Author: Reeziiverse

Natives and Colonizers

Game Overview Players split into two opposing cultures: Natives (defenders of the land) and Colonizers (conquerors and exploiters of the land). The game board consists of two-sided modular tiles representing different types of land.

To start, the land is all native land, which consists of forests, rivers, mountains, plains, and sacred sites. However, if a colonizer plays a “Deforestation” card, the forest tile they are standing on gets converted to barren land, making the piece easier to capture and industrialise. 

The map can be rearranged each game for variability, making each playthrough unique.

Each side has unique goals:

• Natives: Protect the land, Expand your tribe, and reclaim your land.
• Colonizers: Exploit the land, eliminate native resistance, and build cities/factories.

Board Setup

• Players randomly arrange land tiles to create a unique map.
• Some tiles are special landmarks (sacred sites) that influence gameplay by being harder for the colonizers to take over (must roll double the tile’s amount in order to complete the action of “deforestation” on a sacred site.
• Colonizers start at the board’s edge and expand inward, while natives start scattered across the map.

Game Play

• Players: 2–6 (split into two teams: Natives vs. Colonizers)
• Map: Hex-based board representing a landscape of forests, rivers, and open land. As well as potential extra barren lands after deforestation which make it easier to claim and take over due to barren land’s number being only 2
  • Grassland (15): Takes a roll of 4 to control
  • Forest (15): Takes a roll of 6 to control
  • Mountain (4): Takes a roll of 10 or higher to control.
    • Mountains cannot be converted into settlements
  • Water (6): Costs one additional move to cross and cannot be controlled or converted
  • Barren land: Created by deforestation of grasslands or forests and takes a roll of 2 to control 
• In order for either side to claim their land, through either deforestation (colonizers), or maintaining balance (Natives), one must place their action card and roll the same or higher than the amount on the Hex in order to claim that said land. (ex: if a colonizer wishes to convert a grass field, they must roll a 4 or higher when they place their action card) 
• Objective: Gain control of the map by converting tiles into Settlements, and progressing towards Cities (Colonizers) or reclaiming them as Wilderness (Natives) all the while gaining tribe members until one becomes a Nation.
• Set-Up: Each player receives 21 landscape tiles randomly selected and take turns building the map. The players will also place their initial settlements during this phase. 
• Each player rolls 2 D6s on their turn to determine movement across the modular board.
• Movement rules:
  • Roll a D6 to move freely upon any Hex that is touching.
  • Colonizers: Move efficiently on industrial land. but are -2 movement points in forests, rivers, and cannot cross mountains ever.
  • Natives: Move freely through natural terrain but have -2 movement points on colonized terrain due to stealth restrictions.
  • Crossing water reduces movement by 1

Card Deck System:

A. Event Deck (Global Effects) If any player rolls a 13 in any scenario, draw an event card affecting all players. Examples:

• “The Great Storm” – Movement is halved this turn.
• “Disease Breakout” – Natives lose some of their people (which means Natives cannot roll next round).
• “Spirit Awakening” – Natives gain bonus strength this turn. (plus 4 on their next roll)

B. Native Action Deck Natives draw from a deck with unique abilities reflecting their connection to the land. Examples:

• “Forest Ambush” – Cancel a colonizer’s move and deal damage.
• “Spirit of the River” – Move units across water tiles without penalty.

C. Colonizer Action Deck Colonizers draw from a separate deck with industrial, military, and expansion abilities. Examples:

• “Rapid Expansion” – Place an extra settlement this turn.
• “Deforestation” – Remove a forest tile.
• “Militia Reinforcement” – Strengthen military presence on the board.

Game Pieces

Avatars:

1. Natives

• Scout
  • Main piece of the natives, roll die to determine movement across board
• Warrior
  • Can hold owned tiles, granting them plus 2 in order to capture
• Shaman
  • Can be placed at a religious site or a tribe to add plus 4 to tile

2. Colonizers

• Explorer
  • Similar to scout, this piece moves across the board to capture tiles
• Militia
  • Soldier piece that can hold tiles, granting plus to in order to capture
• Governor
  • Can be placed at Settlements in order to provide additional support, add plus 4 to the tile. 

