- what learning games have you played? can you categorize them by the theory of learning types: behaviorism, constructivism, constructivism or social nature? if you played more than one which was the most effective?
I have played a lot of learning games – they might be my favorite type of games actually, especially when it comes to language learning these days – Duolingo, Mango, Busuu, Mavis Beacon (in middle school), kahoot, fact-matching/quizlet sort of things, I also played a lot that I can no longer remember the names of pretty much from pre-school throughout high school- I would say most games were behaviorist in nature; learning through a game-like atmosphere but still focused around the actual learning of material but a little more fun (like what Amy Bruckman was talking about – a few were social nature too I would say – I think behaviorism is the most effective in actually learning material for me at least - is gamification bullshit, what is ian bogost’s argument and do you agree? where have you encountered it outside of class and what was your experience?
Ian argues that companies often use “games”, but really just superficial game elements to different products/sights, as marketing strategies and they are really not effective, meaningful , and motivating as games can be. I think I do agree with this logic – I don’t think that every single games has to be this whole thought-out experiential and designed masterpiece, but really stupid or badly designed games shouldn’t be slapped together to gain viewership/sales, etc. I have definitely experienced these sort of “bullshit” games that really aren’t effective and make you more annoyed than engaged. In school, we used to play free games online that were often sponsored or education based and they were mostly super dumb, we played them anyways because of boredom but really they were not really effective or that fun. - What is a serious game and why aren’t they chocolate covered broccoli?
Serious games are more than serious topics disguised as fun games (or “chocolate covered broccoli”), they are generally for education, training, or raising awareness rather than simply fun and entertainment. Good serious games integrate the education into the gameplay – if the serious part is disguised users can generally tell, so incorporating it fully makes it more intentional and meaningful and if done well, it won’t taste like chocolate covered broccoli.
Game Response Week 6
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
- What made the experience fun or not? Virtual environments are fun cause we don’t get to play with them very often – I like the collaboration aspect of having to both describe two different things which don’t match but work together to solve a problem
- What is the motivating factor to get or keep players playing? To figure out how to not die and blow up – seeing if you can work together well
- Is the game persuasive, and what is it trying to get you to do outside of the game? I wouldn’t really call it persuasive per say, but it makes you realize how difficult it can be to successfully work together on things
- What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? the metaphor is diffusing a bomb and working together, the mechanic of both players seeing two different things to accomplish the same goal is intriguing and makes it difficult yet fun
- How does the gameplay make you feel? Who does the game make you feel empathy for? It made me feel a little stressed and panicked, but mostly exhilarated to try and be a successful bomb diffuser, it makes me feel empathy for real bomb diffusers
- Is the game an activist game? If so what does the game play advocate for? It is not an outright activist game in my opinion, but if it was it advocates for clearer communication and thinking quickly in necessary tense situations
- Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
Confusing manual
A box with mini puzzles
Communicate or die
Also started my podcast game Children of the Sky – I haven’t played it enough to get a feel for it but it’s supposed to be an environmental impact activist game about spreading light and hope to darkness and we will see how that works – it does make me feel nice though
Question Set Week 3
Chapter 1
- how does mary flanagan’s definition of game differ from chris crawford’s as well as the definition crafted by katie salen and eric zimmerman? Chris Crawford, Salen, and zimmerman talk about games in a very structural, rule based system where people engage in artificial conflict, however, mary flanagan dives deeper in to the context of what games “live” in and the environment they reflect – she argues their artistic, social and activist dialogue, they are “cultural practices embedded in politics, art, and power.”
