Chakan: The Forever Man

If you’re reading this from one of my cross-posts, let me first say “thank you for checking me out,”  and second “but your princess is in another castle.”  Meaning:Thanks for coming this far, but this is just a carbon copy of the material that I post on my website, DaveMatney.com, where you can also find my portfolio.  You can keep reading my stuff on this site, but things like images, audio samples, and updates may not work correctly.

This entry is built in reverse, telling you what I learned first, then what I should have done, finished with what I did. In Game Design Concepts Level 4, we were challenged to build a non-digital adaptation of a video game.  I chose Chakan: The Forever Man, a Sega Genesis platformer.  As you can probably tell by when I was assigned that task, and now (when I am posting it), it’s pretty obvious I bit off more than I could chew.  I tried to develop a completely playable game, which was the objective, but I kept adding and adding and adding, and I’m STILL not finished. So, What Did I Learn?

• First, keep it small, keep it simple.  This early in the design process there’s no reason to add more features than I could handle, and even though I was basing my rules off HeroQuest rules, I was adding too many rules to effectively playtest.
• Second, though it’s just an extension of the first, don’t stress the details.  I spent too much time trying to cram an entire game into a ruleset without actually capturing the elements of the game.  To be honest, I was actually trying to one-up the game, making my non-digital version something that’s more fun, and actually completable. (Chakan holds a certain notoriety for it’s difficulty; sure, you can’t die, but you can’t save, either, and you can probably count on one hand how many people beat it legitly.)
• Finally, Focus on a single mechanic, make it work, THEN move on. I know GDCU has hit that point many, MANY, times, but it’s not until you let feature-creep drown you that it really hits home.

So, what SHOULD I have built? Chakan’s difficulty lies in ONE area: jumping.  Many jumps are pixel-perfect pits where, if you miss them, you fall to you “death” and have to start the level over.  (This video represents that frustration well.  Take into consideration that he’s using a utility to save his game, which wasn’t possible in the actual game; every time he dies in this video, he’d have to return to the beginning of the level) So, the game I SHOULD have built would have been like this:

Goals:

• Reflect difficulty of, and dependence on, jumping as a game mechanic

Game pieces:

• 40 glass markers, separated into 10 of each of the following colors: red, green, blue, clear.
• 16 plastic skulls
• A mini-fig to represent Chakan
• Mini-figs to represent the different enemies
• 20 1”x1” wooden tiles
• A dry-erase square-grid board
• Dry-erase markers

Overview:

• A game for 2 players

Order of Play:

• Play begins with Chakan. After Chakan has completed his turn, it is the Game Master’s turn.  On their turn, the Game Master may move all monsters currently on the gameboard. This sequence continues until the Quest Level is completed, or until Chakan returns to the Hub.
• Any Player’s Turn
  • Whether playing Chakan or the Game Master, a player does one of the following on his turn.
    • Moves his figure(s) and performs an action
    • Performs an action and moves his figure(s)

Movement: To determine how many square spaces to move, you must roll 2d6. Then, move carefully across the board square-by-square.  You do NOT have to move the entire distance indicated by the dice roll. When moveing, however, you cannot pass over monsters, move through walls, or onto areas you must jump to. You may move diagonally.  You may only enter rooms through doors. Jumping: Jumping is an action.  To determine how many spaces you can jump, you must roll 2d6. Then, moove Chakan across the pit to be jumped. You do NOT have to jump the entire distance indicated by the dice roll. When jumping, you can only move in a straight line.  You may only jump up one “level” at a time.

Levels are indicated by stacking the wooden pieces. One wooden piece is 1 level up, two is two levels, ect.

Admittedly, that game wasn’t very good, and it’s only about half finished at that state, but it’s playable if the players are creative.  What I made, instead, was a complete waste of time.

