I think that’s right. I came in during the transitional era when they were asking friends (and former college Dungeon Masters, in my case) to write games for them. As the CoG formula developed, I was mindful that what I wrote differed enough from it that it might end up being published under the HG label, and I would have been cool with that.
As I wrote around the time of publication:
Rebels breaks a lot of the rules [of CoG game design]. It has massively parallel content; the average playthrough is 10-15% of the total wordcount. It uses a measure of randomness in the winter survival game. Some choices are deliberately binary for emphasis; there are even some yes/no’s. Not all choices are evenly balanced in their impacts. The player does not always have the information to know the consequences of their choice.
Take the Game I prologues, and what “wins” you the Rescuer achievement in each one. In one prologue, it’s the choice to speak boldly; in another, the choice to act fearfully; in the third, you can’t get it unless you’re a helot (and sing boldly). In none of them is it clear at the moment of choice that this choice will be the one that leads to a life being saved; that only becomes clear in hindsight after multiple plays. The prologues alert the repeat reader to the fact that unintended consequences will be part of this game, as they’re part of life.
I don’t reject the principles of balance and intentionality wholesale; I think they should be present for the game as a whole, that is, for the sum of your choices. But if every significant choice has to be characterized by balance and intentionality, the game can become safe in a potentially unsatisfying way. All it takes is a bit of careful reading to confirm what course of action will have the intended result, and you can go through the game with no major surprises or setbacks.
Some great games have been and can be written according to that principle. But part of the feeling of exploration that I value and would like to convey in Choice of Rebels is created not just by high complexity/parallel stories but also by a sense of danger–that this is a world with the potential to foil and frustrate you, and not always in ways you expect. By the same token, it’s a world where your choices sometimes bring unexpected rewards a long way down the track.
I’m glad CoG took a gamble on something different, for the sake of diversity in the brand.
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