Author: Amber Holt

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Week 2 Game Ideas – Persuasion

  1. The Wonderful Life of a Carnival Fish – This is a game trying to persuade people that fish, such as gold or beta fish, should not be given out as prizes at carnivals. The player will experience the game through the point of view of the carnival fish and must try to survive as long as possible (a difficult task). Some of the trials that the fish will go through are residing in a too small environment (both in the plastic bag and when taken home), potentially placed with some other fish that are hostile, with unsafe aquarium decorations, unclean water, not acclimated to new water, etc. 
  2. Well, What Was She Wearing? – This game is based on CAPSEA’s “What Were You Wearing?” Exhibit that displayed the clothing that people were wearing when they were SA’ed. This challenges the expectations that people are “asking for it” if they dress a certain way. It also shows that people could be wearing anything and it would still happen to them. The game adaptation of this would have different clothing options and people are to try to “guess”. This is to persuade people that it doesn’t matter the clothing that people wear, people get SA’ed just for existing and it is not their fault, especially in regards to their fashion choices. I think that this game would be difficult to pull off because of how sensitive this topic is, but I think that it would help give a little bit more awareness to victims.
  3. Fast Fashion Game (needs a better name) – At the beginning of every turn, a fashion micro trend is determined (could be determined by a spinner or cards). This trend determines the clothing items that you want to have in your wardrobe. Anything clothing that you have that is not relevant to the trend (potentially excluding some staple clothing items), goes to the landfill. Eventually the landfill will just pile up with a lot of clothing items and it will represent some of the environmental implications of fast fashion. More of the ethics of fast fashion could also be implemented into the game play. This game is to persuade people not to fall victim to fast fashion microtrends and try not to support companies like Shein.
  4. Toxic Friends – A game about toxic friends where you are in toxic relationships where it is impacting your ability to thrive in the game. You have to recognize these bad relationships and you have to cut them off in order to be able 2 succeed further in the game however there may be some implications when you cut these friends off for instance they might blackmail you but in the end cutting them off is probably going to be more of a benefit then something hurting. The persuasion element of this is for players to assess the relationships IRL and not to stay with the people that are harming you more than benefiting you. 
  5. Art Activism – A game to persuade people that art can be a powerful tool for social causes and activism. This could be a board game where you must fight for a particular social cause and strategically use artwork to do that. The game could include real examples of art with a social purpose like Picasso’s Guernica, the Mexican Muralist movement, some of Banksy’s work, etc. Some of the mechanics could include conducting research and collecting art materials.
  6. Golf Course Game – This game would be to persuade people that golf courses are environmentally taxing in numerous ways. The game could include elements of real golf where players have to putt a golf ball, but the longer you take to get the ball in the hole, the more your character begins to take note of some of the destruction around you (deforestation, water/fertilizer/pesticide runoff, etc.). 
  7. Earth Day – A game for younger children about Earth Day and teaching them the importance of caring about the Earth and taking care of it. This could be based on my children’s book that I wrote. 
  8. Mindful Energy Consumption (idea from last semester) – Game to conserve the most energy on campus – Chatham University did a game like this a few years back, promoting sustainability and energy conservation. It was a competition between floors in a dorm building to see who could conserve the most energy per floor. Because of the way the buildings were set up, they could go in and see per floor how much energy was being consumed. There was also some incentive like a prize for the floor to win. I also believe they had social media accounts or an online tracker set up so that the floors could see their progress and communicate with other floors. One issue with this was that some students, especially those who didn’t like their CA, would try to sabotage the results of other floors, constantly turning on lights. One benefit of this was that the school was able to recognize that students weren’t using their ovens (I believe) enough and they were removed from the dorms. This also helps eliminate unnecessary energy consumption and makes students realize the difference turning off and unplugging certain things can make.
    1. For RMU to employ this, I think that it would need to be a competition between the different residence buildings and not particular floors. I think that would help to eliminate people sabotaging other floors in the same building. This would also have to have a time limit; for instance, 1 week (A good week would maybe be the week of Earth Day??). Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about how to measure energy consumption to say for certain how the results would be tracked, especially in RMU’s system. There would, however, need to be a really good prize to encourage students to actually participate. 
    2. New idea – Maybe have this be a digital game where online users compete to have lowest energy consumption. It would likely require a lot of honesty as people would have to manually report how much energy they are consuming. It could also just be roughly calculated by people reporting how much they use a certain thing in their house. 

