Finalize

For this week, all the groups were able to playtest each others board game. This allowed us to provide feedback for each prototype to help make it better. I was very proud at our group that the feedback we received were very minor and easily fixable. We had no problem coming up with ways to fix the problem as a group. There was no need for multiple idea suggestions. The first suggestion that came to mind kept the core mechanics of the game constant and was still a cleaver idea. For instance, we had a problem with the stacking of your own block color on an obstacle that made it awkward for another player to stack on top. If each player were able to stack right on top of each other, that would make the game very simple. We needed more player to player interaction as professor Parks would say. So we decided to go ahead with Ben's idea. His idea was, the first person to place down a stack pays his dues with tools. Each and every person after that player must pay the tool price to the original block player. Therefore, more player to player interaction will occur and the simplicity of the stacking is fixed. For the rest of this week, we must all finish our final product of the game. The collaboration of this group is phenomenal. We have not really had many issues, we assign work for each person and the work gets done, that is how you know that this class really has taught collaboration with others . By next week, Ben would like to create the board, Stephan would like to fix the colors of the pieces and make the reference card/rule book, Eun would like to create the paths of the board game and I must create both deck of cards and create little stickers to show difference in our player pieces. We plan on meeting with each other before Friday to finalize everything and we will see how that goes!!

Steffan Channer
During this week’s meeting, my team and I had each brought our game pieces and
components so that we could playtest the game's mechanics and how well they worked in a
practical playing environment. Rana brought the direction and item card sets, Ben and Eun
brought their prototype outer and inner game board pieces, which constitutes the playing field,
and I brought the player pieces and the apple piece, which represent the goal of the game. As
we tested the game, we found that the initial idea of the mechanics and the goal did work to
some degree, but of course we found certain practical issues with how we moved on the board.
At first we started the playtest by using two dice to determine the amount of space a player
could move, but found that to be too much and singled it out to one die. The professor then
gave us an idea; what if instead of dice, the direction card would determine the amount of space
we could move during our turn, as well as manipulate the position of the apple piece? We
decided that this was an excellent idea and incorporated it into our game’s mechanics. We also
made a number of smaller changes, such as how we could use the cards, and how we drew
more.
Here are examples of our changes:
● On your turn, you can use as many item and direction cards as you want, and you can
draw back as many direction card as you used from the card pile.
● Outer boundary, grass and trees, allows for you draw more resource cards.
● Direction cards dictate where you can move, and by how much.
● Low number direction cards may allow only for slight movement, but lets the player
move the apple a certain number of spaces.
● High number direction card may allow for far movement, but lets another player to move
the apple.
● When you reach the end of the board, you can either move to the opposite end of the
board, or move back the center(start) of the board. Moving to the opposite end let you
grab a resource, moving to the center lets you grab one of each.

Gameboard Design

Gameboard Design
Benjamin Suh

For this week we focused on a rough physical design and layout for our board game.  We decided to test out a emulation of a modular board design similar to the Settlers of Catan board game, and as we continued to discuss our ideas Rana concluded that we wanted a square shape for our board in the form of a grid of 5x5 squares that were 2x2 inches each.  All of these dimensions were subject to change so Eun suggested that we work with a paper medium first to play test since it would be more flexible.  That being said we were able to easily establish how we were going to set up each board piece with a 3x3 grid that would have certain obstacles such as the vines, boulders, chasm, and river.  We designed each obstacle to have a functional tool that would be collected and used to over come the obstacle. I suggested that we test different numbers of obstacles for each of the tiles so that we could have a good amount of variety in the game, and we all agreed.  Stephan also said that he would work on designing the game board pieces and the apple piece as the final prize.  So far I think that we have had made a positive amount of progress, and the project is really coming together well.

Core Mechanics

During our second meeting with the new group, we discussed about the core mechanics of the board game. Even before we start talking about the core mechanics, we had encountered with an issue. The theme of this game is to act as a Satan and help Adam and Eve reach the apple. However, one of our members, Stephan, was not comfortable with the theme of this game. He would not tell us the exact reason why, so it led us to think about the new theme. We created core mechanics based on the new theme we came up with, but it was evident that Rana was not too pleased with changing the theme. This issue was resolved when professor Parks came to our group. He suggested us to actually keep the original ideas since it is a very interesting topic that not many people thought of.

As a group, we defined few core mechanics of the game. The main goal of the game is to get the apple, but it is not as easy as it sounds. It is because whenever a certain number is rolled with a die, the apple will move to the different tree. Hopefully this mechanic will force players will constantly come up with new strategies throughout the game. There will be two different types of cards, one is the direction card and the other one is the material card. There will be some obstacles that players have to overcome by using certain materials to reach the goal. We are also thinking about designing the game board like a puzzle, so there would be lots of variations just like the game, Catan.

For most of the discussion, it was fairly smooth because Ben was able to lead the group. We also experienced some difficulties because not everyone was speaking up their opinions.

New Groups

This week, we each created board game proposals. The group process this time was pretty cool. Being able to listen to every persons idea, choosing your top 3 favorites, and the professor combining people with their votes is a very unique way of forming a collaborative group. After what happened first round of proposals, I did not want my game to be chosen because honestly, its not fun and collaborative when people expect you to do all the work because since I came up with it its "my game." I really enjoy working with others especially when the work is equally divided. When my proposal was chosen.... again, I was both excited and really angry. I was excited because the idea is very unique and something I have never seen before in a game. I do not know how I came up with it but I think of all the things close to me, religion is one, and I come up with ideas based on that. I'm not super religious but the story of Adam and Eve has always interested me so I thought, "why not make a game out of it?" Although I would never, the purpose of the game is to act as Satan and help Adam and Eve reach the apple before any of the team members do. I think that could become a very interesting game to see how people would work against others and strategize to win. I was also however, very angry because I still had that fear that I would end up doing more work.

After getting into our groups, one thing that bothered me, is no one introduced themselves, they all looked at me and said "well uhhhh, tell us more about your game." Its a god damn proposal not a game, If I made up the full game i would just ask to work alone and make the game myself. Even while describing the proposal, Stephan was not even looking at me which showed that his interest level is not that high.
Anyway, While describing The Forbidden Fruit to my new group members, we already came across an issue which was resolved by Benjamin. We realized if we use the direction cards, each step the player takes will have to have a N,S,E, or W direction. I was originally going to make it zigzagged. Overall, I will miss my old group members but It is time to see if this class is actually teaching me something by seeing if our new group can work together just as well or even better. I just really hope that this group is not what I would expect off of first impressions.