- what is an activist game? an activist game raises awareness about something bigger, whether it’s political, environmental, etc. They critique, model inequality, and purposefully create structural problems for players to experience
Chapter 3 - go and chess are examples of games that feature “perfect information”, what other games share that feature? Checkers, Cornhole, Mancala, etc
- why might chance or gambling games hold spiritual or religious importance to ancient cultures? Randomness and chance was reflected as the will of gods often times
- when was the earliest battle between government/ religious groups and games? what modern games can you think of that have been banned or demonized? gambling and dice games were battled especially – Pokémon was looked down on by a lot of people for a while, as are games with questionable moral and ethical boundaries like GTA- I’ll be honest I don’t know of any games that were straight out banned
- what is a fox game, and what would be a modern example? a fox game is where there is one player that has more power or abilities than the rest of the character. Examples of these games include Among Us and Luigi’s Ghost Mansion (amazing game as a kid),
- what was the purpose or intent of the game: Mansion of Happiness? To have a game that taught children virtues and the difference between good and bad morals and how to work hard and ethically
- Why do artists from the Fluxus and Surealist movements play games? Why did Surrealists believe games might help everyone? The both believed that games take people outside of the here and now; they connect to art and hidden creativity and reject accepted rules of thought and systems of the world – Surrealists believed games would help everyone by freeing your imagination
- Changes in what can signal profound changes in games? How were pinball games reskinned during WW2? Lots of different choices can change game: themes, players, materials, rules, representation of power, etc. Pinball games were reskinned with military propaganda and patriotic themes
- What statements did Fluxus artists make by reskinning games like monopoly and ping pong? They wanted to question things people accept on a regular basis – exposing systems and asking questions
- How are artists like Lilian Ball, Marcel Duchamp, Takako Saito, Yoko Ono, Gabriel Orozco and Ruth Catlowusing war games? they manipulate familiar games to critique power and expose absurdity of conflict
- Why is it important for players to have agency in a critical or serious game? Having free choice and the ability to do things makes it a lived experience rather than a lecture – it allows the player to fully experience the message
Game Ideas around Empathy
- Impairment: Each player either can’t 1 – see 2 – hear – 3 touch normally 4 – talk and you play a simple game (like Uno or something) and then reflect on the experience and switch “impairments” to feel what they other person goes through
- Similar to the above game but specifically finding empathy for people who have a hard time with too many stimuli (autism, adhd, etc) Each player adds or takes away a noise/distraction each turn as well as playing the game and can give or take “relief” from the chaos to understand the need for sensory rooms or quiet spaces
- A game that has to do with learning to be empathetic for language differences – I feel like especially in the U.S. people immediately form opinions about people based on their accent/language difference. Creating a game where people have to live in that reality and deal with those differences would be really intriguing – i have ideas like a card game but everyone has different sets of words with part English/part foreign language and they have to play with those differences
- Dealing with Grief – card game where players work through people dealing with any sort of sadness – the cards reveal scenarios for each player and each player must give correct responses and learn to interact with grieving people “correctly” and empathetically
- Interactive/Physical Game – being understanding towards elderly people is the message the game is meant imply – basically a relay game except players are assigned ages which inhibit how fast or slow they can walk/run/move to the goal and how they interact with other players
Prototype Response – Week 5
Bad Advice – Christine’s game
What made the experience fun or not? The content was intriguing – I like games with objective responses to fun prompts
What is the motivating factor to get or keep players playing? to see what the new prompts would say and new advice cards would match up to the prompts
what was frustrating about game? Just the rules not being fully developed so we had to assume the rules and make them up as we go
Is the game persuasive, and what is it trying to get you to do outside of the game? I wouldn’t say it’s persuasive per say but it makes you think about hard challenges in people’s lives and how to deal with them better or how not to deal with them
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The metaphor is dealing with people’s mental and situational problems – the mechanic of being rewarded for bad advice and then giving good advice to counter it is intriguing
How does the gameplay make you feel? Who does the game make you feel empathy for? There was a lot of the gameplay that we assumed from similar games since the rules weren’t written super clearly so when it is written well it’ll be a smooth gameplay – it let me have fun but also makes me think of real-world situations and how I’d actually deal with them, it makes you feel empathy for the person going through these things
Is the game an activist game? If so what does the game play advocate for? I’d say yes it is an activist game, it’s advocating for people who are struggling with mental health issues or just going through difficult times – it’s helping people know what to do and not to do
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku
advice, good or bad
help people who struggle
others will determine
Star Sailor – Meredith’s game
- What made the experience fun or not? it’s succinct and makes sense – a cute idea that is not overly complicated
- What is the motivating factor to get or keep players playing? trying to get to the end to win
- Is the game persuasive, and what is it trying to get you to do outside of the game? If it is persuasive, it is very subtle – i think the metaphor is ethical consumption of resources vs. destroying nature to what extent to survey but it’s space themed so it’s a little abstract
- What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? ethical consumption of resources vs. destroying nature to what extent to survey but it’s space themed, the mechanic of blowing up planets for resources is intriguing from the metaphors standpoint
- How does the gameplay make you feel? Who does the game make you feel empathy for? It was intriguing, it made me want to know what blowing up a planet would do, it didn’t really make me feel empathy just wanting to find out how fast I could run out of resources without blowing up planets
- Is the game an activist game? If so what does the game play advocate for? Slightly – I think it was intended to be an activist game about resource management and ethics of destroying the environment to advance
- Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
Spaceships through space
Fuel is gone planets are gone
Trading fuel for food
Prototype/Ruleset Game #1 – iteration 1
Limitation
Objective:
To make it back across the starting line together
Materials:
4-6 players
6 age cards (with rules for movement and limitations)
6 dice of different
Your body, mind, and creativity
Setup:
Each player randomly chooses an age card and a dice
Players choose a space to line up (like at a race starting line)
Gameplay:
Each movement is determined by individual dice rolls (in front of each person on the floor or any flat space near you)
Follow the instructions on you age card to see how many steps you can take. Players all roll dice at the same time but don’t roll again until everyone has moved at least one step.
