Game Design - Experimenting

So after play testing several of the print and plays in class I've learned that many past student games focus on very serious or dark themes. Rarely was I even able to see more lighthearted print and play games when presenting our research as well.

One of the few ideas I wanted to explore for either my  print and play or board game was the aesthetic style choice of making a game to look like a quilt or fabric. With this idea in mind I want to go very stylized with simple but cute designs for map graphics.

I considered possibly doing this completely digitally with fabric textures and layers in Photoshop but I found that certain details such as stitching were hard to replicate and still give the objects a small sense of  being 3D.

Determined to somehow put this idea into play I made my way down to the nearest craft store and bought several different colors of felt and embroidery thread. I started off simple by sketching out the layout for a bush and after finishing proceeded to see how it would look scanned.

Concept Sketches

Bush Scanned at 800dpi

After determining that scanning worked and that the design was 100% adorable I proceeded to make more pieces in an effort to explore the medium more. I took the picture of the tree with my phone and my desk lamp for lighting and found that the texture seemed clearer but it was more difficult to light it evenly.

Felt Tree

My conclusion from my findings are as follows:

• Scanning hi-res works but can be time consuming for larger pieces
• Phone camera works well but requires good lighting and taking it directly from above
• Although many colors can be bought its also possible to edit colors on Photoshop

I will be continuing my research in this concept by trying out patterned quilting fabrics and different objects and overall themes for the game I'd like to create

Psychology in Gaming

A few notes to consider relative to Skinner's theory of rewards:

• Positive reinforcement through rewards can feel satisfying although we seem to take more satisfaction in taking rewards from others

• The act of penalizing another person can feel rewarding in the sense of gameplay as you feel like you've gotten the upper hand or delayed another player

• Although neutral, the absence of a reward can be a punishment

• The size or quality of the reward is important to consider when giving them

• Negative reinforcement can be a driving force to improve and seek a positive reward

• Extinguishing rewards an also play a factor in how much one seeks it and for how long, this can bring forth more intense competition for the limited amount of reward

• The ultimate goal is to reinforce the desired behavior from the participants

Game Design - Brainstorming

•  Dice rolling for attack power or space movement

•  Colorful theme = Cute , Neutrals = Darker game

• Maybe Felt or quilt theme (Can you fabric be scanned clearly? test)

• Fantasy theme would pair well with detailed characters

• Hexagonal tiles look cool but can come off as over complicated (Maybe)

• Bluffing and lying mechanics can make the game more interesting depending on the players playing

     ○ Increases paranoia in players
     ○ Can be paired with a penalty system

• Roles can be fun BUT must be correctly balanced

• Lighthearted themes can be fun and are welcomes

       ○ Ex. Animals, Dinos, Cute Stuff

• Card deck or game board with full illustrations are more interesting and appealing

• Make the backing of cards a solid color

     ○ Will not line up perfectly when double sided printing

• Make the Instructions 1 page long No Longer!!

• Could be interesting to make the instruction page easily foldable in order to store flat pieces (Ex. Bomb Squad #9 )

• Consider making stand­up cut out pieces which can be flattened again

• Memorization in a group can be interesting but will require many cards to make game last longer

• Keep instructions organized and simple

• Use bullets and numbers to make things clean and keep the players attention

• Shuffable map which can make every game round different (ex. The Search)

• Random chance based off card deck or dice

• Customizable map idea (Ex. Battleship)

• Attack pieces with roles based on characters (Ex. Chess)

• Acting could be fun to play with but would be determined far too much on the peopleplaying and could be uncomfortable/not easily doable for some

Game Trailer - Journey

Print & Play: Deconstructed

Bomb Squad #9

Print Out Link

The city of Townsville is under attack! 

Anarchists are running rampant and have planted a bomb in an unknown location. Not to worry though for the Police Commissioner has hand picked you and the most expendable officers available to form Precinct #9's first ever Bomb Squad.

Each mission starts by shuffling and laying out the cards face down in a 3x3 square. In this sector there are 4 object cards, the metal detector, the sniffer dog, the wire cutters, and the bomb. The 2 wild cards include the Panic and Anarchist cards and 3 duds which are a rat and cans. Due to budget cuts the department could only afford one pair of wire cutters so you must find them before finding the bomb. The trusty sniffer dog can also interact to find the bomb, unfortunately he has a habit of setting it off immediately. Not to worry though he always manages to get away unharmed unlike your team.

As the new leader of the squad you must be in charge of making sure the timer counts down. Start the dice timer at 6 and count down after each round. When the dice timer hits one the bomb explodes!

The goal of the game is simple. Find the wire cutters and disable the bomb by any means necessary. It's important to consider that a promotion and raise are in store for the hero so you may want to consider lying in order to take the glory. However this is without consequences if you're accused and caught in a lie by a fellow officer.

Core Mechanics:

The main mechanics in this game include memory, bluffing, and deduction.

Memorization of the cards is necessary in in order to remember what cards you've seen and which cards others have seen. Cards such as the Panic and Anarchist will force the players who unveil them to shuffle around cards to rearrange the order. The dog and wire cutters will also make the player reveal the secondary card lifted to all and swap them. From all the lifting and swapping at a certain point you should be able to deduce which cards are which.

Bomb Squad #9 shares a similar play style to the card game "Bullshit/Cheat" where bluffing plays an important role in success. In order to take the glory of finding the bomb players are allowed to lie about the card they've secretly seen. If caught in a lie the liar is penalized for a turn however, if the player accuses someone wrongfully you lose a turn. An example of strategic bluffing would include lying about finding the bomb and saying it was just a can.

Actions:

The main actions taken throughout the game include moving the dice timer, looking at and swapping cards. The timer starts at 6 and is counted down after every player has a turn. Cards can either be looked at in secret or revealed to all the player depending on the card's role in the game. They can also be swapped around based on the card's written actions.

Bluffing is an action that should be taken in order to win the game for yourself but is not required by the games rules.

Notes about the Rules:

The written rules of the game are simple and clear for the most part. Some instructions are left somewhat vague and require some interpretation of the game to make them clear. This mainly revolves around the sniffer dog and wire cutters which took us a few turns to realize that the card lifted by them had to be revealed to all.

My Opinion:

In my experience of playing this game my roommates and I had a lot of fun! The instructions were simple enough and the game pieces weren't overwhelming like in other print and play games. If I had to criticize Bomb Squad #9 my only complaint would be that after a few rounds the game can get really repetitive, however, it's still a game of chance since the cards are always shuffled. I think in order to remedy this adding more cards such as sniffer dogs and even more bombs can make the game more challenging and entertaining for more rounds.

This is definitely a game I plan to play again sometime soon and I would highly recommend checking it out for yourself!