Game about Green Final Disposition – In this game, you own and operate a funeral home and service place that is trying it’s hardest to be eco-friendly. You will have multiple options for final disposition for the deceased and must convince their living relatives to opt for more eco friendly options. It becomes even more tricky because you don’t want to disrespect someone’s dying wishes or disrespect the family’s processing of death. There could be a CO2 tracker to show how much with each deceased person as well as other key environmental factors. Some of the methods that would be included would be green burial, traditional burial, alkaline hydrolysis, human composting, and cremation. This would be to persuade people that environmental factors should be considered when making a decision about what you want to happen to your body when you’re gone.

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Week 2 Reading Response

  • what advergames have you played? did they influence a purchase?
    •  I’m not sure if I actually played the games but Bazooka candy brands (they make push-pops, ring pops, juicy drop pops, etc) has a site where you can play numerous games featuring their products. I remembered hearing about this as a kid. Back then, it probably wouldn’t have influenced a purchased but I might have asked someone else to buy it for me.
    •  Similarly, I’ve also played the M&M Kart Racing on the Wii, which probably made me want to eat M&Ms as a small child; however, I’m not sure if that tactic would work on me now. I also played Minion Rush, the Temple Run like game, but I’m not sure that convinced me to want to watch the movies, I likely played because of the movie. 
    • Another game I’m not sure counts is Bring Me the Horizon’s Scream Star. This game is a generic rhythm game but it connects to Spotify to stream their newest album. The game essentially just tries to get you to listen to their new album more than anything. I wouldn’t say that this influenced a purchase but probably made me stream the album a little bit more. 
    • A few years back, the Olympics also had their own games on Google and you could go around and play a lot of the different Olympic sports and compete with others across the world. I think that this was encouraging people to watch and support the Olympics. I loved the game but I don’t think I ended up watching the Olympics. 
  • why do the advergames tooth protector and escape work? What makes chase the chuckwagon and shark bait fail?
    • Tooth Protector and Escape have deeper meaning embedded into the game rather than just creating a game to try to sell more of a product. In Tooth Protector, it actually taught children the importance and process of maintaining good oral health and it even made it seem that having sweets or junkfood at one time is not the end of the world. You used Johnson & Johnson products to protect and take care of the teeth. This also made the game better because it situated the products in a manner where it provides a solution to a problem, one that can be applied to real life at the same time. Escape’s deeper meaning is that the game is found only by pressing the escape button on Google, which people are likely to only do if they are in a stressful situation and bored out of their minds. The mountain bike brand that the game is by offers an escape from daily troubles, very much like the game. 
    • On the other hand, Chase the Chuckwagon was just trying to get kids to convince their parents to buy the Purina dog food so they could get the game and there was really no reason other than that. It didn’t really seem like it had much of a purpose other than to sell more dog food. Like Chase the Chuckwagon, McDonald’s Shark Bait game also has nothing to do with the product that is being advertised, Fish Filet sandwiches, and it was merely trying to get people to know that McDonald’s has them all year round, but the gameplay was not related. 
  • what does volvo’s drive for life accomplish? Volvo’s Drive for Life demonstrates one of the key features of Volvo cars—their safety—and turns it into a game. The game allows you to drive three different Volvo cars and you can test them out with and without the safety features. This demonstrates what Volvo’s safety actually does in a way that is more understandable, interactive, and fun than statistics and test videos. It also allows users to drive the cars in somewhat realistic scenarios unlike standard racing games and it helps demonstrate Volvo’s traffic safety as well. 
  • what company used in-advergame advertising? Bed Bath and Beyond was advertised in the Dodge Stow n’ Go Challenge game. 
  • what was one if the first home-console advergames and what beverage was it for? Kool-Aid Man on the Atari by General Foods. 
  • what makes the toilet training game sophisticated and do you agree? Ian Boogost argues that the toilet training game is sophisticated not just because of its mechanics, but because of its ability to portray drunkenness in one manner—that is having to relieve yourself. It takes one product feature of J2O and amplifies it. It almost offers a realistic experience. I suppose I would agree with this statement. The game directly relates to the product and the product is seen as a “hero” or “solution” that makes this game effective. 

what do advergames and anti-advergames have in common, and what principles do they share? They both are trying to persuade people, but in different ways. One is to persuade people not to support a company or product and the other is the exact opposite. Bogost says “Even though such games seem to contradict the goals of advergames that promote rather than depose, both types actually share fundamental principles: they demonstrate claims about the function (or dysfunction) of products and services, giving the player a first-person account of how the features and functions of those products and services intersect with his wants and needs” (p. 230).