Continue rolling dice and making movements until you have made it to a determined end point and then turn around and make it back to your starting position. The starting position becomes the finish line.
This is essentially a relay race but with limitations
The catch is you must all cross the finish line together to win
Work together to help slower players and give up your movements so you can all successfully make it across the finishing line
Winning/Losing:
When all the players complete the “relay” together they win
If more than one players cross the finish line before the others, you all lose and the players who went alone can be shamed and booed for leaving their fellows behind
Question Set Week 2
- What advergames have you played? Did they influence a purchase outside of the game? I mean i have played tons of games that ARE advertisements for the games themselves and they have never influenced me to get the game – I have also played games like Pepsi Man for other products and no they generally do not influence me
- Why do the advergames ”tooth protector” and “escape” work? What makes ”chase the chuckwagon” and “shark bait” fail? According to Bogost, it is how well the game integrates the message of the game into the actual mechanics which make the games run. In the last two games, the gameplay doesn’t have to do with what the product actual is or does so the message falls flat
- What does volvo’s “drive for life” accomplish? It forces the player to experience Volvo’s motto – instead of speed like most racing/car games, the game mechanics enforce “driving for life” by enforcing safety, safe speeds and awareness. It makes the player live the motto
- What company used in-advergame advertising: Massive Incorporated
- What was one of the first home-console advergames and what beverage was it for? Pepsi Invaders – which was for Coca-Cola as a dig at their competitor
- What makes “the toilet training” game sophisticated and do you agree? It is “sophisticated” because of the values and management skills that are engrained in the rules of the game – it teaches something and allows users to experience a structured, manageable process of parenthood duties. I think I mostly agree – the subject matter makes it slightly less so but I haven’t actually played the game so I would have to see if Bogost’s justification is correct
- What do advergames and anti-advergames have in common, and what principles do they share? Bogost argues they have quite a lot in common actually. Similar mechanics, which are intended for different purposes, but often act similarly. They also both are trying to persuade people to do, or not do, something. This is a key component and biggest principle they follow to say they have things in common
Game Responses Week 4
Last Resort
Was it fun? Yes, I actually really enjoyed it
What were the player interactions? There are two players and we alternate turns and can take out each others pieces
How long did it take to learn? Pretty quickly for me since I knew how to play chess already
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Honestly, I never got frustrated it was pretty straightforward for me
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I liked the different dynamics of playing with different rules and having the civilians there, it just gave chess a cool flair
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? Maybe have the Bleached team be a little less OP and see what that would do to the gameplay
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Give the Oiled side something a little different (or try to play against someone who does know how to play first)
Is this a game you would play again? Yes, I really liked it and would like to see how it could play out again
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. 1) The setup and first moves 2) moving civilians and starting to get them back safe 3) total destruction begins when civilians start dying and the only way to win is total annihilation
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? All competitive, you’re trying to win and at the beginning not kill civilians but whoever kills one first then the vibe shifts and it’s bloody war
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The metaphor is a crisis of unmatched man power where civilians get caught in the crossfire, the mechanic of the civilian movement was intriguing to me
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
Civilians can die
Try to save them or you die
Kill them at your risk
Observance
Was it fun? Sort of, I don’t like long rules so that was not fun
What were the player interactions? Pretty in depth, asking questions and talking back and forth about stuff
How long did it take to learn? A while
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Trying to remember all the little rules and stuff
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? It’s a neat concept and I like battleship so it had that element of gameplay
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? Switch sides faster perhaps, I played as border patrol and didn’t get to play as the Mexicans
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Have a little more energy to fully get into the game, nothing with the game necessarily just when we played it
Is this a game you would play again? Maybe? If i didn’t have to go through all the set up again, but it’s intriguing so I might give it a second chance
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. 1) Set up and hiding the different elements on respective “maps” 2) Asking questions back and forth and rolling the dice and doing our different moves 3) either finding the stuff or not and making it to the U.S. which is winning
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? It’s mostly competitive, trying to be the one to get more immigrants to the U.S.