Strategy & Balance

• Players can hold onto cards and play them at strategic moments.
• Some cards have conditional requirements (e.g., must control a certain number of tiles before using).
• Deck-building mechanics could be introduced, allowing players to customize their playstyle.

Win Conditions

• Natives Win If they maintain enough sacred sites, restore destroyed land, and or create 2 Nations.
• Colonizers Win If they industrialize 14 numbers of tiles, giving them a City

• Questions
  • 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’ve played many different learning games, mostly for school in the past. These include:
  • Study Island: Behaviorism game, as it is a game that rewards correct responses and reinforce learning the more it is repeated/also gives the player results.
  • Assassins Creed Discovery Tour: Constructivism – due to the ability to explore the map to learn more about history.
  • Legos: not sure if this is a game to everyone but its a game to me: Constructionism – due to the playability of building things.
  • For Social Learning: I’d have to say Kahoot, as even though I wouldn’t always get to collab, the ability to play with a partner VS the whole class is a potential for some fun collab work.
  • Constructionism is my favorite but that’s also because I’m a sucker for Legos.
  • 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 gamification is BS due to the fact that instead of working on making a game interesting or engaging to the player, a lot of times people just attempt to make a game with win and loose mechanics rather than engaging the player and making them feel a certain way. This reminds me of the type of games I’ve had to play for school, such as study island, where the games were more fun than the tests sure, however they were the least bit of engaging.
  • What is a serious game and why aren’t they chocolate covered broccoli?
  • A serious game is a game designed with the soul intention of being worth more than just entertainment to the player. This means that there is typically a deeper message or meaning behind the gameplay itself. Its not chocolate covered broccoli because that’s just veggies covered in desert (AKA learning in disguise that isn’t that great at hiding it)

