To Anyone Still Paying Attention

This class was really fun. I don’t think that I’ve ever been in a class with such a large amount of talented, creative people. It was always amazing to me how many different ideas we generated from a single concept. I know its kinda cheesy but I’m really going to miss many of the people that I got closer to towards the end of the semester. Especially those who really helped me work out some kinks in my games. I can honestly say that I’ve never had that much fun in a college class before and that it really helped keep me going my final semester. If any of you ever needs a hand with game testing or is interested in designing more games, feel free to contact me I hope that you all have a wonderful and relaxing summer! To those of you graduating, congrats – its officially finished! To those of you with sometime left, good luck with your classes and just remember to always try and have fun.

Ok, enough sappiness…it’s been real…

~Jo

Paper Prototyping Ponderings

Both of these articles were very helpful when it came to trying to decide where to turn next in the prototyping process. I think that the most helpful thing I learned was to keep in mind that paper is cheap and that if you mess up, you don’t feel too bad because you haven’t really wasted too much time/resources. This was very helpful when it came to making my “Aciton!” game because I ended up having to rewrite about half the deck after the first play test.

I didn’t find the article on Advanced Prototyping to be quite as helpful. I think the main reason for this was because I dont’ feel I’m to that stage yet. I feel like I’m very much at the beginning and need to continue working on making my first prototypes less complicated or easier to understand before I jump into some of the more advanced ideas.

Game Challenge V: “Getting to Know You” Business Card

The business card game that I created is  “Get to Know You” game. On the back of each business card there are different questions that people are encouraged to ask each other. These questions are rather strange and vary between each card; there are three/card and four different cards. Here are the questions:

What is your favorite smell?

What’s on your mouse pad?

For or Against Starbucks?

Do you untie your shoes when you put them on/take them off?

Where would you go if you could go any where right now?

How tall do you want to be?

What’s your dream job?

Do you have a personal motto or a theme song?

Is there a brand of clothing you refuse to wear?

If you could choose a super power, what would it be?

Do you like designing games or playing games better?

What’s the cornyist joke you know?

Final Game Challenge (XII): “A Witch in the Woods”

This game is based on a “Choose Your Own Adventure” idea. Since RPGs are my favorite type of game, I decided that as a final project I wanted to create one. I used RPG Maker XP to design this particular game but will be designing future RPGs on RPG Maker VX (there are updated features). This program is ultra easy to use and allows that maker to concentrate on the storyline which is what an RPG is supposed to do.

After having a few people in class test my game, it has become apparent that there are some changes that need to be made to the storyline to make it a) Make more sense and b) Make it more interesting. I think the biggest reason that these are two problems is because I was trying to design and learn how to use the program at the same time. Future programs will definitely be more compelling and make more sense.

I am still working on a way to upload this game to the internet so that people can download it and play it. Keep an eye on my blog if you’re interested in play-testing future RPGs!

Game Challenge X: “Flip It: The Missionary Onslaught”

***Disclaimer***

This game is just that, a game. Please do not get offended by any of the content, it is not meant to challenge anyone’s views – it is simply a commentary. If you have issues, feel free to comment and we can work it out. Thanks!

Design Process

The design for this game is based on “Zombies!!!” in which players create the board that they play on. This was for the socially conscious game and I wanted to make a statement about how hard it is for a culture to regain their culture after being ‘invaded’ by another culture that thinks they are superior.

Needed to Play:

-         3 to 5 players

-         Game Tiles

-         A four-sided dice, a six-sided dice, and an eight-sided dice

-         Conversion point card (beginning with 10 points)

-         Game figurines representing the native culture and the invading culture (I used the pieces from “Zombies!!!” for this)

Set Up:

To begin, find the tiles with the Landing Pad and the Town Center on them. The landing pad is placed red-side up and the Town Center is placed Black-side up. One player draws a tile at the beginning of every round (once all the players have moved) and connects it to another tile that is on the board.

Five missionaries are placed with in the Landing Pad to start and each play takes a spot within the Town Center. Missionaries may not enter the native cultures buildings and have a negative one in their attack role if they are attacking a player inside. The player inside has plus one to their attack role if they are sheltered.