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Week 2 Game Thoughts and Reviews

McDonald’s Game

  • Was it fun? Yes, despite the darker message of the game overall, it is kind of a fun game to see how far you can make it without becoming bankrupt. 
  • What were the player interactions? While you weren’t interacting with other players, the player is able to interact with the game by controlling all of the different sectors of McDonald’s, including the pasture, the slaughterhouse, the restaurant, and the corporate side. You can place cows and grow pastures, kill cows, hire people, etc. 
  • How long did it take to learn? While the general mechanics of the game are fairly simple, there are a lot of little parts to this game that make it take a little longer to learn. It also didn’t help that there were 30 pages in the tutorial alone. After the first few rounds of watching the game and playing it, I then really started to learn the game. 
  • Would you play it again? I think I would but probably not for an extended period of time. It gets frustrating because it is very difficult to not become bankrupt. 
  • Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. The first act begins when you first load up the game and you begin placing your first plots of cows and soy. You need to also hire people to work at the restaurant and make sure that your cows go to the slaughterhouse. The second act begins when you sort of start to develop a strategy for moving the cows through the McDonald’s cycle. You start to replace cows when they get killed and you may need to kill some yourself if they become disease-ridden. You may also start to implement some of the different marketing strategies in the corporate setting. I found myself in the second act partaking in more of the shady business practices like using GMOs in my crops and giving my cows some special stuff. I also deforested and relocated people. The third act is when you start to significantly lose money to the point where you cannot recover and you bankrupt McDonald’s. 
  • What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? This game is a single-player game so there aren’t really competitive or collaborative aspects to the game, although it is like a competition between you (operator of McDonald’s) and the rest of the world. 
  • What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The game’s metaphor is about the unethical business practices of McDonald’s. It calls out a lot of McDonald’s shady practices with trying to make money off cheap burgers including environmental concerns, health concerns, etc. One of the standout game mechanics for me is how I had to kill a cow if it became sick and it torched them. It was a little cruel. I also was shocked when I had a bunch of cow skeletons in my pasture and then was totally unable to use the land. 

Intergroup Monopoly

  • Was it fun? Yes, I always enjoy playing Monopoly; however I think that I would have liked it more had I been one of the 1% players. 
  • What were the player interactions? Like normal Monopoly, players had to pay each other rent when landing on propers, give each other money based on some of the special community chest cards, the 1% player could buy others’ properties from them, etc. 
  • How long did it take to learn? Since I went in already knowing how to play normal monopoly, this version didn’t take very long at all. Some of the little special rules were hard to immediately catch on to, so we just kept referring back to them. 
  • Would you play it again? Probably not under these rules. I will definitely play normal Monopoly again and appreciate the symbolism of this version, but for just the purposes of playing a game out of enjoyment, the game is too unfair to want to play again. 
  • Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. The 3 act structure is very similar to the 3 act structure of normal Monopoly. The first act begins during the setup of the game. For this edition, we had to decide the “roles” of each player. To decide this, we just rolled the dice and whoever got the highest numbers were the more “ideal” roles. I dealt out the money to the players, with the 1% player getting significantly more money and properties than all of the other players. The white men played under normal rules and the females and minorities played with even less perks and properties. After this initial setup, the players began to take their first few turns, moving across the board. Players, depending on their role and opportunity to, began to buy the first properties. 
  • What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? 
  • What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? 

Pepsi Man Thoughts

I actually really like the idea of this game. Even though the mechanics are simple and the gameplay doesn’t really have much to do with Pepsi, something about the game is just so charming to me. It’s fun, silly, and makes me think nicely of the Pepsi brand. I know some Pepsi fanatics that would probably love this game now. Will this game convince me to drink Pepsi? No. I’m not sure anything could get me to drink that. 

Sneak King Thoughts

This game does seem fun. I’m a little bit confused by the premise of the game and why you would want the king to seem like a sneaky criminal, but it still looks like something that I could enjoy playing, especially with the silly animation style. Would this make me hungry for a Burger King burger? Honestly, if I was hungry enough, it might convince me to get one, but probably only if I was starving. 

