Discussion WEGO or IGOUGO?

I'm curious whether any of you have thoughts on how to structure turn-based games: WEGO or IGOUGO?

In WEGO, both sides plot their moves, and then the game executes them simultaneously. The CPU effectively acts as a referee. Examples of WEGO include the Combat Mission series, Frozen Synapse, Grigsby's War in the Pacific, Battlestar Galactica Deadlock, the AGEOD wargames, and the Dominions series (mostly).

IGOUGO is the more traditional boardgame style of play. Examples include chess, the Civilization series, Panzer Corps, Grisgby's War in the East series, X-Com (mostly), and tactical combat in 4X games like MOO and Interstellar Space Genesis.

Space 4X sometimes have hybrid systems: WEGO on the strategic map, but IGOUGO on the tactical map. I think that's sort of how MOO and ISG handle things, anyway -- you put your fleet on a course toward a planet, but the game doesn't execute your order until a joint simultaneous-movement phase.

I ask because I'm working on a little space 4X prototype and I've come to the point where I really need to decide how to structure strategic and tactical turns. I'm pretty sure I want WEGO on the strategic level, but I'm not sure about the tactical level.

As a player, I find it depends on the game. WEGO works well with ranged combat, or with units that are often far apart (as in naval games), or wargames with low “counter density”. The old Operation Crusader, set in North Africa, had lots of room to maneuver, and its WEGO was fun. WEGO with units packed together, like the new WEGO Stalingrad, appeal to me less. I’d be interested to try (or design!) a WW2 grand-strategy game with WEGO, but I’m skeptical it could work.

On the other hand, I found Frozen Synapse annoying. I just didn’t want to replay the turn 3 times to figure out who went where, who shot at who, etc. The AGEOD games left me with mixed feelings too; often I didn’t understand what had happened during the simultaneous phase. Also, IGOUGO gives you immediate feedback, and that can be gratifying. In Civ or chess or Panzer Corps, you know right away if you’ve won a piece or taken a city.

What do you all think?

 

It depends in part on how many players you expect to have in a game. IGOUGO doesn't scale well past 4... and even there it's a bit painful unless you do some kind of hybrid model that gives you plenty to do when waiting your turn. Whereas, with WEGO you could easily handle a dozen or more players in one game.

 

That's a terrific point -- I hadn't even thought of it. This being a little prototype, for now I'm keeping it to just one player and one asymetrically-strong enemy AI, but ideally I'd implement multiple AI opponents and diplomacy and all that.

Your point might also explain why these games sometimes opt for WEGO on the strategic map but IGOUGO on a tactical map. The strategic map is often many empires. The tactical map is usually just a one-on-one fight.