Mirror Mirror on the Wall...

... who in this land is fairest of all?

Who among us does not recognize this line as something we should remember from childhood. But who spoke it, and in which fairy tale?

Go look. I'll wait.

Five points for your good self if you recalled the tale from which the reference came, without resorting to Google or other Internet searches. Give yourself another five if you remembered who uttered the phrase to the magical mirror.

Add ten points if you recall how many times the heroine is poisoned, and ten more if you recall the methods.

Add em up... what'd you get?



And your point, silly author? (I hear you mutter to your computer screen) What on earth does this have to do with game design?

Not much at all, quite frankly. But if you gave yourself over twenty points, consider yourself extremely high on the recognition and recall of detail scale. Of little consequence when dealing with fairy tales, perhaps. Of great consequence when juggling the intricate webbing of a game land. Of vast consequence when contributing to its weaving.

In a new world, such as Karinth, one does not have a wealth of childhood memories to fall back upon, a lingering memory of bedtime tales, a sneaking feeling that you've heard this bit of lore once upon a time and the participants all lived happily ever after. No, gentle reader. Each facet of the game lore is new when a player starts. Each bit of lore is gathered by exploration and exposure, and to presume to know something because you as a person heard it as a child is to taint the water with a history which does not exist within the game.

Approach a game as a child would - fresh eyes, curious mind, open ears.

oh, and take off seven points if you assigned names to each of the dwarves... the various translations I could find did not assign them names nor attributes which would lead to names.

oh, and give yourself back the seven points if you recall the gruesome ending of our antagonist.