Eleven – Game Designer’s Journal #3

You probably thought you could determine everything at your club. Unfortunately not true. Just like in real professional football, you have to deal with a board of directors. They really think they are important. During board meetings, they will make the decisions for you. But if you have enough fans protesting against a decision, they might change their opinion.

I really like the directors in Eleven. Some are so good at making bad decisions for you. You will hate it. But very thematic! You’ve probably heard Rahdo talk about Mia Walker. No one likes her.

Luckily, at the beginning of the game, you get to choose which of the directors you will hire. This will directly influence your stats. Some are not very popular and will decrease your fanbase, others will increase your fitness. Some may bring in money, and others aren’t operational geniuses and will decrease the number of actions you can take.

But there are more things to consider. All directors have colored dice on them. Yellow, blue, and red. Each color represents an opinion. The more dice of a specific color the more the director will think in a certain direction:

Yellow means money. If your plans involve having a lot of money, you need one of these. They think a football club is a company. It’s all about cash and making a profit.

Blue is for the team. A director with a lot of blue dice, wants the team to perform well. The players must be at their best and as fit as possible. They will do anything for the team.

Red dice are for the people. The fans and the staff are most important. The club is not a business.

Directors always have 6 dice on them, ranging from 1 to 6. For example, she could have 3 yellow ones, 2 blue ones and a red one. This would mean she thinks making money is most important and doesn’t care much about the fans.

I will talk about the board meeting in another update, but this is where the directors make an important decision. For now it’s enough to know, you roll a die to see what it is.

It’s important to choose your directors well. It may depend on your strategy which directors you want. But if those guys make a terrible decision, there are always the fans. You can pay fan resources as many times as you can, to reroll the die. They will never let the club down! But if they are protesting, they won’t attend the match. Decisions…