How (Not) To Make a Variant

Given some submissions in the past year, I thought it'd be appropriate to make a guide (both as a joke and for serious reasons) on some trends in variants creation that aren't that great, to say the least... below every point I'll attach a (fictional) example, and a reason why the variant wouldn't be accepted.

Obviously, this doesn't encompass everything, but it's a good starting point to avoid some rookie mistakes present-day.

1. "Upgraded" Chess

Why: We don't like horses

Okay, I'm joking. We get this submission maybe once every year or so from different people, and it's just not that original or fun to play either.

P.S., this applies to variants in general that are slight variations on standard chess, gothic chess, etc. Although using them as inspiration is fine, we've seen a lot of variants that have somewhat interesting play but really nothing innovative.

2. The Overlord Bot

Why: You might be thinking, "nobody's that stupid!", and you're right, this is just an exaggeration; but I've seen a lot of variants where the game is solely decided by the bot and is just a luck battle to see which side it'll attack. Learning how to implement bot manipulation is key to having a good WoF in most cases these days; respecting the process and utilizing test games and feedback to make revisions doubly so.

3. 1000 KINGS VS 1000 QUEENS (amongst other variations)

Why: Long emotional message time! As a variant enthusiast, it's always sad when clickbait YouTubers just make positions like these and roll out videos of Futers playing the position out. Sure, it might be funny the first time, but it's a trend that has genuinely destroyed seriousness of variants on the platform. Same applies for custom variants; this is an auto-declinable position.

4a. "The Sandwich", "The Human Wall", "1v2", etc.

Why: This basically applies to any FFA variant where the only strategy to attack a player that's smack in the middle of 2 or 3 other players. These variants are never balanced (and I say this fairly confidently); dead draws would be pointless for a different reason, and if one side is stronger than the other, then it's just unfair.

4b. Kingmaking Time!

Why: Alright, I said I wouldn't use positions from real variants, but I feel that this is the best way to show this without the position being too complicated. In this scenario, we have somewhat of a prisoner's dilemma where double checking is mutually beneficial and keeps the game going, whilst triple checking or capturing kings creates distrust and is seen as a selfish move to avoid being last place. Of course, any player could just troll and outright capture kings, and whether any individual player wins isn't up to them. This type of stuff happens in standard 4 Player Chess as well, but at least don't make it this obvious...

5a. Where's the Bridge?

Why: Your pieces don't grow wings. If you're going to make a variant with "islands", add more than just the base two, and make sure there's a bridge between them. Doing this incorrectly will just make a shuffling variant.

5b. The Two Battlefronts

Why: This is a distinct but related concept to what I said previously; often I will see variants where there are "battlefronts" with the king on one side and a severely unequipped army on the other. Even if you set promotion to knights, the little to no interaction between the two battlefronts just makes a boring variant once again.

6. Unbalanced Asymmetry

Why: Asymmetry is not always balanced; that being said, equal points is also not necessarily always balanced. I've heard a fair few people pointing out asymmetry in accepted NCVs and assuming that it's then fine to make any random combination.

7. "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight"

Why: If you find yourself using a ton of small range movement pieces, chances are you won't be needing a big board. Shuffling is always a problem, in addition to inability to deliver checkmate. Using a combination of pieces with distinct purposes is always better than spending the first 30 moves of a game accomplishing nothing other than basic development.

What is my #1 tip?

Don't take testing games for granted. In the words of former 4PC Admin @GustavKlimtPaints:

"Making up a position and posting 10 games with a computer opponent that reflects almost nothing of what the position will look like in play is really just a waste of everyone's time. Play dozens of games and get some people to be interested testers."

Testing is where you pick out errors and get feedback, not a tedious process that has no meaning. Likewise, getting a variant declined should be used to make your future variants better; in some cases, revising a previously declined variant and taking the time to do so could make a huge difference in simply starting over and ignoring every comment.

Here's some resources you can refer to if you need more help:

• https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/good-custom-position-bad-custom-position-dos-and-donts-for-ncps-1
• https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/new-position-workshop-testing-thread
  (PINNED THREAD)
• https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/variant-design-patterns
• https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/how-to-make-new-variants-accepted 
• https://variants.world/(Search "declined" in the search bar, or "accepted", and observe what works and what doesn't)

(By the way, I'd love to hear from y'all in the comments! If you disagree with anything here, you can mention that as well)

Very helpful

I think the converse of 7 is more apt. I basically avoid anything smaller than 8x8 because it hampers long range pieces too much. Spending the first 30 moves of a game accomplishing nothing other than basic development is better than having a long range piece taken within the first 3 moves of a game due to space pressure.

Brilliant! (both as a joke and for serious reasons)

Add "Don't Make It Completely Dependent On Players Not Resigning"

Example:

@2bHNST That image is precisely why I almost entirely avoid anything that is not a perfect rectangle.

Add "Don't bring a gun in a knife-fight", which is "the converse of 7" (@josephruhf)

“Upgraded” Chess is only bad due to lack of alternatives.
4 is the reason I avoid designing genuine 3/4 player variants. FFA just makes being good at the variant more advantageous even in an otherwise good design. This is a big problem for chess variants, which often almost don’t depend on “chance” at all.

But 1 is too dull (Like many of your variants)

If Capablanca’s chess has been criticized by no less than masters of the “right” chess for throwing the armies too far off balance by adding the Chancellor and the Archbishop, 1 is the only principled way to have his pieces in a variant.

lol, I may be a bit harsh in my profile description, but that image is basically iconic within the cga team

4.b is just lone king war with an extra rank, and it doesn't change the gameplay at all

Why would someone even design a variant that small? It just limits what pieces you should use too much.

Keep in mind the original Lone King War was made in 2020, when the standards were a bit different. WoF games were also unrated back then, so even if an idea was pretty silly it still stood a chance.

Keep in mind though that with enough design and testing effort, that a “small variant” can still be accepted. In the case of Minihouse, even an NCV with enough theory and all-around variety.

The problem is that small variants sacrifice variety. They also scale poorly to slower time controls because you don’t need time to think when variations can’t go as deep.

Not necessarily; WoFs are meant to be played in bullet (or hyperbullet) time controls, which WoF creators will definitely take into account. There can be variety in play not just through position, but also through time pressure.

Using Minihouse as my example for NCVs again, gamerules such as Crazyhouse greatly increase the depth of the variant. A game of Minihouse with expert players can have the same amount of complexity as some of the other NCVs, if not more.

That’s exactly my problem with small variants, they need rules like Crazyhouse to be viable at rapid and slower time controls.

Yes, i know, but all ideas eventually get removed from the table, or in this case, the list of WoFs/NCVs

10/10! I wish people would actually read this though.