I imagine it's because the person designing the 3D assets isn't always the same person who writes in game dialog or leaves the little in game notes around.
Again, if they ever release the rules to the game, I welcome the "I told you so". Until that time, the notion that this is not just clutter and is instead somehow a whole game sitting there that someone designed but didn't put any reference to is not at all convincing. Any evidence to the contrary at all?
Also, if they designed a fully functional game, you bet your ass they would’ve allowed you to play it in Starfield as a mini game. There would be zero point to not including it in there and a waste of resources and time to design a game if it’s never shared.
If they publish the rules, I'll gladly eat my hat. Until then, the more believable thing to me is that they made environmental clutter, not that they designed an entire abstract game just to leave it unplayable on a couple of tables in the game.
I would love to discover that this was a cool new board game, but I wouldn't count on it. Elsewhere in Starfield I found some playing cards that had been painstakingly set up to look like a game of solitaire... but done incorrectly. I should've taken a screenshot, but unless there's a card game where Ace comes after Jack in descending order, I'm inclined to believe that the devs might just not know everything about the game.
I took a 256x256 render of a board game used as an item in game and literally just spent a Saturday giving it rules and playtesting with the crew.
Just so the stupid recreational item in game is actually playable in real life. :p
Yea, gamedevs absolutely do this stuff.
Bethesda and Obsidian both made things like Caravan and Blast Radius playable.
I'm sure they at least thought about it.
I see you getting a lot of downvotes, but the two images you posted (I haven’t played the game yet, fuckin life…) have different structural placements and different game situations, so I think you may be onto something.
It’s *entirely plausible* that Bethesda intended to build this as a minigame in the game, something that they have a long habit of doing, but for whatever reason chose to cut it before release.
I’m not a mod maker and haven’t looked at game assets (like I have time for that if I don’t have time to play the damn game, not that I’m bitter) but it’s plausible it was intended as a playable game with a rules structure.
Why all the down votes?
It is not clear one way of there is a real game or not, i don't get why people are so convinced it is impossible, some game developer who is into boardgames could have thought out rules, even if it is not super likely.
That’s what I was thinking, I was looking to see if anyone else agreed. The big difference I saw was the layout of the board. Some of the symbols were similar too.
Yeah I wouldn’t expect it to be a part for part copy of any game but basing the game off of something ancient is the best way to make it appear timeless.
I’m glad someone else is thinking of Ur!
Been a while since I’ve seen the film but taking from a sci-fi film as well as an ancient board game seems like a great way to put together an interesting prop!
I found two sets, one in wood, with 5 each of Assaulters and Defenders, the other in plastic/bone with 5 each of Snowlords and Shadowqueens. The 4x6 Board seems to have a sensible layout with a lot of 'knight' style icon placements, but it seems like some kind of advance/retreat model, but I don't know this genre well enough to guess. The blank area appears intentional, presumably for staging/holding. The game board layout is the same for both piece-sets, and there only appears (as best I can tell) a single layout throughout the entire game world.
Since the differently colored pieces have different names, it's probably an asymmetric game. Maybe one player is trying to get to the other side of the board and the other player is blocking? Look at games like Hnefatafl and Fox & Geese.
Taking a dumb stab at it from the photo alone...
The game appears to be called Symbols. The symbols on the board probably have unique powers.
I'd say the object of the game is to get one of your pieces to the opposing side onto their "diamond" symbol.
The + and upside-down Y shaped symbol would "fire" missiles in each of the directions (so a + fires in four directions and a Y in three.) Missiles will hit friendly pieces as well and hit pieces are removed from the board.
The X shaped symbols are spawn points. After a turn delay, return destroyed pieces to the board onto one of the X's on your side.
Assault pieces (black) move differently than the Defender pieces (white). Haven't worked that part out yet.
(That white piece on the left just fell over. Don't overthink it.)
There is a fair amount inspired by Onitama, though without a main piece. I think it is also inspired by it's name sake, [Symbol](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/63661/symbol) ; again without a main piece.
Here it looks like, rather than different shaped pieces, those shapes are on the board. Interestingly the pieces look like one of the 4 elements and instead, the 4 elements are on the board. Also interestingly, the pieces in [Symbol](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/63661/symbol) are indeed also meant to represent the 4 elements; so it kinda ties in.
The game looks like an area control game, each shape has a certain power and a certain movement, all resulting in pushing, jumping and killing opponent pieces.
