Week 4: The Finishing Touches

Going into our final week, we laid out a set plan of what we needed to do. Mine and Gavin's task was to create the game's Instruction Manual, which seemed like a relatively easy task at the time. While the others were finishing their parts of the game such as the board's final design, tiles and cards, me and Gavin had to round up everybody's artwork to add to the manual to give it a more 'professional' feel. After this had been done, we started to write up our final refined set of rules in a theme and style fitting to our game. Use old-style text and language, I think we made a very believable booklet.

The Rules page of our Instruction Booklet

When the manual was complete, me and Gavin started to help Paul with putting the board and tiles together. Paul had previously printed the designs for them, so it made the process of sticking them to Mountboard an easy task. Once everything else was complete and put together, we came in and made a day of giving our game a final play-through to make sure everything worked as it should. We all had a great time, with some really tense moments and good laughs. We knew all the hard work had paid off at this moment. Now all we needed to do was create a document show each individual person's responsibilities and the processes of creating our board game.

The final result. Huzzah!

Week 3: Presenting and 2nd Party Play-testing

In our third week, we had our idea and an almost staple set of rules down to go with our mock-up, so we presented our game to the other groups. I think we made our idea clear enough and people said they liked the premise, so we swapped games with another group to play-test each other's. The other group seemed to be enjoying our game, but they got a little confused with some of the rules so we had to clarify quite often. This prompted us to make a clearer set of rules that not only we could understand. Other than this, they said they had a lot of fun with the game and said we had a solid idea, with a great balance of chance and strategy involved. I think the fact that we had play-tested the game a lot ourselves previously helped a lot in making it as enjoyable as possible, and this session really helped us in adding the finishing touches to our game.

Week 2: Refining the Rules

Our mock-up tiles in all their glory.

Through play-testing our game, we'd come up with a set of basic rules that would give us a template to work with. These rules were made after we found that some games were over too quickly, while one game lasted for as long as 90 minutes! We decided that each player would start with 2 random tiles in their hand, which would be kept face down. When a player had their turn, they would roll and place a tile when they reached the edge of the tile they currently stood on. Each tile contained 9 squares and varied with the paths they had drawn onto them. As for the Cards, we figured that rather than the traditional method of picking a card up when a certain space is landed on, we figured we'd sacrifice two of the movement numbers on the dice for card numbers. We first tried a 5 and 6, but found that the game moved at a much better pace when it was 1 or 6. The cards consisted of "Rotate a Tile", "Back to Start", "Miss a Turn", "Exchange Tiles", "Go to Landmark" and "Switch Places". After our long play-test, we came to the conclusion that the "Miss a Turn" and "Back to Start" cards made the game drag on much longer than needed, and gave some players a very small chance of making a comeback. As previously mentioned, the "Go to Landmark" cards involved moving to a special tile on the board, if it was placed down already. There were 4 Landmarks, a Fox, a Shrine, a Fallen Warrior and a Boar. We juggled the idea of either being able to hold onto a certain amount of Cards, just like the tiles, or having to use them straight away. We found, for the flow of the game and added excitement, that all players must use a Card as soon as they draw it from the deck. This was a good way to play as it made getting a Card a worrying factor, since the outcome could be good or bad.

After getting some basic rules down, we decided to add another key element (literally) into the game. We thought that rather than have every player rushing to the middle, we'd make it so that in order to gain access to the Victory space, a Key must be collected from a space on the board and taken successfully to the middle of the board. 

BATTLE!!

This idea also brought forth the concept of battling, in which players who met on the same space would have to do battle in order to stay in the spot they were on and/or to keep hold of the Key (if applicable). Battles begun by one player passing through another's occupied spot. The player that was already on the space in question would be defending against the player that had landed on their space. If the attacker won the battle, the defender was sent back to their home space. If the defender was successful, the attacker was knocked back to the space next to the occupied one. The winner of these battles would be determined by a roll of the dice, with the highest number being the winner.


To add a little extra spice on top of that, we added an ability system for the characters;

• The Thief has the ability to pass by an enemy unnoticed using his/her illusive skills, avoiding all combat and stealing the Key (if applicable).