• Discuss:
  • ARGs: A World Without Oil:
  • I feel like this is a good real world scenario that not only helped players become more conscientious about the environment, but it also pushed them to make an impact through gardening, biking to work, or participating in local farmers markets.
  • Discovery Tour by Assassin’s Creed:
  • I feel like this took all the fun out of Assassin’s Creed, as you couldn’t play the traditional game mechanics in these historical sites. However, from a strictly historical standpoint, I would say it was worth the knowledge of these places architecturally in their true forms.
  • Detroit Become Human:
  • Although I’ve never played this game, I hear that it draws emotions out of the players, and the fact that there are so many different ways that the game could play out, I think that is something as game designers we should strive for.
  • Factorio:
  • This game partially influenced one of my future prototypes that I am currently in the conceptual stage with. I tried incorporating the sense of colonizers Vs Natives in an attempt to steal resources to take over their land. If I had a critique on this game, maybe they shouldn’t have made it so fantasy, like prof. Ames said, and instead shed some light on the struggles of the natives due to these factories being built.
  • Outer wilds:
  • This game screams fantasy and future dystopian in an alien yet sorta familiar world. I think this game succeeds in the idea that sometimes nature can be scary, and that sometimes one must defend themselves from it.
  • Gris:
  • I loved the art and seamlessness of the animations and the actual playing of the game, as they all looked uniformed to each other and worked super well. Although it was hard to get the hang of it at first, understanding that sometimes a game is just there to make you think differently but not stress out too much about it was reassuring. Beautiful style and theme.
  • Gone Home:
  • Idk why but this game reminded me of that one game where you’re in that house and you try and escape from an evil granny.
  • The Layoff Game:
  • I think this is one of those satire games that people shouldn’t get too upset about, as the developers took a real world issue, and simply poked fun at the matter. Do I agree with the message, no. However, I wouldn’t go as far to feel offended by it.
• Homework:
  • Generate a list of five game ideas that revolve around the theme of empathy. Wrinkle: Take one of the five ideas and make it an alternate reality game.
  • 1. Emotional Pictionary: players must draw a feeling that they have in under a minute. Then it is up to other players to guess what it was that made them feel that way.
  • 2. Poverty POV: Engage in a POV from all different walks of life, resulting in understandment for what other cultures must go through around the world in 3rd world countries
  • 3. Pet paradise. This game consists of players competing to rescue as many stray dogs as possible in order to bring them from their life on the streets, into a pampered home, by playing different challenges and rolling a percent die to determine the outcome.
  • 4. shroompathy: Players take on the role of someone experiencing a deep, emotional, and slightly ridiculous psychedelic journey. Other players must guide them through it in the most empathetic yet funny way possible.
  • One player draws a Trip Card (weird, surreal experience).
  • The other players respond with Guide Cards (comforting or unhelpful things a “trip
  • sitter” might say).
  • The tripping player awards the point to the most comforting but absurdly funny response.
  • 5. Ink Memories: this game is set in a dystopian world where people forget their past, but tattoos preserve their memories. As a tattooist, players restore lost moments through symbolic ink-work. Clients’ reactions change depending on how well the tattoo captures their forgotten experiences.
  • Read: Chapter 1 and 3 from Flanagan, Mary. Critical Play Radical Game Design, MIT Press, 2009
    • From chapter 1:
      • How does Mary Flanagan’s definition of a game differ from Chris Crawford’s, Katie Salen’s, and Eric Zimmerman’s?
      • Chris Crawford defines games as interactive and competitive. In which players make decisions to reach a goal. Overall, he focuses heavily on conflict and competition.
      • Katie Salen & Eric Zimmerman define games as much more structuralized set of rules. Which in turn determine the outcome of the game. Their definitions highlight systems, player interaction, and experience
      • Mary Flanagan, Defines games as tools for expression, social commentary, and activism. She pushes that games have the ability to challenge cultural norms and create new forms of engagement beyond simply being played for enjoyment or entertainment. This is a lot like the definition of an activist game.
      • what is an activist game?
      • An activist game is a game designed to promote social change, critique issues with how our world is run, or raise awareness about real problems in the world.
      • From chapter 3 –
• go and chess are examples of games that feature “perfect information”, what other games share that feature?
• Checkers, Shogi, Tic-Tac-Toe
• why might chance or gambling games hold spiritual or religious importance to ancient cultures?
• Bc Ancient societies believed that randomness/luck was connected to the divine.Dice games, lot-drawing, and other gambling mechanics were often used for:
• Decision-making by deities
• Predicting the future
• Determining leadership or settling disputes.
• when was the earliest battle between government/ religious groups and games? what modern games can you think of that have been banned or demonized?
• In Ancient China (3000 BCE), these rulers attempted to restrict gambling due to its association with disorder. Currently, games that I can think of that have been banned are games like happy wheels in schools, as it was too gorey for children to play according to the teachers and staff.
• what is a fox game, and what would be a modern example?
• strategy board games in which a predator tries to catch prey. A similar modern game to this could be Agar.io as you spawn for the soul purpose to eat smaller circles than you.
• what was the purpose or intent of the game: Mansion of Happiness?
• Mansion of Happiness was a christian morality-based board game that rewarded players for good behavior. All the while punishing sins such as pride, idleness, and gambling.
• Why do artists from the Fluxus and Surealist movements play games? Why did Surealists believe games might help everyone?
• Fluxus artists used games to challenge traditional art forms as well as a critique on capitalism.
• Surrealists saw games as a way to unlock the unconscious mind, in a way to free creativity
• Changes in what can signal profound changes in games? How were pinball games reskinned during WW2?
• During World War II, pinball machines were redesigned to feature military themes, in a hope to make the players more patriotic.
• What statements did Fluxus artists make by reskinning games like monopoly and ping pong?
• It allowed them to give a critique on capitalism, as well as turn a competative game, into something more collaborative
• How are artists like Lilian Ball, Marcel Duchamp, Takako Saito, Yoko Ono, Gabriel Orozco and Ruth Catlow using war games?
• to critique political powers
• Why is it important for players to have agency in a critical or serious game?
• it helps players engage deeper with the message that a game tries to push.