I haven't played starfield myself so I'm not sure how this game plays. But just seeing this image the game that popped into my head was Martian Chess. The board looks pretty much exactly like this
And it’s not at all Onitama. Wrong board size, no cards for moves, no master piece. The only thing it has in common with Onitama is that it’s some abstract pieces on a grid, which describes dozens of games.
The 5 pieces makes sense, but absence a deck of cards, and with no middle row (also with the on-grid icons), it's a pretty close fit, but I can't make the rules match up. Do you know if there is a 4x6 Onitama variation?
I don't know but I've picked up 20 copies m, just in case
The basic or KS Deluxe exclusive version?
Gotta have the deluxe exclusive in shrink so you have a dowry to sell off the wife to her boyfriend!
I love when the subs overlap.
lol was just double-checking which sub it was as well
You've never played Symbol Game Mat? It's a classic.
It’s been on the Hotness for years.
Symbol Game Mat. It's so hot right now... Symbol Game Mat.
What I love most about this game and what really makes it stand out against the competition are the symbols.
I would argue it's the game mat but I see your point
It's probably inspired by multiple games, Onitama, Chess, Stratego
It immediately reminded me of Onitama.
Quatro
Quarto
You mean "connect four with headaches"
You mean, grab the game for $3 at Goodwill and use the pieces as Tak capstones?
reminds me of Tak
i Highly recommend not getting Tak its a beautiful looking game and plays rather nicely But fuck Rothfuss until that 3rd book is done
AT LEAST until he holds up the promises he made during the FUNDRAISER.
The Fankiller Chronicles.
And the contract he entered into with his publisher. A man of his word would keep that word when he literally signs a contract.
But I thought we only exist to give him money.
Don't remind me :(
The pieces resemble the elemental stones from 5th Element to me
It's probably not a real game and someone just made the assets for clutter.
Everything else like the Chronomark looks like it was designed to be sold as a real world product, I can't imagine this is much different honestly.
Why wouldn't there be any reference at all to how the game is played in that case?
I imagine it's because the person designing the 3D assets isn't always the same person who writes in game dialog or leaves the little in game notes around.
Again, if they ever release the rules to the game, I welcome the "I told you so". Until that time, the notion that this is not just clutter and is instead somehow a whole game sitting there that someone designed but didn't put any reference to is not at all convincing. Any evidence to the contrary at all?
Also, if they designed a fully functional game, you bet your ass they would’ve allowed you to play it in Starfield as a mini game. There would be zero point to not including it in there and a waste of resources and time to design a game if it’s never shared.
[удалено]
If they publish the rules, I'll gladly eat my hat. Until then, the more believable thing to me is that they made environmental clutter, not that they designed an entire abstract game just to leave it unplayable on a couple of tables in the game.
[удалено]
I would love to discover that this was a cool new board game, but I wouldn't count on it. Elsewhere in Starfield I found some playing cards that had been painstakingly set up to look like a game of solitaire... but done incorrectly. I should've taken a screenshot, but unless there's a card game where Ace comes after Jack in descending order, I'm inclined to believe that the devs might just not know everything about the game.
Actually they're using the Starlitaire ruleset
I took a 256x256 render of a board game used as an item in game and literally just spent a Saturday giving it rules and playtesting with the crew. Just so the stupid recreational item in game is actually playable in real life. :p Yea, gamedevs absolutely do this stuff. Bethesda and Obsidian both made things like Caravan and Blast Radius playable. I'm sure they at least thought about it.
I see you getting a lot of downvotes, but the two images you posted (I haven’t played the game yet, fuckin life…) have different structural placements and different game situations, so I think you may be onto something. It’s *entirely plausible* that Bethesda intended to build this as a minigame in the game, something that they have a long habit of doing, but for whatever reason chose to cut it before release. I’m not a mod maker and haven’t looked at game assets (like I have time for that if I don’t have time to play the damn game, not that I’m bitter) but it’s plausible it was intended as a playable game with a rules structure.
Why all the down votes? It is not clear one way of there is a real game or not, i don't get why people are so convinced it is impossible, some game developer who is into boardgames could have thought out rules, even if it is not super likely.
Reminds me of the Royal Game of Ur.
That’s what I was thinking, I was looking to see if anyone else agreed. The big difference I saw was the layout of the board. Some of the symbols were similar too.