• The Archer has the capability to attack one square away from the opponent using their trusty bow and arrow.

• The Mage is a spell caster, and has ability to use magic to power up his/her strikes. It grants them a +1 bonus to all their attacks.

• The Knight has a broad shield/armour and has seen many battles. Honing his/her survival instincts, he/she can read their opponent's every move. This character has a +1 bonus in defence.

These were the final abilities we gave to the characters, after testing a few others which seemed too over-powering and some which didn't seem to do anything at all.


We began play-testing the game with these refined rules in place, and found that it was a much better experience. We did, however, change the Key from being collected on a pre-determined tile to the player with the highest starting roll claimed the Key and moved first. We also made the Victory tile rotatable, so that the journey to the middle wouldn't be so easy for the Key holder.


During this process, we came up with several ideas for a name for our game. These included Pathfinder,  Key Chase, Path to Victory and Key to Victory. We eventually settled with the last one, as it said in brief exactly what our game was about. Now, to get everything set in stone!

Board Games: The Good, the Bad and the...something.

A game is an activity in which people (referred to as 'players') play either alone, with or against each other to attain a set goal. There are specific rules and regulations that must be followed to get to the goal, which provides a fair opportunity for everybody. Most games rely on chance, which is the fact that every outcome and path to the goal will be different each time the game is played. Chance is usually created by the use of dice, cards and other randomising objects. Another key factor in board games is strategic element, where players must think ahead or move carefully in order to win.

I believe that the criteria to a good game must contain most, if not all of the following;

• Tension in Competition: Most games grow in tension as they play out, since each player is closer to winning. Tension must always peak naturally and never to a near non-existent point, as players will grow tired of playing and have no fun.
• Replayability: If the game is exactly the same every time, there will be no replay-value. Nobody wants to play the exact same game over and over again, so freshness keeps things from getting stale. Chance is also a big factor here, as you're very unlikely to get the same roll, for example, on every turn in two different games.
• Surprise: The element of surprise could be linked with tension, as the unexpected always keeps players on the edge. Surprise mostly comes from opposing players when they make a move that may hinder the progress of you or another player.
• Equal Opportunity: All games must give player an equal chance of winning the game, otherwise the losing player(s) can determine who the winner will be and not want to continue playing. This is a vital ingredient to making a game that everybody can enjoy until the end.

I also believe that the more of the following the game includes, the more likely it's going to be a bad experience to play;

• Long Waiting Times: If the wait until a player's next turn is too long, they will lose interest in the game and what's currently happening. Turns must be kept short and sweet to avoid boredom.
• Inconsistency of Rules: Games must know what they want to be before they are played. Strategy games cannot rely too much on chance, and vice-versa. "Games of chance must have simple rules and offer few alternative possible moves. This should result in short turns and a generally fast-paced game. Games of strategy, at the other end of the spectrum, should offer abundant alternatives each move. This will let players realize their potential. It must be possible for a player to achieve mastery." (1)
• Complexity: If a game is too simple or complicated, it would be hard for players to be engrossed by it. Games involving strategy have the option of being a lot more complex as this is the audience they may be targeted at. Games solely of chance must usually be simple and fast-paced to avoid boredom and to keep things fair.

I think this will help us when deciding on the mechanics of our board game, to keep it from becoming tiresome and to keep things fresh and replayable.

(1) Kramer, W. http://www.thegamesjournal.com/articles/WhatMakesaGame.shtml

Week 1: Concepts and Primary Research

'Kerrison Toys', one of the many Toy Shops we encountered.

To kick-start our project, we thought it would be a good a good idea to play-test some existing board games for some inspiration. We ventured out to Toy Shops, and looked into all sorts of different games. We looked at games based on their art styles, gameplay morales and if they caught our interest, we'd take a deeper look into it. Luckily for us, Norwich has a fair few Toy Shops on offer, all packed to the roof with board games.