• Discuss:
  • generate 5 new game ideas that explore changing players minds about … (climate change, energy, politics, etc.)
  • 5 game ideas for climate change, energy, politics, etc.):
  • 1. steal the election: A board game in which players compete as candidates in an election. Each player has to commit as many fraudulent acts as they can in order to win the election (collect fake votes, skew ballets, or push un fact-checked ads to be publicized)
  • 2. Fire Starters: Each player plays as different people involved in the California fires. (Ex. Rich Millionares, the US government, as well as campers. (The Millionares must stop the fires before it burns their expensive houses, the US Government can choose to aid in the support against the fires or aid in the support for more fires to start. The richer you are, then you can bribe the US Government to save your sector of the map, but sabatoge other rich players that you don’t like. The campers can choose to vote for which rich person they want to be in office, depending on if they want to let the forests live or burn to the ground)
  • 3. Extinction Mania: Attempt to make as many animals extinct as possible with the help of global warming and unethical practices. (Kill all the polar bears by opening factories in the arctic circle. Drain the water holes in Africa to open a spa. Get rid of the lemurs by leveling out all of the trees in madagascar to make one giant golf course. Raise the temperatures of the oceans to bleach the coral reefs and destroy the entire aquatic ecosystem. Kidnap as many penguins as possible to sell in the wet markets)
  • 4. Energy Tycoon: Use whatever methods you can through completing side quests and mini games within the game that allow you to gain total control over the electric industry (like monopoly but based on energy)
  • 5. What Musk I do? Players play as Elon Musk as they attempt to buy out as many companies as possible, so that they can own pre existing branches and firms that they never started up themselves. Then you can then use your money to buy your way into the government, all so that you can defeat the final boss: gaining access to the treasury department’s payment system.
  • Post thoughts on what we played in class
• Play:
  • The McDonalds Game: Good cometary on how crazy a corporation can get just to sell a cheap burger and make a buck. I think the graphics and game play is high quality for what they are trying to accomplish and would for sure recommend this game to someone who enjoys satire as well as real world issues.
  • Monopoly: with the new set of rules, not only was this game impossible for anyone other than the wealthier people, but sadly enough it gave quite a real world outlook on how monopolistic culture in our society truly works. I think this is good commentary on capitalism and consumerism.
• Homework:
• Read: Advergames from Bogost, Ian. Persuasive Games: The expressive power of videogames
  • what advergames have you played? did they influence a purchase?
  • Although I personally haven’t played any advergames, I’ve witnessed countless advergame walkthroughs. Such as Pepsiman, or Burger King’s Sneak King. These games reinforce brand identity but don’t really influence direct purchases. Overall, they can increase brand awareness and affinity for that said brand.
  • why do the advergames tooth protector and escape work? What makes chase the chuckwagon and shark bait fail?
  • Tooth Protector works because it integrates the push for dental hygiene into its gameplay, reinforcing the brand’s goals at the end of the day. It also allows the player to miss a day brushing their teeth, which makes it more real life. Escape works due to it’s target audience that it is pushing for already. The other games fail, however, as they lack engaging gameplay, making them feel like a weak promotional gimmick rather than a compelling game that makes the player want to come back, or engage more with that brand in general.
  • what does volvo’s drive for life accomplish? 
  • It accomplishes a positive message, as it urges the players to drive safely, utilizing safety features in the game as well that are a part of their cars.
  • what company used in-advergame advertising 
  • Burger King effectively used in-game advertising with its Sneak King advergame
  • what was one if the first home-console advergames and what beverage was it for?
  • Kool-Aid Man- promoting (You guessed it)….Drum roll please…. *Kool Aid* 
  • what makes the toilet training game sophisticated and do you agree?
  • because it uses interactivity to reinforce behavior patterns. The game cleverly incorporates play into an everyday task, making it an engaging way to teach children. I think its not that crazy though.
  • what do advergames and anti-advergames have in common, and what principles do they share?
  • Both communicate messages through gameplay. However Advergames typically attempt to get the player to buy more than just the game, as the game is simply a bridge to that consumer buying other products by that said brand.