Game Design: A/ B

Our first few weeks in the Game Design module were spent planning, creating and playing a board game based around getting from A to B; one object from one part of the board to another.

We worked in groups of two for this project, and myself and Bradley Butcher (http://bradley-butcher-xb1000.blogspot.co.uk/) created a game in a similar fashion to Ludo.

The rough sketch board was quickly made on a sheet of A4, and formed the framework for how the final game would turn out.

This prototype is rudimentary, with an uneven number of spaces, but served well as a platform for  development.

The objective was to move players from the outside edges on the cardinal points, around the board and into the center. Players could only move inwards on a certain point to their left or their right.

When playtesting, we found that players would effectively block each other, so we added a duelling mechanic; whoever loses a dice roll will be sent back to the start of that layer, or to the beginning. We also made odd number rolls move the players to their right, even moving them to their left. We were told by others that the design of the board was too confusing, so we redesigned it using more than one sheet of A4 paper and added colour bases to help differentiate starting points.

To add variety to the gameplay,, we added turn missing and place swapping mechanics, whilst these weren't fully implemented on the board, they were met with positive reception.

This iteration is much clearer than the first, which helped the players and us to develop the game in a more decisive manner.

Working on this project with Brad has helped to re-inforce mechanics and dynamics into my creative process, and has also helped me to be that much more analytical when playing any kind of game.