Chakan: The Forever Man

A non-digital adaptation of the 1992 Sega Genesis video game

What it is? Chakan: The Forever Man is a Sega Mega Drive, Genesis video game published by Sega of America June 8, 1992. The game featured an uncommonly dark premise for the time of its release, which saw the home console market flooded with licensed (often from children’s cartoons) platformers. It is based upon a comic book by Robert A. Kraus and was produced by Ed Annunziata, who met Chakan’s creator at a convention and was impressed.  (Chakan: The Forever Man – Wikipedia) A large portion of these rules are based on HeroQuest by Milton Bradley. Please note: This non-digital adaptation is not authorized by anyone affiliated with Sega, Robert A. Kraus, the Chakan franchise, Hasbro, Milton Bradley, or the HeroQuest franchise.  I am not attempting to publish this game beyond these rules, nor will I ever attempt to make money off of this, this is simply an exercise from a Game Design Course.  This is for personal use only. Goals:

• Reflect difficulty of, and dependence on, jumping as a game mechanic

Game pieces:

• 40 glass markers, separated into 10 of each of the following colors: red, green, blue, clear.
• 16 plastic skulls
• A mini-fig to represent Chakan
• Mini-figs to represent the different enemies
• 20 1”x1” wooden tiles
• A dry-erase square-grid board
• Dry-erase markers

Overview:

• A game for 2 players
• One Quest Level takes 15 minutes.
• During a quest, Chakan may acquire Alchemy Potions which may be used at any time during the player’s turn. The Alchemy Potions represent the four elements: Earth (green), Wind (clear), Water (blue), and Fire (red)
• Levels are separated into 4 Elemental Paths (Earth, Wind, Water, Fire); the Quest Levels are also separated into two Plains; Terrestrial and Elemental. There are three Quest Levels per Elemental Path per Plain, resulting in a total of twelve Quest Levels per Plain, twenty four for the entire game.
• Chakan cannot die.  If his skulls are reduced to zero, or he falls into a pit, he returns to The Hub, returning all Alchemy Potions to the Game Master
  1. The Hub is a central location where Chakan decides  which Elemental Path to walk down. Every time Chakan returns to the Hub, he may choose a new Elemental Path, or the same one he was just in.
  2. If Chakan reenters the Hub due to zero skulls or falling into a pit, the Quest Level is reset, all monsters and potions restored.
  3. If Chakan reenters the Hub after defeating a Quest Level, that Quest Level is forever defeated, and he never has to defeat it again.

Getting Started:

• Choose your roll:
  • One player must assume the role of the Game Master. The Game Master controls all enemies within the Quest Levels
  • One player controls Chakan, the hero of the game. Give the player the Character Card and all 16 plastic skulls
    • Character Card:
      • Attack Dice: This number reflects the strength of Chakan’s twin swords.  During the game, the Attack Dice will continually be changed by switching to a different weapon, or using Alchemy
      • Skulls: This is the total number of hitpoints Chakan has. When Chakan is hit, the skull number decreases, and when the last skull is removed, Chakan returns to The Hub.  These are represented by the plastic skulls
      • Alchemy: This chart represents all the alchemical possibilities within this game. Alchemy potions are represented by
  • If there is only one player, (s)he may play the roll of both the Game Master AND Chakan (It’s still less frustrating than playing the actual game.)

Setting up the game:

• The player portraying Chakan chooses which Elemental Path to start with.
  • Give the Game Master a few minutes to physically set up the Quest Level, and to familiarize themselves with it.
    • Game Master: If at all possible, familiarize yourself with the Quest Levels before hand.
    • The Quest Map shows how the gameboard is to be laid out as the game progesses. The map is marked witih symbols that show the starting positioins of the monsters (monster information is detailed below the Quest Map).  The Quest Maps also show you where to place pillars, pits, doors, and other items such as traps and rams-heads.  With the dry-erase monsters, draw in walls, obvious traps, and pits.
      • Some items are hidden, and will remain hidden, unless the player is actively searching for them.  Read the Quest Level Notes carefully beforehand to know where these secrets are.
• When the Game Master is ready, he will read the Introduction Text for the Elemental Path; this is only read once per Elemental Path per Plain.  After this, it is the player’s turn.

