For my Subversive Play assignment I have chosen to replay XCOM 2. The game places the player in the role of the Commander, a leader of a rebellious militia fighting for planetary freedom from the aliens who have conquered Earth and rule through their puppet government/mega corp, Advent. The gameplay is a turn-based strategy game, which is notoriously rigorous and punishing for players. It requires a highly strategical approach and many players - myself included - would save often through-out the game as to have a safe point to return to if everything went wrong and suddenly everyone dies (often referred to as ‘save-scumming’).
For my subversive playthrough, I will use dice rolls to make as many decisions as possible - ultimately taking every aspect of player agency or control out of my hands and into the fate of the die. I will also play on Iron-Man Mode, which will not allow me the safety-net of my previous saves when my favorite characters almost certainly die.

THE RULES

The choice the player makes is based on the roll of the die. The game uses hotkeys for character controls when you’re on a mission, so this made allocating numbers easy. Outside of missions, there are still many decisions to be made, so numbers were based on numerical orders or randomly assigned when not applicable. When there was only 1 option, no die had to be rolled.

2 options:

1-3 = 1st choice

4-6 = 2nd choice

3 options:

1-2 = 1st choice

3-4 = 2nd choice

5-6 = 3rd choice

4 options:

1 = 1st choice

2 = 2nd choice

3 = 3rd choice

4 = 4th choice

5-6 = Roll again

5 options:

1 = 1st choice

2 = 2nd choice

3 = 3rd choice

4 = 4th choice

5 = 5th choice

6 = Roll again

6 options:

1 = 1st choice

2 = 2nd choice

3 = 3rd choice

4 = 4th choice

5 = 5th choice

6 = 6th choice

When the game allowed more than 6 options, I used a second die, using a roll of 12 for option 1 and any roll greater than options was re-rolled. For example, if I have 8 options and I rolled a 9-11, I would re-roll. If I rolled a 12 I would pick the 1st choice. In my short playthroughs I never had to deal with more than 11 options. There are some limitations to this system; direction of movement within the mission, for instance, will still be decided upon by the player.

PLAYTHROUGH 1

The first mission went about as badly as you might expect a tactical game played by chance might go. I had a survival rate of ¼ squadmates, and the mission began with having to throw a number of grenades and alerting the enemies to my location.

The second mission wasn’t much of an improvement. The survival rate was 2/4 this time, however I failed the mission based on not completing an objective before a round-timer established at the beginning of the mission. The issue I found this round was that 1 of the squadmates kept rolling a 3 (generally the hotkey for Hunker Down, a move that increases the units defense for 1 round, but does not allow them to move).

At this point, I decided I might need to soften the rules in order to engage with the game better (or at all?). The major revision stated that die rolls would only be required in what we might call ‘Mission Critical Decisions’ - i.e. when in battle, making strategic decisions for the resistance, choosing upgrade paths, or any other major choice. This will still be subversive in taking control away from the player and relying on chance, while still enabling them to interact with the game systems - i.e. free movement when enemies are not in range, and no need to throw 3 grenades at the start of a round because the player rolls three 4’s in a row. I decided to begin a second playthrough tol be conducted with this revised ruleset.

For the second playthrough I had also considered switching from 1D6 system to a 2D6 system. This would have allowed for a more ‘fair’ system in terms of being able to weight the favour in terms of the player being able to shoot - as with 2D6 there is a higher probability to roll a 7. I ultimately decided that this may be very complicated in terms of dealing with possibilities with more or less than 11 potential choices.

PLAYTHROUGH 2

The first mission of Playthrough 2 went well, despite only 2/4 surviving squadmates. The key new rule that was implemented was that, within levels, the player is able to move freely (though still no actions without die roll) as long as there are no enemies in that characters sightline. The result was that the player gets into action quicker; while still maintaining the subversive gameplay element of chance within combat and major decision making. I found this version much more enjoyable but still very tense and often frustrating.

For my second mission on Playthrough 2, the system once again broke down. XCOM 2’s recent expansion pack (War of the Chosen) introduced a new threat within the game, The Lost; a zombie-like hoard who rush the players squad. Extra mechanics were added in-order to give the player a fighting chance, however, with a highest of 1 in 3 odds of being able to fire a shot, my squad were quickly overwhelmed and destroyed by a giant horde; 0/4 survival rate.

SUGGESTED CONCEPT FOR PLAYTHROUGH 3

Although Playthrough 2 was much more enjoyable, making decisions based on the roll of the die still often deters from the experience of the game. I feel like there is a better way to incorporate the elements of chance into the gameplay. Drawing from my experience with table-top role playing games, I came up with a further development for a third playthrough.

I want to attempt a full role playing run for every squad member in the team; creating backstories, histories and different motivations and priorities for each character: For example Squadmate X will not take a turn to heal Squadmate Y because they missed a shot in the last round that opened X to an attack. The goal is shifting to use the game mechanics and with the players self-generated backstory to create a more personal narrative experience within the game.

This playthrough will be a very time-intensive process, and as such, I won’t have time to experiment with this style of gameplay right now. I’m hoping to return to this idea in the future.

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Blog 01 - Subversive Gameplay