 The Lego game 'Minotaurus' (left) was a very interested one, as it took the normal Lego concept of 'build it yourself' and put it into a maze-style board game. In this game, the goal is to lead your 4 pieces into the middle of the board, while avoiding the Minotaur and placing bricks to hinder your opponents. We loved the idea of having to build your own path, so we play-tested this game for ideas on how we could adapt this to our game.

Though we couldn't get a chance to try out 'Warrior Knights' (right), we all agreed that the art style was exceptional. We thought that something similar to this would be a good fit for the idea we had in mind. The gameplay itself, however, looked a little too complicated for what we were going after.

There are so many different games in the world, that it would be difficult to make something completely new and unique, especially as all board games link somewhere down the line. We wanted to keep our game as simple as possible, but also keep that strategic element to it as to not make it a chore to play through. With all the games we'd looked at, we agreed that a 10+ age range would probably be the best way to go, as it would give us a good range to make the game a little more edgy and risky.

We also found a game called 'Labyrinth', which looked notably similar to the idea we'd had in mind. In Labyrinth, there a tiles that are fixed to the board, which players can slide around the board to create new paths for them to follow. Though we thought this was a fun concept, we believed it would lead to the same game every time we played it (though we could be wrong). We decided that we'd have to find a way to make the game play differently each time to shake things up a bit.

Labyrinth: The Duel (left) is one of the many expansion packs for the original game.

Another game that caught our eye was 'Citadels' (below), a Medieval card-based game. We loved the idea of the player creating their own path to reach a certain goal from Minotaurus, so we took this and started to brainstorm around mixing the two styles of gameplay.

'Citadels' was a key part of our ideas process.

Using a mixture of ideas taken from our research, we went with the idea of starting with an empty board, and having the players place down their own tiles to make the path for themselves so that they could reach the goal. We also to the idea of players having the ability to hinder their opponents movements with the addition of cards, to give the sense of fierce competition similar to that seen in Minotaurus.

Next, we all went away to research a little more on ideas to make our game stronger. When we came back, after some more brainstorming, we all sat down and put our thoughts together to come up with a set idea that we could develop. We decided that instead of 4 generic character pieces, each piece would be different and have it's own special ability. We came up with 4 recognisable characters from the Medieval era, which were the Knight, Mage, Archer and Thief. We then started to think about the board layout, and worked to create something similar to  this:

Our Board layout.

Going with our path tiles idea, we knew this kind of set-up would be perfect for the gameplay we had in mind. At this point, we all assigned ourselves to parts of creating the game. Me and Gavin were given the task of the game's mechanics and rules, along with creating the instruction manual. At this point we had to figure out the basics behind the rules, such as ways of getting to the middle, how the tiles and cards are used and how players might interact with each other. To make this task a lot easier, Gavin created a mock-up of the board (below) so that we could play-test the game to see what would and wouldn't work. During this time, Paul created the pieces that would represent each character (below, shown on board) using 'Super Sculpey' modelling clay. They came out wonderfully, and this helped Ilze and Jay with their task of creating the artwork for the game.

Original mock-up of our game, with character pieces.

Before we continued with making the game's rules, I thought it would be a good idea to continue my reasearch into wake make a good game, and what makes a bad one so that we could apply this research into the creation of our game.

The History of Games

As many people know, board games have been a part of human civilisation for a long time. History has told us that games played on boards have been a prominent source of enjoyment and intellectual development for around 4000 years. Over this course of time, games have gone through some major changes. Most of this could be because of advancing technologies, or popular culture, but the fact is still there and the premise has stayed the same. "Almost all board games are imitations of situations in real life." (1 p1) It's strange, as somewhere down the line, all games can somehow be linked to each other. I'll show some examples of that in the following:

'Senet' (or 'Senat') is often thought to be the oldest board game in the world. It has been found in Egyptian burials dating from around 3500 BC and also featured in the tomb of Merknera around 3300 BC. Though "the rules for Senat have not survived" (1 p162) it is thought to have been very similar to 'Backgammon', a very well-known game in today's society.

A beautifully crafted game of 'Senet'.