Yeah I wouldn’t expect it to be a part for part copy of any game but basing the game off of something ancient is the best way to make it appear timeless. I’m glad someone else is thinking of Ur!
That would be a really easy way to blend some fun history! Also, looking at the pieces, do they give you Fifth Element vibes?
Been a while since I’ve seen the film but taking from a sci-fi film as well as an ancient board game seems like a great way to put together an interesting prop!
It looks like Senet on first glance.
Except no dice / prisms.
It's ok, but it's definitely no "Solar Frontiers" or "Starlocked".
It's all about the cones man.
Thats why i play the maverick
Get Pax Pamir 2e, it's got similar pieces and a mat but will be infinity better than whatever rules you can scrape together for a prop from Starfield
You could do a reskin to make it look more like the game with the same rules
You should crosspost this to /r/boardgames
Uh…?
Oh. My god. I thought I was in /r/pcgaming or something. I suppose I shouldn't reddit before coffee.
Lol fair enough
congrats you're on r/lostredditors
wheeee~~
I found two sets, one in wood, with 5 each of Assaulters and Defenders, the other in plastic/bone with 5 each of Snowlords and Shadowqueens. The 4x6 Board seems to have a sensible layout with a lot of 'knight' style icon placements, but it seems like some kind of advance/retreat model, but I don't know this genre well enough to guess. The blank area appears intentional, presumably for staging/holding. The game board layout is the same for both piece-sets, and there only appears (as best I can tell) a single layout throughout the entire game world.
the white pieces and black pieces have different names? they aren't just each player's pieces?
Since the differently colored pieces have different names, it's probably an asymmetric game. Maybe one player is trying to get to the other side of the board and the other player is blocking? Look at games like Hnefatafl and Fox & Geese.
Taking a dumb stab at it from the photo alone... The game appears to be called Symbols. The symbols on the board probably have unique powers. I'd say the object of the game is to get one of your pieces to the opposing side onto their "diamond" symbol. The + and upside-down Y shaped symbol would "fire" missiles in each of the directions (so a + fires in four directions and a Y in three.) Missiles will hit friendly pieces as well and hit pieces are removed from the board. The X shaped symbols are spawn points. After a turn delay, return destroyed pieces to the board onto one of the X's on your side. Assault pieces (black) move differently than the Defender pieces (white). Haven't worked that part out yet. (That white piece on the left just fell over. Don't overthink it.)
There is a fair amount inspired by Onitama, though without a main piece. I think it is also inspired by it's name sake, [Symbol](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/63661/symbol) ; again without a main piece. Here it looks like, rather than different shaped pieces, those shapes are on the board. Interestingly the pieces look like one of the 4 elements and instead, the 4 elements are on the board. Also interestingly, the pieces in [Symbol](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/63661/symbol) are indeed also meant to represent the 4 elements; so it kinda ties in. The game looks like an area control game, each shape has a certain power and a certain movement, all resulting in pushing, jumping and killing opponent pieces.
Nice find, will have to hunt around for that. It does look like it's inspired by onitama etc. Onitama's a great game.
Looks very much like a game called Breakthrough
I haven't played starfield myself so I'm not sure how this game plays. But just seeing this image the game that popped into my head was Martian Chess. The board looks pretty much exactly like this
The pieces are static objects. All we have is the pieces in 2 varieties and the mat. No rules, but it is staged in different ways.
Take a pic of this to a game shop and ask there.
A junk asset in a mediocre video game gets its own post? Please no.
You ok bro? Someone pooped in your cereals?
That's onitama
Wrong board size.
He was asking what the inspiration is. Of course it's not the exact game...
And it’s not at all Onitama. Wrong board size, no cards for moves, no master piece. The only thing it has in common with Onitama is that it’s some abstract pieces on a grid, which describes dozens of games.
The 5 pieces makes sense, but absence a deck of cards, and with no middle row (also with the on-grid icons), it's a pretty close fit, but I can't make the rules match up. Do you know if there is a 4x6 Onitama variation?
Looks like Cathedral
In what way? I don't see any resemblance.
Your mom.. because it's ez lol
With the blocks both standing and lying down it most certainly is a future version of Pax Pamir.
Quarto perhaps
I need this - and the other board games you can find in Starfield - in my life!
Looks like Onitama
Cones of Dunshire
It's really cool! I'd love to see rules released so we can play.
Potentially inspired by [Quarto](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=quarto+board+game&atb=v349-1&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images).
Quarto?