Turns:

Player’s Turn

The first player lays down a new tile and then attacks any missionaries that are on the square adjacent to them (not diagonal). See “Attacking” below for further instruction. Once done attacking or if there are none to attack, the player roles a d6 and moves that number of spaces. A player does not have to move the entire roll if they do not want to. If they roll a 5, they can roll 3 and attack a missionary and then move two more spaces – however, they cannot attack the same missionary that they just attacked.

Missionary’s Turn:

Once each player has taken a turn (the end of the round), it becomes the missionary’s turn. To begin, if there are any tiles that still have all their blank spaces filled with missionaries, the tile is flipped to the red side and becomes a spawning location. If a new tile was drawn, all the blank spaces on that tile are filled with a missionary. If there are any red tiles (this includes the Landing Pad), 3 missionaries are generated. A d4 is rolled and that many more missionaries are placed on the board. All missionaries, with the exception of the ones on the new tile, then move one space towards the Landing Pad. The missionaries begin their attack on any adjacent players at this point. See “Attacking” for further instruction.

Attacking:

Player’s Attack:

To attack a missionary, a player states which one they are attacking and rolls the d4 to determine how many chances they get to attack that missionary. Once the number of chances has been determined, the player rolls a d8 – the player must roll a 6, 7, or 8 to beat the missionary. If the player is under shelter, they add one to their roll. If they player’s attack is successful, the missionary is removed from the board. If the player is unsuccessful they must either attack another missionary adjacent to them or end their turn.

Missionary’s Attack:

Once the missionaries are in place, the players who have missionaries close to them must roll to see if they gain any conversion points. Each player is responsible for the missionary attacks on their character. The player rolls a d4 to see how many chances the missionary gets to attack. Unlike the player’s attack, a missionary continues to roll for conversion points even if it succeeds on a roll. Therefore, there are four chances during each attack that a player may be converted. For every successful role, the player deducts one conversion point – once the points reach zero, the player becomes a missionary.

Ending the Game:

There are three ways the game can end:

1. All of the tiles on the map have been flipped to red

1. All of the players have been converted

1. The player succeed in driving the missionaries out

For the players to win there can be no missionaries on the map and a player must be located on the Landing Pad. If all the missionaries are gone but there is no player on the Landing Pad, new missionaries are generated and play continues.

Special Rules for Playing with 3 People:

Instead of pulling a tile at the beginning of every round, a tile is pulled at the beginning of every other round.

No d4 is rolled during the missionaries turn to place more missionaries on the board.

Game Challenge XI: “Lucky Shot” Goes Digital

For my first attempt at a digital game, I decided to make a version of the very first game I created. I used Scratch to make it, and I think it turned out ok. I’d really like some more time to work on it because there are some bugs in it I’d like to fix. For one thing, I’d like to make the graphics a little more interactive and have it make a little more sense as to what the players are actually doing.

Using Scratch was easy once I got the hang of it. It was really helpful to have someone walk me through the steps and the process of very simplified programming.

I attempted to use Game Maker, but I wasn’t able to get as far as I wanted to. This is another thing that I’d like to go back and work out once the semester is over.

There is a version posted online (the link follows). Although, once I posted it online I discovered some glaring issues…like not having an instruction page, which I’m going to fix. Enjoy playing it if you get a chance!

Lucky Shot

Game Challenge VIII: “Action!”

Design Process:

This game was created while thinking about a statement that I wanted to make. I decided that I wanted to make a point about how Hollywood works (or at least appears to work). This is another game that I had a hard time prototyping simply because I kept adding details. Some of the details were necessary and some weren’t but it was the game play that was becoming very difficult to try and figure out. I literally have over 5 pages of notes, front and back, for this game alone. A lot of the changes to make it work took place while play testing. It turned out nicely though and I’m happy with where it’s at. Thanks to all who helped me test it!