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? Getting immigrants into the US and defending against them coming in, interesting mechanic (which is also sort of a metaphor) would be that winning is depending on how many get in not how many you keep out, which is probably supposed to be part of the thought provoking idea
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
People coming in
Rolling dice finding location
Switching sides to win
Rewrite one of your endless game ideas (from week 1) but now make it a persuasive game
The Water Bucket Filling Game:
The aim of the game is speed not efficiency.
Empty bucket continuously slide by (on a conveyor belt or something) and you have to fill them by holding down a spicket of water that fills the buckets. You could hold it down even in between buckets but speed increases filling them most full – but speed and numbers increases “profitability”.
However, the game still tracks how much water that you waste in the process of fulfilling your tasks. As you keep playing it, the player starts to try to conserve the water and not waste it (or purposefully waste it depending on the player mindset)
The point is to raise awareness subtly through the gameplay about water supply and doing a task with speed and not worrying about the consequence essentially.
Game Responses Week 2
Intergroup Monopoly
Was it fun? Sort of, it was entertaining to a point to be so unequal but then just dragged on when the gap continued to expand
What were the player interactions? Pretty frequent, you pay each other things and buy stuff and talk about the rules
How long did it take to learn? Not long, we also referred to the new rules during gameplay
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? The inability for me to do pretty much anything as the minority player – i only ever made it around the board once and had to pay a whole lot of money most times
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? It was still monopoly so it was moderately fun cuz I just got to chill in jail
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? Gain money, I couldn’t really do that – i just paid money
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Be 1% player, that would be fun – a different mechanic could be interesting to break through some of the set limits and level up per say
Is this a game you would play again? Probably not, it’s just not as fun
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. The set up of money and property, then taking turns rolling dice and taking actions, then counting money when we were all done
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? It’s pretty much solely competitive, Christine felt bad and wanted to help but no we did not let her
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The metaphor is standard Monopoly but with the social commentary of inequalities, the mechanics are rolling dice, collecting money, buying etc.
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
Just like the OG
Different social status
Money gap is clear
McDonalds Game
Was it fun? No
What were the player interactions? It’s single player but the mechanics didn’t work
How long did it take to learn? I never figured it out. I played it for like 15 minutes and could never figure out how to save my cows or make the workers work correctly
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? THE COWS KEPT DYING there was no button to save them and I kept losing money
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? It’s a neat idea but the rules and what you are actually supposed to do never made sense, i wanted to see my McDonalds chain succeed but couldnt figure it out
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? keep the cows alive
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? have a little bit more explanation of how to save the cows and maybe be able to transfer them over to the stalls/barn myself
Is this a game you would play again? Maybe just to see if I could figure it out
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. Plant more grass, drop cows, see what happens, hire workers, see money either drop or increase and make more burger patties
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? Your basically just playing against yourself so not much of each
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The metaphor is managing your own mcdonalds chain – the mechanic of switching between different like “mini games” almost, with the different parts of the business.
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
nothing is working
cows feed, workers working not
burgers make no money
Week 1 Question Set – Ian Bogost
- What are the issues Ian Bogost raises about social games with Cow Clicker?
I think he sort of raises the question of the pointless activities we are entertained by in this society. Clicking something for the sake of clicking something again – and then his game which was supposed to be satire actually became popular for the exact thing he was “fighting” against
- How do social games like FarmVille enframe friends?
