{"id":1810,"date":"2025-02-25T14:42:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T14:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/?p=1810"},"modified":"2025-03-02T14:33:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T14:33:47","slug":"yes-your-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/yes-your-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"Yes, Your Grace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As part of my research into games that share thematic, genre, or mechanical similarities with Those Left Behind<\/em>, I took advantage of the Steam sale and have been analysing Yes, Your Grace<\/em>, a medieval kingdom management game developed by Brave at Night. This research aims to identify successful design choices and explore how they can be adapted or reimagined for my own project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Your Grace<\/em> is a narrative-driven resource management game<\/strong> where players take on the role of a king making difficult decisions to sustain their kingdom. The game combines choice-driven storytelling<\/strong>, limited resource management<\/strong>, and moral dilemmas<\/strong>, all of which influence the survival of the player\u2019s people and the unfolding narrative. These elements are directly relevant to Those Left Behind<\/em>, which also focuses on managing resources and making impactful decisions in a post-apocalyptic setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Key Design Elements and Their Relevance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Decision-Making and Consequences<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of Yes, Your Grace\u2019s<\/em> standout features is its branching narrative<\/strong>, where each choice affects future events, shaping alliances and determining the fate of the kingdom. This aligns with Those Left Behind<\/em>, where players must make difficult moral and survival choices that have lasting consequences for their camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Application to Those Left Behind<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Like Yes, Your Grace<\/em>, Those Left Behind<\/em> will focus on weighty decisions<\/strong> where no choice is perfect.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The game will encourage long-term thinking<\/strong>, as certain actions may lead to unforeseen consequences later.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The emotional weight<\/strong> of choices will be emphasised through dialogue, character reactions, and world changes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    2. Resource Management Under Pressure<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    In Yes, Your Grace<\/em>, players must balance their resources<\/strong> (gold, supplies, army and contentment) while addressing the needs of petitioners. The challenge comes from having too many demands and not enough resources<\/strong>, forcing the player to make tough decisions about who to help. The game works in weeks and every choice I make is documented, sometimes I can consult my family before I move on to the next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Potential Application to Those Left Behind<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Scarcity could create moral dilemmas<\/strong>, such as choosing between helping a sick survivor or reinforcing defenses against bandits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      3. Character-Driven Storytelling<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      While Yes, Your Grace<\/em> features kingdom-wide decisions, it is also deeply character-driven<\/strong>, with a focus on the royal family and the king\u2019s personal struggles. The player\u2019s attachments to NPCs<\/strong> make the choices feel more personal and impactful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Application to Those Left Behind<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • The game will feature Familial NPCs<\/strong> that players can grow attached to, making decisions more emotionally charged<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Dialogue and interactions will allow players to form relationships<\/strong> with survivors, influencing morale and trust within the camp.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • The player’s family <\/strong>will have their own opinions, goals, and conflicts, adding depth to decision-making.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        4. Aesthetics and Presentation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

        Yes, Your Grace<\/em> uses pixel art with a limited color palette to create a distinct visual identity. The UI is simple and functional, focusing on conveying information clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Application to Those Left Behind<\/em><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • Those Left Behind<\/em> will use a stylised, minimalist UI, inspired by retro futuristic devices like the Pip-Boy from Fallout<\/em>, to enhance immersion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • The presentation of choices will be designed to be clear yet atmospheric, emphasising the weight of every decision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Conclusion and Review<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

          I quite enjoyed playing Yes, Your Grace. It was decievingly simple at first but the constant demand and lack of resources turned the game into a strategic battle of what to prioritise. This was especially true as I tried to play a run where I wanted to make everyone happy – the family, the kingdom and allies. I was most annoyed when I would upset the family members, particularly the eldest daughter, who I HATED having to give away to get married. In a way, I saw displeasing the Kingdom as the lose condition and everything else I could sort of half think-about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          The key take away from Yes, Your Grace is their simple way of handling resources over a weekly period. The specific thing that I want to bring to the technical designer is the game’s use of a weekly summary, where after ending a week, players can see their loses and gains and mentally plan accordingly for the next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          I let the other members of the team know to try out the game if its on sale again and they’re willing to spend a few pounds on it. It’s worth it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          As part of my research into games that share thematic, genre, or mechanical similarities with Those Left Behind, I took advantage of the Steam sale and have been analysing Yes, Your Grace, a medieval kingdom management game developed by Brave at Night. This research aims to identify successful design choices and explore how they can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-research-tlb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1810"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1884,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810\/revisions\/1884"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.wsagames.com\/ab15g23\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}