Post by Randalzy in Physical games classification project

Viewing post in Physical games classification project

New member here, just landing because the movement about ttrpg here.

First thing I saw seems pretty covered: "physical games" seems counter-intuitive if we talk about digital downloads (pdf/epub), maybe it's a term broadly used in the computer games subworld? If I see "physical games" I expect to find books (physical) and boardgames that are delivered in a box. Probably TTRPG (+ others) feels more intuitive, even if LARP product are somehow tangencial tthe category (are there LARP products people can buy?).

I'd go with some "TTRPG+" and once you click, some text explains you what to expect there.

Another thing I didn't see covered: Languages. Being non-English-native (Spanish/Catalan as main languages), it feels important to have some language filter alongside the "Genre" or whatever other filters are added. Although it's probable that English remains the unique language for years :S

Like Reply

Xavid5 years ago

There are currently LARPs for sale on itch.io (and not just ones by me). And there are tons of LARPs for sale on other websites.

There are also board and card games on itch.io, so I feel like TTRPG is not a great umbrella category.

Like Reply

leafoAdmin5 years ago

Are you okay with the name "Physical games" as top level? We need something relatively short and easy to understand, so something descriptive or something with a lot of acronyms might not be best.

Like Reply

woodsmoke5 years ago (2 edits)

Analog games would sound cool. Also it's the opposite of digital.

Like Reply

Halfling Caravan Games5 years ago(+2)

I would push for Analog as the top category. I think it fits nicely and you can easily have two forums next to each other and people know what you're on about (i.e. Digital Game Dev and Analog Game Dev, etc)

Like Reply

Zeshio5 years ago

On a customer level though, are most going to know what analog means? I'm mid 30's now, so it's a no brainer for me. But that's not necessarily a term that's thrown around in regular chat anymore. I'd worry that we're losing some of the customer base by calling it something people won't know and therefore won't click on. I think physical games would be ok if it was fleshed out and it had more of a prominent role on the front page with the rest of the digital content.

Like Reply

Xavid5 years ago(+3)

I'm not sure physical games is any clearer than analog games. Physical games may seem misleading when most of these games are likely distributed as PDFs (and they may be played e.g. in an online chat), and I've seen analog games used elsewhere whereas I haven't seen physical games anywhere else.

Like Reply

Randalzy5 years ago(+1)

yep, that was my thought process to push for TTRPG (the tabletop part identifies as "something you play at the table" ), maybe "Tabletop + LARP" or use the "+" to identify as "there is more stuff related but we didn't knew how to categorize it".

It seems that there is no a super-easy answer (in certain light, this is good, this is a very diverse hobby even in outputs produced)

Like Reply

Tartle Games5 years ago

My vote would go toward Tabletop because it has the broadest use -- there's even a Television show about "tabletop" games. Analog sounds cool, but it would be confusing to some. And Physical games sounds really weird to me.

Like Reply

Zeshio5 years ago(+1)

I don't mind a TableTop + category, I think that could be a good way of saying "here's the main category, but it also has other misc games that don't fit" (LARP, etc).

Like Reply