Games like these affect how we interact with others – how we give gifts, compare ourselves, base our value off of our qualities and material. Even how people make friends shifts and can make people look at the things differently if they’re used to being in a virtual, different environment.
- How do social games destroy time outside of the game?
It can potentially make us waste the time we have just to play the game again. If the focus is the game, that changes the way we interact with the time we have
Game Responses – Week 1
Calvin Ball:
Was it fun? Yeah, because it was energetic and a bit chaotic
What were the player interactions? They were the whole game really – the game was nothing without what people said or did with each other – what people do impacts how you play the game
How long did it take to learn? Instantly, because it is up to the people to create how it works
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Some of the rules that players come up with are not helpful to the ease of the game so that’s frustrating
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? It’s energetic and mind-engaging which makes it enjoyable because people are laughing and having fun
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? People often forgot the rules others came up with so if there was a way to ensure that players do what other players have called as the rules would make it more chaotic and feel like a game though
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Maybe start the game with a premise or a type of ruleset that you need to go off of so it’s a little more directional
Is this a game you would play again? Perhaps, cause you can do whatever you want
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. It begins with the ball and nothing else, then rules start accumulating as you throw the ball around, then it ends whenever poeple decide it ends
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? It’s mostly collaborative because of needing people to create the mechanics but people can turn it competitive (like mason) if they declare themselves the winner
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? There isn’t really a metaphor other than create whatever you want – the mechanic of do whatever mechanic you want is a unique mechanic in and of itself
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku
no rules but for choice
people making stuff up
no rules every rule
Get Over It:
Was it fun? Sort of, it’s a frustrating sort of fun where it’s addictive to try and finish the game
Player Interactions: It’s a one player game so no interaction really
How long to learn: Pretty quick, just one mechanic
frustrations: the one mechanic makes it hard to win or get to the “end”
favorite moment or aspect: watching somebody else play it
anything you wanted to do but couldnt: nope, because i wasnt doing it
what i wanted to change: I feel like the point of the game is to be frustrating and simple so i dont really want to change anyting
Play again? no not really, maybe just to see if i could beat it but not too intriguing to me
3 act structure: The beginning where the dude sits and doesn’t move, trying to get farther on the map, giving up when you don’t get far enough
collaborative/competitive: it’s just competitive with yourself
metaphor and mechanics: the “metaphor” is a dude in a water bucket trying to move up a mountain with a pickaxe to move, which is also the mechanic – moving by gripping the ground with the pickaxe
haiku:
bro in a bucket
can’t move except for pickaxe
frustration increased
Painstation
Was it fun? I did not play it but the video looked extremely not fun
What were the player interactions? There are two players and they are trying to get the ball into the others goal or something and in turn not let that happen to them cuz of PAIN
How long did it take to learn? since we just watched a video of it i wasn’t quite sure how it worked except for you instantly learned the consequence by the dudes screaming in pain
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? I don’t like the idea of inflicting that much pain loll
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I didn’t play it (just watched) and enjoyed none of that video
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? play it without pain
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? have an option to play with no pain
Is this a game you would play again? NO, i don’t play games to be physically abused
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. No pain, much pain, end with too much pain
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? it’s purely competitive so that you don’t get electrocuted or whipped
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The metaphor i think would be the intrigue and suspense of getting hurt – the pain consequence is the most significant outcome of a mechanic
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
don’t let the ball fall
ping PAIN pong PAIN zap zap zap
play again at your risk
Townscraper
Was it fun? Yes, this was the most fun game we played today
What were the player interactions? no interactions since it’s a single player game
How long did it take to learn? a few minutes, figuring out the details of the mechanics
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? initially it was a little frustrating not knowing how to delete the structures but then i figured it out
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? the little noises were very satisfying, the design of the buildings was super cute and it was just relaxing
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? choose what type of building
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I kind of wanted to see my little town inhabited with people moving around the streets and navigating the streets i created
Is this a game you would play again? Yes, it was simply super satisfying and cute
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. There’s not much of a structure, but basically you start with a blank canvas and start placing squares of homes and continue placing them until you want to stop