Needed to Play:

-         Six-sided Die

-         “Issues” deck (30 cards)

-         “Genres” deck (24 cards)

-         “Actors” deck (16 cards)

-         “Actresses” deck (16 cards)

-         “Directors” deck (12 cards)

-         “Composers” deck (12 cards)

-         “Producers” decks (12 cards)

-         Award Notebook

The Goal:

-         To win the most awards at the awards show. HINT: make sure to keep track of who you are hiring to add bonus points to your total award score!

Part One Play:

-         Begin by drawing 5 cards from the Issues deck, choose one of the Issues and lay it in front of you

-         Next, draw 3 cards from the Genres deck, choose one of the Genres and lay it in front of you

-         Next, draw 3 cards from the Actors deck, choose one of the Actors and lay it in front of you

-         Next, draw 3 cards from the Actresses deck, choose one of the Actresses and lay it in front of you

-         At this point, you must check to make sure that the Actor and Actress you have chosen will work together. Look at the cards to double check the relationship. If you are instructed to roll, you must roll a 5 or 6 to get that Actor or Actress to agree to working without special conditions. However, if you do not roll a 5 or 6 or if they are not compatible, you must deduct one Genre point from you total Genre points (make a note of this in your notebook)

-         Once you’ve determined compatibility, draw 2 cards from the Director deck, choose one of the directors and lay it in front of you

-         Once again, you must check for compatibility. This time, if the Actor and/or Actress has a lower $ than the Director, you must roll if necessary and deduct a Genre point if they are not compatible

-         Next, draw 2 cards from the Composers deck, choose one and lay it in front of you

-         Check for compatibility, if the Director has a lower $ than the Composer, you must roll if necessary and deduct a Genre point if they are not compatible

-         Finally, draw 2 cards from the Producers decks, choose one and lay it in front of you

-         Check for compatibility. This time, if the Director has a lower $ than the Producer, you must roll if necessary and deduct a Genre point if they are not compatible

Part Two Play:

-         Start by rolling to see if the movie was completed in time. Look at you Producer card to determine the amount of time you had to complete the movie. If you do not complete the movie within the allotted time, deduct a point each from your Crowd and Critic totals.

• If you had 40 days, you must roll a 5 or 6
• If you had 60 days, you must roll a 4, 5, or 6
• If you had 120 days, you must roll a 3, 4 , 5, or 6
• If you had 400 days, you can roll anything but a 1

-         Now its time to add up the points and distribute awards

-         Add up your Genre, Critic, and Crowd points first

-         Roll for your bass number for Actor, Actress, Director, Composer, Producer

-        Once you have your bass numbers, add the Genre points from the cards to each category (i.e. If your Actor has +2

to Indy and the Genre you picked is Indy, then add 2 to your directors total score)

-         Distribute Genre points evenly between the Actor and Actress bass score

-         Add Critic points to the Producer bass score

-         Add Crowd points to the Directors bass score

-         Compare points between players and give the award to the player with the highest score in that category

Awards:

-         Best Actor – goes to actor

-         Best Actress – goes to actress

-         Best Score – goes to composer

-         Best Director – goes to director

-         Best Picture – goes to producer

Game Challenge IX: Revision of “You Done It”

Revision Process:

As we were play testing the game, it was decided that there needed to be something more to it. It was therefore decided that the game should be altered by adding a “Plot Twists” deck and changing the game play to be much more like “Apples to Apples”. The revision of the game follows.

Needed to Play:

-         “Weapons” deck (contains 26 cards)

-         “Places” deck (contains 16 cards)

-         “Characters” deck (contains 10 cards)

-         “Plot Twists” deck (contains 15 cards)

To Play:

-         One player draws a Plot Twists cards and lays it face-up in front of them (players rotate turns picking the Plot Twist)

-         The other players draw 2 Weapons cards, 2 Places cards, and 3 Characters cards

-         Players take turns telling a story using the cards in their hand by using the Plot Twist as the center of their murder mystery

-         The player who drew the Plot Twist card decides who’s story they like best and give the Plot Twist card to that player

To Win:

-         Once a player gets 5 Plot Twist cards, they win!

-         For a long game, try adding more than one Plot Twist per round or up the number of Plot Twists needed to win.