Chex Quest Thoughts

This actually looks like a somewhat solid game, but the premise as it relates to Chex Mix is a little weird, but I think that’s okay. It looks more fun than what I would imagine a Chex Mix game being like and I like the character designs. I could see my younger brother enjoying this and as a child, he might use that as justification to get my mom to buy him Chex Mix. For adults however, I don’t think that Chex Quest is going to do enough to make people go out and buy it unless you are a pre established Chex Mix consumer. The idea of this game does me think a little bit better of the Chex Mix brand, since they are willing to put effort into making a high quality game. I would play this game with friends once, just to experience it because it is a silly concept. 

M&M Kart Racing Thoughts

I haven’t seen this game in years. I definitely was reminded of how terrible the gameplay and mechanics are, and it confirms to me that I wasn’t just really bad at it as a kid (although that was probably a factor too). Although the gameplay has little to do with M&Ms, if I recall correctly, it was still effective to me as a kid as a method of persuasion to buy M&Ms. I think it might just be my love for M&Ms though. If I wasn’t already a committed consumer, I’m not sure how well this game would convince me to get M&Ms. I really wish I still had this on the Wii to experience how bad it is again. 

America’s Army Thoughts

I don’t like the idea of this game at all. I am already not the biggest first person shooter game fan, but I especially don’t like that this one is glorifying war and the US military. It feels like propaganda to try to get young males to join the military and doesn’t address any of the negative aspects of the experience. Also, you are generally playing a game for entertainment purposes and this is making it seem like killing people in a real life war would be too? That just doesn’t sit right with me. Despite that, if this game is well-done, I think it could be effective to convince some people to join the military. Do I agree with that? No, but I don’t think that the military is necessarily known for their ethics. 

Cool Spot Thoughts

This game is also charming to me! I think that it’s really fun that you play as the 7Up Spot. The only thing is I think that the music would get annoying after having to restart a level so many times, but it is still a cute game. I don’t think that this game would persuade me to drink 7Up. It just might make the brand seem more “fun” if anything. 

Vote!!!

  • Was it fun? Yes, despite it being somewhat repetitive and more educational, I enjoyed it. 
  • What were the player interactions? While you weren’t interacting with other players in the game, you had to interact with the different candidates running for office in the general election by asking them questions at debates. 
  • How long did it take to learn? Almost instantly. This game was super simple to learn and it walked you through every step. 
  • Would you play it again? No, probably not. This game took too long and was a little too educational for me to want to play more than once. 
  • Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. In the first act and when you open up the game, you cast a vote at the general election, but you are uninformed so it makes you go back home and start to become an informed voter by using different apps. You start to collect information about the different candidates by using these apps and attending town meetings or debates. The second act would be when you start to form an idea of who the different candidates are and whose policies line up with your values. You are still conducting research on the candidates, but you are starting to form a more cohesive picture of the candidates. The third act is when you know who you are voting for and it is finally election day. You cast your vote and you see who won the election. (I’m pretty sure the people that win are always the people that you vote for). 
  • What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? While this is a single player game so it’s not collaborative or competitive in the traditional sense, I wouldn’t really call this a competitive game by any means. It’s more of just going through a storyline of the voting process and there isn’t anything to really say that you “won”.  
  • What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The game’s metaphor is about becoming an informed voter and performing your civic duties. The standout mechanic for me was being able to ask the candidates questions directly at the townhall meetings. I found that it was the best way to gather information from the candidates and the quickest. 
  • Overall, this seems like a pretty good game, especially for a social studies/history class in high school. Honestly I think that the long length of the game was helpful to make the voting process seem more like a continuous educated process rather than researching the night before the election. The game was a little slow but it was effective at what it was trying to accomplish. 
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Other thoughts on games played in class

Painstation 

Painstation reminds me of a more intense version of those games where you would need to hold a metal stick thingy and it would randomly shock a player until everyone was eliminated. I like to think that I would play Painstation if I had an opportunity to, but I’m such a wimp about everything I probably wouldn’t if I saw someone else get hurt playing it. I never even played that shocking game because I was scared. I definitely know some people who would play this game now and it would be super entertaining, but I think some people could take it too far. 

