Action Figure Games

The defining trait of an action-figure style game is "the content is focused around a specific hero type." Certain genres are well-suited for action-figure games, since the game will be stronger if you define the world around the hero. Remember, no game-type is wrong, they are just focuses to a design.

Think of an action-figure game as a motorcycle - a machine designed to serve a single person exceptionally well. Good motorcycle designs understand this concept, and good action-figure games do as well. Every piece of the game, from skills, classes, gear, missions, and monsters - must serve the main premise of "the hero type" we are simulating.

Let's take a couple pop-culture properties that would be well-suited for action-figure games:

• Tomb Raider
• GI JOE
• Batman
• Conan
• Spiderman

What these properties have in common is a strong focus on "the hero," "the hero's toys," and "the hero's villains." A good RPG focuses like a laser on these aspects, and reduces the importance of thing unrelated to the plot. In a superhero game, it should be all about the superhero, the powers, the gadgets, and the villains. If space-travel isn't needed in the "Spiderman RPG" - it is not needed in the rules, along with the rules for spaceships, airliners, tanks, and other items that don't appear in the comic book too regularly.

Even the equipment and weapon types in such a game can be simplified down, Spiderman doesn't care that the thug has a "9mm Smith and Wesson model 459" out of a gun list of thousands - he cares that the thug has a "automatic pistol", and leave it at there. The gun list for this game is generic - because it doesn't really matter in the whole "Spiderman" scheme of things. Things that are important, like web shooters, utility belts, and other gadgets would be covered in more detail. This is a common trait in action-figure games, a simplification of less-important items, and a tight focus on the important "pieces in the box."

One could take an action-figure game, and say the topic would be better as a playset. After all, wouldn't the GI JOE game be more fun if you could play Cobra, GI JOE...AND...the army, civilians, scientists, and others in the universe? In this case, yes, this would be a playset style game, or even a toy box if taken far enough. Would it be more fun? Possibly. Would it be less focused? Definitely. Would the game be more fun if it were more focused on the core battle between just the Cobra and GI JOE sides? Maybe, it would be easier to understand and play with a tight focus, and be more accessible to the audience who loves GI JOE.

Action-figure style games have a tight focus, and they use this tight focus to enhance the experience, and make them more accessible to their audiences. The focus is a design tool, and used smartly, makes the game clear, simple, more enjoyable.