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? it’s neither collaborative or competitive, you just set your own wishes and boundaries of game time
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? Metaphor is unstressfully building a town on water, the mechanics are clicking and changing color – you let the programming of the game do the rest
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
sploosh splash water village
satisfying little game
cute homes to relax
Cow Clicker
Was it fun? Well, i didn’t really get to play it so no i did not think it was fun, the idea behind the game is intriguing however
What were the player interactions? no interactions just a cow, or rather lack of a cow now
How long did it take to learn? instantly, all you do is click
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? you have to wait is probably the frustrating aspect
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? the cute lil cows
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? actually play the game
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? see the cows in actions
Is this a game you would play again? No, it’s pointless game, tho a good critique
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. A cow, cow is clicked, person waits, clicks again
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? neither really
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? the metaphor is a cow in a field, the mechanic is just clicking and waiting and clicking again
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
Click cow wait click click
wait wait wait click click click click
wait years no click cow
No End State Game Ideas – Game Design 2 Week 1
Kaelin Hartman, Christine Ursiny, Brayden Bauer, Grace Powers
- Checking out library books as the librarian – stamping them or scanning them out to people
- Water bucket filler – click to fill the bucket and move to the next one
- Assembly line food making game – just keep making pizza
- Color walk – just keep walking and taking pictures or pointing out certain colors (single player or group play)
- Matching like cars to get rid of traffic on a highway (but it never ends) like Bejeweled but with cars and sort of like Crossy Road.
(6. An ASMR game where you can build and layer ASMR triggers – like a DJ board but for ASMR sounds
7. Like an Abacus but digitally)
Prototype – Dessert Dash
2 person game (Kaelin and Madison)
Rules:
Objective:
Be the first to finish your stack of ice cream dishes.
Materials:
1 deck of 60 cards
Setup:
Shuffle the Deck and deal each player 30 cards randomly
Gameplay:
Flip over two and place in between your deck of cards.
There are no “turns”. The players race to be the first to finish their deck by rapidly matching either the flavor, type of dish or number of dishes on their card to the respective ones on EITHER of the cards that are flipped up in the middle.
As the game progresses, obviously the cards will change based on what cards the players place on top. Keep placing matching cards as fast as you can, whenever you can.
Winning:
The game ends when one player finishes their stack. That player is the winner. Hooray!
Changes made:
There were edits made to the rules during prototyping to specify the simple mechanics – we had a moment that somehow the game was played but completely wrong so we tightened the wording
Changes TO make:
We’re going to tweak some of the coloring on the card to be more consistent – the blue ice cream cups threw a few people off on what type
Thoughts about Playtesting:
Most people understood the concept while one group totally didn’t so that was interesting – we clarified the rules so all people would understand. It’s interesting to see how people interpret rules or completely don’t read them when they think they know how it works.
Game Card Images:
Game Response – The Bear “D&D” Story Game
Was it fun? Yes it was, a bit chaotic which made it enjoyable
What were the player interactions? The whole game was based off of player interactions – each player creates the personality of the game basically by how they decide to react to the storyline the “dungeon master” creates
How long did it take to learn? Not too long, as you sort of make it up as you go
What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? We didn’t thoroughly establish each players roles so it was a little it clunky in the first half.
What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? Being able to make up a story and do whatever you want under a loose structure was enjoyable – we also had good luck with the dice roll so it made it pace well
Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? Be able to tell the dungeon master not to do dumb things at times that didn’t really make sense
If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? A little bit more direction for the story master to help them with the story theme
Is this a game you would play again? Maybe, it’s a bit chaotic so with the right crowd it could be more fun but it’s also a little mentally taxing and i prefer a little more mechanics and “gameplay” per say in my games
Analyze the game using the 3 act structure: Act 1 was determining each bears’ role in the game and making it out of “the forest”. Act 2 was healing some people from injuries and infiltrating Comic-Con and the guarded room (with lots of dice-rolling). Act 3 was then getting home where it all went downhill and our dungeon master called the whole military on us.
What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? Very collaborative, everyone is working together to complete the story, almost no competitiveness
What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? Metaphor was a family of bears and you come up with the context, ours became a mafia gang – having very little mechanics was the most unique mechanic because the players determined what you actually had to do in the game
Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku:
Bear gangs fighting crime
Infiltrating Comic-Con
Betrayal and chaos