Getting Over it

I had never seen or played Getting Over It until now. I think I would enjoy watching other people play it, but I don’t even know if I would want to attempt to play it myself. I think that I would be really bad at it and I don’t want to experience the frustration.

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Townscaper Review

  • Was it fun? Yes, this game is fun and relaxing. I enjoy being able to freely design my own town even with the limited mechanics. The best part is the noises that it makes when you add a section to your town. 
  • What were the player interactions? This game doesn’t really have any player interactions. 
  • How long did it take to learn? Like a minute MAX. This game is very simple, it is just clicking to place something and holding to remove something. You also have the choice to change the colors of the sections you add,. There are a few features that you are able to change that I didn’t notice at first—including changing the angle of the light source and adding a grid to better visualize where you place buildings. 
  • Would you play it again? Yes, I would. This isn’t the kind of game where I would spend hours upon hours captivated by it, but it is something I will definitely revisit when I’m having difficulty sleeping or am stressed. 
  • Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. The 3 act structure of the game is difficult to determine as this is a game that is very much play at your own pace and quit at anytime you decide. However, I would say that the first act begins as you load up the first world and begin placing and taking away buildings and “blocks”. The second act would often include when you start developing a “plan” to create the city that you want and you get ideas of how you can use the different combinations of building heights and colors to create something unique. The third act would be when you decide that your build is worthy of being “completed” or want to restart and begin a new town. 
  • What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? This game doesn’t really have specific collaborative or competitive aspects since it is a single player game. 
  • What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The game’s metaphor is that you are the “builder” and designer of a town in the middle of the ocean. The standout mechanic to me is the ability to change the way that your town looks by changing the color or light source angle. I also like how when you put certain buildings next to each other, they automatically combine and make unique shaped buildings. I particularly like making balconies. 
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Week 1 Questions and Reviews

Week 1 Questions

  • What are the issues Ian Bogost raises about social games with Cow Clicker? In this article, Bogost specifically lists 4 issues that he has with social games—enframing, compulsion, optionalism, and destroyed time. Enframing is basically like turning your friends and family into a resource that can be exploited by both you and the game developer. For compulsion, Bogost claims that social games prey on humanity’s compulsiveness and how we can easily become obsessed with something, such as a game like Cow Clicker or FarmVille. Optionalism is something that Bogost explains is having the option to actually “play” the game. FarmVille is based on waiting on crops, but you can get rid of that part by just spending your real money. You don’t really have to do much to actually advance in the game. Finally, Bogost claims that social games destroy your time as there isn’t really an objective, it is an endless cycle of playing a rather meaningless game that makes you feel bad when you stop playing it. 
  • How do social games like FarmVille enframe friends? Social games like FarmVille enframe friends by getting you to invite friends to the game so that you can get certain perks or more resources in the game to your benefit. In fact, Bogost states in the article, “In social games, friends aren’t really friends; they are mere resources”. This also helps get more people into the game, it helps build a network that can make the game become “viral”. 
  • How do social games destroy time outside of the game? Social games are neverending, and so, essentially, an infinite amount of time could be spent playing them. Bogost says, “Social games so covet our time that they abuse us while we are away from them, through obligation, worry, and dread over missed opportunities.” Anytime spent away from the game is time wasted where you could be increasing your level on the game, and increasing your progress. It doesn’t help if it is on a game such as Facebook, you can also see some of your friends’ levels and achievements, which may make you feel bad for stepping away from the game.

