim, structures are given many varied entrances and patrolling enemies are given complex behavior-based AI to sort of create a “sandbox” of possibilities that come together in a (hopefully) exciting and dynamic experience.
(Also I have to say, I fucking hate the term “Immersive Sim”. “Immersion” is a quality almost every genre could have, and “Sim” is maybe sort of accurate but not exactly how that word is typically used in video games genre I digress I digress UGH)
What results is like the ultimate realization of a spy on a mission: a game where you have to break into a facility and react on your feet when luck doesnt break your way. Games that use dice rolls to determine the success of an action arent new but I dont think Ive ever seen a dice rolling system like this. Instead of just upgrading a skill, you upgrade the dice values, roll bonus dice you can customize, and even have to contend with conditional dice you gain as penalties or as rewards from some of the interactions you can have at Club Low. Its incredibly engaging and turns luck into a pseudo-strategic affair.
But this is also a very dense set of mechanics to contend with and this expanded, elaborated complexity in the game design means theres less space for the uncanny and dreamlike experience Cosmo D’s previous work usually involves. With many more things to do and alot more things to understand, theres alot less “vibing” to do. Alot less soaking it in.
But!
I dont think this means the game has less personality. The situations are still patently absurd, its just a matter of the effort shifting into other sectors. Failing dice rolls is its own form of comedy and there is a much greater abundance of writing to read and enjoy and engage with. Its now less a thing you merely witness and much more a thing you participate in. That does feel different of course, but not “worse”. The challenge for Cosmo D might be figuring out how to do both at the same time - but alot of Off-Peaks surreal qualities were often also just creative storytelling concessions in games where you could only really walk around and look at things.
Theres room to innovate here and find ways to bring back the stronger atmosphere but it might be worth keeping in mind that vibing is sort of all you could do in the previous games.