Order of Play:

• Play begins with Chakan. After Chakan has completed his turn, it is the Game Master’s turn.  On their turn, the Game Master may move all monsters currently on the gameboard. This sequence continues until the Quest Level is completed, or until Chakan returns to the Hub.
• Any Player’s Turn
  • Whether playing Chakan or the Game Master, a player does one of the following on his turn.
    • Moves his figure(s) and performs an action
    • Performs an action and moves his figure(s)

On Chakan’s Turn: As Chakan, you may move and then perform an action, OR you may perform an action and then move.  You may not, however, move part way, perform an action, and then finish your movement. If you move then perform an action, you may declare to save your action to move during the GM’s turn, but only as a way to move 1d6 spaces away from combat. You may perform any of the following actions:

• Attack
  • Breaking down doors with the Axe is considered an Attack
• Use Alchemy
• Search for Secret Doors
• Jump

These actions are also listed on the Chakan Character Card for easy reference. Movement: To determine how many square spaces to move, you must roll 2d6. Then, move carefully across the board square-by-square.  You do NOT have to move the entire distance indicated by the dice roll. When moveing, however, you cannot pass over monsters, move through walls, or onto areas you must jump to. You may move diagonally.  You may only enter rooms through doors. You may not share a square with a monster. Looking and Opening Doors: As Chakan, while moving, you may “look” ahead.  Looking gives you the opportunity to see what is directly within your line of sight, such as closed doors, blocked square spaces, pits, and monsters.  Pillars block your view if they are higher than where you are standing. Looking is NOT an action, it is simply considered to be an additional thing you may do on your turn, at any time. Note: All doors start out closed. Once a door is opened, it can never be closed. Important: Getting caught in a trap and picking things up also do not count as actiosn. They can be done at any time during your turn. How the Game Master Reacts to Hero Movement: As the Game Master, you must carefully watch Chakan’s movement.  Continually refer to the Quest Level Map. When Chakan “looks” place or draw on the gameboard any closed doors, pits, pillars, traps, and monsters that are directly within Chakan’s line of sight.  When Chakan opens a door, place or draw the monster, potions, traps, or any other items that belong in the room. Note: Do not put out any secret doors. Blocked Squares: As the Game Master, you must draw blocked squares on the gameboard as soon as it becomes visable to Chakan.  Note: These squares may be removed if Chakan has the proper weapon: Webs can be cut with the Scythe, Walls can be broken down with the Mallot, and Doors can be broken down with the Axe. Chakan’s Actions: As Chakan, you may do any of the following actions on your turn. (It is possible, however, that you may not be able to do any.) Attack: As Chakan, you may attack any monster, door, or wall that you are adjacent to.  You are adjacent if you are directly to the side, front, rear of another square. You may, however, only attack once per turn.  Your attack strength depends on your weapon. The stronger the weapon, the greater the number of Attack Dice Used. Some weapons allow you to attack diagonally or from a distance. Most weapons, however, do not. Note: You may only attack with one weapon at a time. At the start of the first Quest Level, Chakan is armed with his swords. Refer to the Chakan Character Card for their Starting Attack Dice. How Chakan Attacks:

• As Chakan, the number of dice to roll depends on the weapon you are using for the attack.  Each pip rolled is considered a hit, resulting in damage scored against the monster. The monster cannot defend.  If the monster’s Skulls reach zero, the monster is considered dead and removed from the gameboard.

Different Weapons: As Chakan, you will collect different weapons which allow you to increase you attack strength, and may also give you unique combat advantages. For instance, you swords and the Grappling Hook allow you to attack diagonally. The attack is made normally. Note: You may attack diagonally through a doorway. For complete information on the weapons, please refer to their individual cards.

I DIDN’T EVEN COMPLETE ONE MAP. Let me rephrase this: in no way is this game playable. So… Taking one for the team (in this case, “one” means “pretend F on my pretend transscript” and “team” means “everyone that’s reading this”), I’m moving on.

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2. WW1 Game