Author: Evelyn Roberts

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Evelyn: Review of Firework Game and Italian Risk

I don’t remember what the games’ actually names are.

  1. Was it fun?
    • The Firework Game was fun depending on who you play with.
    • Italian risk was so intimidating we didn’t even play. It seemed similar to Risk but tinier.
  2. What were the player interactions?
    • In the Firework Game, players had to help each other choose the best cards to play in order to complete the firework card sets (they resembled Solitaire). The catch was you never see your own card until you play it! The game is all about your “verbal resources.”
  3. How long did it take to learn?
    • The Firework Game was easy to learn.
    • The original directions for Italian Risk were in Italian. We never learned to play.
  4. Would you play it again?
    • Maybe I would play the Firework Game. I would definitely choose others over it.
    • Definitely not Italian Risk
  5. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
    • First Act was learning the rules and beginning to play. Second Act was developing a strategy with your teammates. Third Act was either completion of the “firework sets” or defeat (if the time ran out).
  6. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • This game was purely collaborative. You had to help each other choose the best card to play without looking at your own. You all won or you all lost.
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Evelyn: Week 2

  • Question Set 1
    1. What Mechanics would you like to use for a game with a theme that revolves around being the size of a nanometer? I would make a tiny building game. The pieces included in the game would be cards and little building orbs (that stick together like a puzzle). You could collect different atoms or molecules (that are on cards) to create elements and collect points. Maybe you could even build a disease to sabotage your opponents.
    2. Who are you making games for? I agree with the author of the book that I am making games for myself. I wouldn’t have the motivation to make a game that I wouldn’t like enough to buy.
    3. Who will be your play testers outside of class? Family and friends
  • Question Set 2
    1. Can you think of a game you were able to play without referring to the rules? Scrabble.
    2. How do you define what a game is? a game must have a goal that can be reached. Traditionally, reaching the goal must be entertaining to players.
    3. What features can make your games more intuitive? From a logistic perspective, adding clues to the rules outside of the instruction sheet. Game overview cards help with this. Simplifying gameplay makes games more intuitive as well!
  • Question Set 3
    1. What was your gateway game? What do you play to introduce others to gaming? Ticket to Ride was my first gateway game. I’m not a huge gamer so I feel like I’m the one being introduced to these games. I would introduce others to Ticket to Ride because it is easy enough to catch on while also having a beautiful board.
    2. What features do gateway games share? Characteristics of gateway games include: ease of learning, good theming, a lack of complexity, interaction between players, luck, originality, replayability, and a length between 45-90 minutes.
    3. What are the 10 beautiful mechanics and what should you aim for with your own? According to the author, the 10 beautiful mechanicals include the Kingmaker’s Noblesse Oblige, BattleTech’s Heat, Set’s Set-Making, Magic’s Card Tapping, Battle Cattle’s cow tipping rule, xXxenophile’s popping, Bohnanza’s Hand Order rule, Mississippi Queen’s Paddlewheels, Time’s Up!’s Communication Breakdown, and Dominion’s Constant Shuffling. These items are considered genius-level mechanics in the eyes of the author. Finding good mechanics (even slight tweaks) can move your game to the next level
    4. How does luck and strategy factor in to game play? Luck gives everybody hope of winning and perhaps even provides small victories. Strategy takes gameplay to a deeper level and gives players a sense that they could have some control.
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Evelyn: 5 Card Game Ideas

  1. GoViral. Inspired by the card game “New Phone. Who Dis?” There are picture cards and caption cards. There could be potential for music cards (scan to get music) but that might overcomplicate the game. The logistics of the game could be flushed out but basically funniest post (as voted on) wins that round.

2. A game based off Uno. The goal of the game is to not win or lose. The winner and loser must do a challenge or dare decided upon by the rest of the group. The cards could be changed to reflect this twist.

3. FLUXX: harry potter edition. Completion of the spell to win

4. Based off of GoFish but all of the cards are a type of ingredient. There are recipe cards as well. Players must collect ingredients to make recipes. The recipes are worth different point amounts.

5. Investigator – A detective game. All players are dealt profile cards with different abilities. There is one Traitor. Everybody must else must figure out who the traitor is depending on the actions played in game.

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Evelyn: Bohnanza Review

  1. How did this game use the 3 act structure? The beginning of the game was a bit confusing. Mostly because nobody knew how to play and the rules were a not really based off of a familiar game. Once we got familiar with the rules, the middle of the game was quite fun! The cards were cute and gameplay was a great combination of peaceful yet cutthroat. Gameplay felt like it was a great pace! The end of the game came at a defined point which added to the strategy.
  2. Easy to understand? I would say it has a medium learning curve. It definitely helps having someone who knows how to play the game to help teach it. It might’ve taken about 10 -15 minutes to figure it out. Once we did, it was simple enough!
  3. Is it fun? Would I do it again? It was very fun and we chose to do it again! My favorite game yet. Definitely recommend!
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Game Ideas: Evelyn