Backgammon is a simple game combining a mixture of luck and skill. Each player starts with 15 checkers, which must be moved into the Home Board so that they can be removed from the board. The first player to remove all of their coloured checkers is declared the winner. The origins of Backgammon lead to back to possibly over 5000 years ago, starting with the Iranian game "Nard". Although it has been refined (and named Backgammon) since around the 17th Century, the basic play of Backgammon was enjoyed by the likes of the ancient Greeks and the Romans. Names from these eras range from the Roman "Ludus duodecim scriptorum" and "jeux de tables" in France. Still very popular today, Backgammon is played by millions of people all over the world, with online internet play, tournaments and even gambling purposes.

A virtual game of 'Backgammon', as seen in 42 All-Time Classics for the Nintendo DS.

Another world-famous game that springs to mind is 'Ludo'. This could be called similar to the previously mentioned games, but it's definitely unique in it's own right. The basic premise of the game is to get your pieces from your home base to the middle of the board using die rolls, and this basic play has stuck with each version of the game that has been produced. Originally named 'Pachisi' and originating in ancient India (which in turn originated from another race-style board game named 'Ashte Kashte', also from India), it has undergone several transformations throughout the years, if only minor. Over in the States, the game 'Parcheesi' was copyrighted by the Selchow and Righter company in 1938 (2), though it is unknown exactly when the boards were commercially produced. Variations of the game have appeared in many different countries, including the German "Mensch ärgere dich nicht" which means "Man, don't get irritated". The game in question, Ludo, made it's way to England back in 1896 during the time of the British Raj and was patented. Ludo is essentially a simplified version of Pachisi, with a more commercial look to the board.

A traditional game of 'Ludo'.

Now I finally look at what is probably the most well-known board game in the world, Monopoly. "More than 275 million games have been sold worldwide and it’s available in 111 countries, in 43 languages" (3) Monopoly is based (and named) around the idea of buying and dominating properties to gain the series' signature paper money to avoid bankruptcy. The initial concept of this type of play was first conceived "in 1904 (by) Elizabeth J. Magie, (a) fledgling game inventor from Virginia, (when she) patented a forty-space game board that included railroads, utilities and the treacherous corner "Go to Jail". She called her game "The Landlord's Game". Rents were collected on real estate of increasing value, the properties were nameless and contestants travelled clockwise along the board's square pathway" (4). Around three decades after Magie had patented her game and had it distributed for a fair few years, in 1935, a man by the name of Charles Darrow saw real commercial potential in the premise. With his vision and the Parker Brothers' marketing muscle, they teamed up to make the game we all recognise today. One of the main additions made to Darrow's concept was a mascot for the game, originally known as "Rich Uncle Pennybags", now renamed "Mr. Monopoly" due to it being the more popular and referred-to name. Over the years, many editions of the game have been released, including those based on famous places, movies or even cartoons and video-games. In recent years, an electronic money system has replaced the old paper method to aid quicker and less fiddly gameplay. Monopoly is still going strong, even today, being released in new ways all the time. People can now play in almost any way they choose, with iPhone Apps, home console games, and as always, the traditional method of a board, die, paper money and the iconic tokens.

A Nintendo edition of the classic game, 'Monopoly'. Proof that there's a version for almost everybody.

So there's a brief history of the more popular board games. All of these games have many things in common: they're fun to play, create tension and provide an escape from reality. In my opinion, if a game doesn't have any of these things, then it's a bad game. Next in my research, I'm going to be looking at what makes a good game, and what makes a bad one.

(1) Asterie, B.P and Eugene, F.P (1990) Favourite Board Games You Can Make And Play, Courier Dover Publications.
(2) http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/Whitehill/parcheesi/index.html
(3) http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_GB/discover/75-Years-Young.cfm
(4) Kennedy, R. and Waltzer, J. (2004) 
Monopoly: The Story Behind the World's Best-Selling Game, Gibbs Smith.

Board Games...Where To Begin?

When we were given our brief for this project, I didn't have any idea as to what could come of it. I knew that working in teams would definitely aid the experience, with many varied ideas coming in from each of us.

So first up, we decided to research the History of Games, focusing on the most famous examples.