Ouija boards most often take a central role in subgenres of horror including haunted house and possession, but they can appear in just about any type of film. Then, in the 1970s, ouija boards took a dark turn by being portals to evil in almost every on-screen appearance. Ouija and the supernatural was taken more seriously in cinema starting in the late 1940s. Films from the silent era through the early 1940s use ouija boards for comedic purposes or to advance plots which have earthly explanations for portrayals of the paranormal. Other divination methods such as table tipping were cumbersome, and they required a medium which made them prone to fraud.Įarly film appearances of ouija boards rarely involve spooks or scares. Ever since, the Ouija board has been the most popular form of divination for spiritualists and for those who are just curious. The term “ouija” was originally created for a patent granted in the United States in 1891 describing a “toy or game.” The Ouija board (with a capital “O” when referring to the trademarked name) quickly became a hit when the Kennard Novelty Company began selling them the same year. Bond patented the original ouija board in 1891, and few changes have been made to the board since then. Films often portray ouija boards as conduits for evil spirits, but the actual history of ouija is much less terrifying.

And I don't think that the game's actual designers get to be the gatekeepers of high-complexity design.Ouija boards have been in movies ever since the early days of cinema. but I don't think it's more complex than Fractured Days, for example. I would put this spirit as Very High complexity. BUT I wouldn't make that change without more playtesting. Having the higher levels have slightly higher return than lower levels is not core to the design. When you say a flat amount - do you mean a flat cost and a flat return (so like, the return is always the cost +1)? If so, I can see that. How do I design the visuals so that the cost and return is most intuitive. Ultimately, I think he challenge is a visual design more than a gameplay. The spirit needs an incentive to having its presence be used as Strife, and having a cost and payoff model for adding and returning presence works really well. Regarding the gameplay critique - I think it's fair but ultimately a line I want to hold. I need to keep searching for something that fits as well as the current artwork. That said, I've heard criticism of the spirit's artwork, which might be fair. I think a model of Dahan as a people's totally without greed of any kind is itself problematic, so I think the small greed of trinkets found in the sands turned into HUGE greed of invaders is a narrative that falls in line with how Dahan are depicted. In fact, gold turned up in many places WITHOUT mining occurring (think panning for gold). Ted's only response here is that the Dahan would not mine for gold - and that's totally fair and in line with the lore as presented. I think that generally the spirit stands up to the test of theme. Hey Rern! I want to say up front that I appreciate this type of criticism regarding theme. I think there was also some other statement saying that for the spirit to exist prior to invaders, it would have to express 'greed' in senses that Dahan would understand - and that would be more towards 'social standing' than 'material goods', given their lifestyle. There's a post from a designer regarding the last time such a suggestion was made at. Spirits Island lacks the type of smithing and development that would really make that kind of 'treasure' a thing that exists.

I think this is trying to play to Aladdin-style 'there are buried treasures here' thematics, which aren't a pre-existing thing for Spirit Island. I'm more concerned about what 'greed' actually is supposed to represent here. There really isn't much to add with the weird add/return tracks - a flat amount likely works more than well enough, and trying to read through how it works is non-obvious, combined with very busy innate powers and a special rule. I'd need more time to parse everything, but I heavily suspect that this spirit is unnecessarily fiddly.

Spirit whisperings board