  1. A game inspired by the movie – A Quiet Place. There are 1 or 2 people selected to be the hunters. They are blindfolded and given a nerf gun with a limited number of shots. It is best played in the dark with boundaries.
  2. A art competition where at least 2 people compete to create a painting of a desired object with water squirters filled with watered down paint.
  3. The game of life but college themed – choices of real colleges, types of residences, majors with a comedic twist
  4. Campus-wide game of Mario Kart using scooters. A course could be set up using cones and other boundaries in parking lots or the paths if blocked off. You could compete as individuals or as a team. Teams could be made up of clubs, sports teams, other departments to inspire some friendly campus rivalry.
  5. Interior Designer game in Virtual Reality. You could upload your own home and furniture to experiment with layouts and styles. This would be more of a freeplay game.

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Week 1 Response: Evelyn

  1. In your opinion what should every game have? Why do you like your favorite game? Every game should have a set of rules, a goal, and player(s). My favorite games are ones that have a social impact. Maybe that means its a question-card type game or maybe its a game just intended to bring everybody together and laugh – like the Jackbox games.
  2. List the games you’ve played and currently play. Horizon 4 & 5, Minecraft, Legend of Zelda, Breath of the Wild, Splatoon, Animal Crossing, Jackbox, Hay Day, Cooking Fever, Sims, SimCity, Geometry Dash, Angry Birds, Among Us
  3. Can you apply the three act structure to your favorite game? What is it’s pacing and how long do you find yourself in each act? In Horizon 5, the game begins in an initial race – throwing the player right into the game. The player is given a “starter pack” of cars and locations. This first act is very fast but excites users with the initial fast pace and feeling of success. The middle part of the game involves a wide variety of game paths. The player could choose from different types of races, “side quests”, mini games, or just freeplay driving. The end of the game is somewhat amorphous. The “final act” could be considered when the player finishes all the races and side quests… but players could always continue playing mini games or even races and try to beat their highscore. This middle act is certainly the longest as players never really exhaust the game’s options.
  4. When coming up with ideas where do you find you start, with the metaphor or the mechanic? I think I often am initially inspired by the metaphor. Once I start figuring out the mechanics, the metaphor might break down and disappear altogether, but I think I begin with an overarching metaphor.
  5. Over the course of this semester, who would you like to collaborate with and why? I’d like to collaborate with Luke Conte because he obviously is pretty talented and has experience actually launching a game and running a business. In general, somebody in marketing/business/entrepreneurship to learn more about business strategy from their perspective.
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FLUXX Review

How long did it take to learn? When everyone playing is new to the game, it might get a a couple practice rounds to figure out. However, when at least one person playing has experience, it’s much easier.

Interactive? Very interactive – especially when rules keep changing.

Replayable? Very. There are so many different cards each game could be different. I feel like people might be too frustrated to play again haha

Was it fun? Yes!

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Evelyn’s Final Project

Here are the following steps in my design process:

  1. Ideation > I brainstormed five different ideas to explore before ultimately settling on a projection portrait. My plan: project light (as a pattern or color) onto myself in a dark room and take a long exposure portrait.
  2. Draft 1 > For draft one, I experimented projecting several different patterns and colors. This allowed me to flush out what had the best results. Another variable I experimented with was the placement of the camera and projector (did I want a colorful or dark background?). I used my iPhone to do my first rough drafts. Here are some first drafts:

3. Planning and Revisions > After viewing the results from draft 1, I decided that I wanted to project slow, strobing colorful lights and I wanted a dark background. Having a dark background proved to be my biggest challenge. Below is the diagram of the setup.

    4. Final Drafts > I followed the diagram and my goal of this final shoot was to nail down the correct camera settings. Here are some of the biggest tweaks I made on the manual setting: shutter speed 1″; F8.0; ISO 1600 in RAW format.

    5. Polish > out of the shoot, I selected some of the best to edit in order to enhance the colors and overall clarity of the images.

    Thank you for your time!

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    Evelyn Eclipse Projection

    For this light projection project, I wanted to create an immersive piece of art that viewers could experience. I chose to document the total solar eclipse with an insta360 camera as a time lapse. For those that were not able to personally view the total eclipse, it provides an opportunity to immerse themselves into the moment. For those that watched the solar eclipse in person, it allows them to relive their experience. Ultimately, it accessibly creates a way for anybody to watch an awe-inspiring and rare event.

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    RMU Land Draft 2

    Evelyn, Christine, Elijah

    Normal Candy and rules:

    • roll dice – move that # on the board
    • First one to make it to the end wins
    • *note special location spots
    • IRL – refers to actions on the cards
    • Follow the rules on each card
    • Read and choose a character card at the beginning of the game
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    RMU Candy Land

    Evelyn, Christine, Elijah

    Normal Candy Land rules:

    • roll dice – move that # on the board
    • First one to make it to the end wins
    • *note special location spots
    • Follow the rules on each card
    • IRL – refers to actions on the cards