Game Challenge VI: “You Done It”

Design Process:

This game came out of the “Create a Narrative” challenge. I had a really difficult time with this one because I really wanted to be able to make a game in which the players create the story – but not like D&D, just simply give them something that would help stimulate ideas. I was thinking of games I’ve played in the past that are along these lines and I started to think about “Clue” and other murder mystery games. What came about was the concept of allowing players to draw cards that have words on them in specific categories to generate a murder mystery. The weirder, the better!

Needed to Play:

-         “Weapons” deck (contains 26 cards)

-         “Places” deck (contains 16 cards)

-         “Characters” deck (contains 10 cards)

To Play:

-         Each player draws 2 Weapons cards, 2 Places cards, and 3 Characters cards

-         Players choose amongst themselves who goes first

-         Players take turns telling a story using the cards in their hand

To Win:

-         There really is no way to “win” this game. It can be decided amongst the players who had the best/most twisted story. If there must be a defined way of winning, the player who uses the most or all of the cards drawn wins.

Game Challenge VII: “Fruit Flies”

Design Process:

The design for this game actually came to me when I looked at the “Monthly Game Design Challenge”, which was WIND the month I looked at it. This is the game designed off of the idea of having a changing game space. I started to think about how plants pollinate and decided to create a game off of the concept of cross-pollination. I originally wanted to have the players be able to create genetically altered plants but decided to make it more basic for the sake of prototyping. I want to thank Kyle Smith for his help with figuring out the mechanics of this game! (thanks )

*Use the wind to take over your opponent’s fruit fields before you loose all of your own crop. Be careful, things can get messy when fruit starts to fly!*

Needed to play:
- The Game Board
- Fruit Cards (10 of each fruit, 40 total)
- 12-sided dice
- 6-sided dice

Game Set up:
1. Separate the fruit cards into four piles: Apples, Oranges, Pears, and Bananas
2. Choose two types of fruit you would like to play with. All fruit is the same; one is not stronger than another
3. Put one type of fruit in each field in three spaces, one must be left blank to start
4. Keep the rest of your fruit in a pile to the side, you will need more of each fruit throughout the game
5. Each player choose a side, either East or West

How to Win:
- There are two ways to win:

1. Get at least one of your fruit types into each field, this only requires one card of the fruit in each field *including* your own fields
2. Destroy one of the types of fruit your opponent has, in other words destroy one of their crops. E.g. Get rid of all their apples

Direction of the Dice:
0=No Wind
1=North
2=Northeast
3=East
4=Southeast
5=South
6=Southwest
7=West
8=Northwest
9=Tornado, you must destroy one of your crops

Example Turn:
1. At the beginning of each turn, you must rotate your fruit in one of your fields clockwise – you must alternate fields each turn
- If your field is full and there’s no empty spot, you must destroy one of your *own* crops
2. Role the 12-sided dice to see what direction the wind is blowing, if your roll a 0, your turn is over
3. You may pollinate the field that corresponds with the direction of the wind
- Example: If you are the player on the East side and the wind is blowing Southeast, you may move one of your crops into the empty spot. You may also attack one of the crops of a different type – you would do this to get rid of an opponent’s crop or to move one of your crop types into your other field.
4. **Attacking** To attack a crop, roll the 6-sided dice. If you roll a 5 or 6, the crop *attacking* succeeds in ousting the other crop. If you roll a 4 or below, nothing happens
5. If you are successful in placing a crop in your opponents field, turn it face down for one turn. See below.

Further Rules:
- You can only control your own fields, if you have a fruit in an opponents field it it *theirs* to control. This means that you cannot pollinate an empty space in your field with one of your types of fruit by using it fruit from your opponents field.
- When you pollinate an empty space, simply take another fruit card from your pile and place it in the space. You do not loose your crop when you pollinate.
- If you’re invading your opponent’s field and there is a crop where you want to go, you must attack that crop. Same rules apply for attacking as above.
- Any opponent’s crop stays “dormant” (face down) for one turn when it first invades your field. This means that you *cannot* attack this crop at this time.