Tonight’s entry is on the joy of AARs or After Action Reports. Personality I think these sell games better then advertisements and have really become the cornerstone of selling niche titles. An AAR is basically a dramatic retelling of some one’s game play experience, strategy titles lend themselves the best in my opinion for AARs, as they give the player time to think, and can let the player fill in a lot of the story gaps with their imagination. I know that I’ve wanted to play more games thanks to AARs, and if it wasn’t for one I would have never tried X-Com in the first place, yet they also help in another way.
Creative writing, let’s face it not the best course for gamers who have to write about some uninteresting topic. Yet AARs thrive on the creativity and imagination of their writers, who can take in game events and turn them into amazing tales. Creative writing would have been so much better if we could write AARs. Being able to write an excellent AAR is a great way for writers to improve their story telling, and provide some entertainment for their friends.
Thanks to AARs, I’ve played Galactic Civilizations 2, King of Dragon Pass, Armageddon Empires, X-Com, and I attempted to play Dominions 2 (thank you Bruce Geryk). Now here’s a list of some of my favorites and ones you need to read.
X-Com the book:: The first AAR that I read on X-Com and my favorite, not only involving myself (Pfreak was my code name), but convincing me that I had to play X-Com. A great AAR that actually had a successful ending (for those that play strategy titles on hard, that is pretty rare).
X-Com 2 Electric Boogaloo: A 2nd AAR based on X-Com, except this time it’s based on a modern day remake of it. While this one doesn’t have a true ending (due to limitations of the mod) it does feature a lot more behind the scenes drama. Which sure as hell beats most Soaps these days. I had yet another guest star role under the same name, this time however surviving a lot longer and kicking much more alien ass.
Farming with Trolls 101: This one is on the game King of Dragon Pass, and is important on the list. I knew about the other games before reading their respective AARs, however this was my first glimpse at the game, and has gotten me interested enough to add it to my list of games to buy once money starts coming in. Unfortunately the writer had to stop due to problems, but he did an excellent job of getting me and other people interested in this little known gem.
Horny rabbits in Space Part one and two : No this isn’t a Cinemax feature, you sickos out there, but a humorous look at galactic conquest with Galactic Civilizations 2. Part 1 deals with the game with the first expansion and part 2 which is being worked on now has both expansions. While they’re not detailed on game mechanics, they inject much needed personality to the game. Looking at what’s been added with the latest expansion makes me want to try it out.
AARs are a great way to get your game noticed and help sell the more complex titles out there. I would love to do one on a game, but I need to find one that I’m generally good at and that hasn’t been attempted yet, no way can I compete with the X-Com ones.
Josh.