Bang! Game Review Part 2  

  • Was it fun? Replaying Bang was so much fun, although I played with my family and it took them a little bit to get a hang of the rules and mechanics. It also sucks because I was the first one out, but I still really enjoyed watching them play and rooting for the other outlaws to follow through. 
  • What were the player interactions? Players put other players in jail, shot them, commenced duels, as well as stole cards from each other and forced others to discard cards. My favorite player interaction is when we kept passing around the dynamite to see if anyone would blow up. 
  • How long did it take to learn? Since I was just replaying this game from playing in class the first time, it didn’t take me very long to relearn the rules. Even playing a second time, however, I would say that it was still a little bit of a learning curve to get to know all of the different cards and special rules (like being able to drink beer when you take a fatal hit). For my family, my mom and brother seemed to catch on to the basic rules and mechanics very quickly. My dad, however, found the game kind of confusing, especially with all of the different cards (he would much prefer a game like UNO). 
  • Would you play it again? Yes, I received this game as a Christmas gift because I loved it in class so much. I just need to find enough players!!
  • Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. The first act of the game begins during the setup of the game, including receiving a role and character. Players take their first few turns, each drawing 2 cards each turn, taking any number of actions they wish, and discarding cards. The second act commences as the game picks up speed, when players begin to devise and understand who they may want to “go after” and take shots at them. The third act is when the game is dwindling down, either 2 people are essentially standing off to see who will win, or a key player, like the sheriff, is close to taking a critical hit. The game officially ends when the sheriff dies or is the last one left standing. 
  • What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? This game has both competitive and collaborative elements. The collaborative element comes from the fact that some players have shared goals, for instance, both outlaws and the renegade want to kill the sheriff, but it’s also competitive because it’s every man for himself and you don’t necessarily know each other’s roles. 
  • What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? Bang’s metaphor is that you are set in the wild west and you are essentially playing as a character from that world. The sheriff wants to keep law and order, the renegade wants to take the sheriff’s place in the town, and the outlaws want to kill the sheriff. The mechanic that stands out the most to me are the unique character abilities that allow you special advantages throughout the game. 

The Graveyard Game Review  

  • Was it fun? I’m not sure if I would call it fun, but more or less intriguing. I liked the aesthetics of the game because it kind of looked like an old black and white film, but there wasn’t much substance to the game overall. But it was still interesting to see if anything exciting would happen (although I presume if I played anything other than the trial version it would be a little more exciting, because apparently it includes death). 
  • What were the player interactions? You can move the old lady in a straight line through the graveyard (very slowly) and have her sit on a bench.
  • How long did it take to learn? Not very long at all because I just had to move her in a straight line and wait for her to sit on the bench, plus the game had instructions that told me to do just that. 
  • Would you play it again? It depends. I think I would try out the non trial version if someone else bought it for me, but I’m not going to spend my own money to see this lady die. 
  • Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. (This may differ because I only played the trial version.) The first act starts when you enter the graveyard where you will see the title sequence and you just slowly make your way to the bench that is illuminated at the end of the path. The second act would be once you sit down on the bench you get a close up shot of this old lady presumingly reflecting on the gravestones around her and the concept of death. She points out how some other people there have died and she wishes that the next time she visits the graveyard she will “stay for longer”. You could choose to stay there as long as you like, but the song is only a few minutes long. You can choose to wander around the graveyard if you really want, but there’s not really many places you can move to, the game sort of beckons you to the bench. The third act would be exiting the graveyard and ending the game when you desire. In the non trial version, I presume that this act would also include the lady dying. 
  • What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? This game isn’t really competitive or collaborative, it is more of just following a story. 
  • What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The game’s metaphor is about an old lady who visits the graveyard and she reflects on death and almost wishes for it herself. Since there really aren’t many mechanics, the most standout mechanic is that when you are positioned with your back to the bench, she will eventually decide to sit down. 
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Endless Game Ideas – Amber, Sara, Beck

  • Plant growing
    • Never ending cycle with propagation
    • Video game or IRL
  • Mark off the people who die in your yearbook until either you die or everyone else dies
  • Endlessly decorating your room (always buying new things, seasons, etc.)
    • This could be a video game too, keep buying and decorating your room
  • Some kind of merging game 
  • Layering clothing game until it essentially fills up the whole screen
  • Buying a hamster, dies in a weird way, get a new hamster video game
  • Squirrel endless falling game, avoid branches
  • Game where you add tiles, take away, and rearrange tiles
    • Maybe where you make an artwork 
  • Tabletop game where you have a canvas where you just keep taking turns building an artwork
  • Neverending grading simulator 
  • Just mixing paint colors
  • Blowing out birthday candles every year, you just keep gaining more and more 
  • Fill a bowl of rice, constant clicking 
  • Making a sauce, with other sauces and ingredients and keep adding ingredients forever but still trying to get it to taste good
    • Based on Good Mythical Morning 
    • Could be a video game 
    • Mixing potions in the bathtub with a million soaps and perfumes 
  • Couch just keeps accumulating toys
  • Endlessly changing your hair
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Questions from Book

  • Question Set 1
    • What is the difference between a “working” and a “display” prototype? A working prototype is “…intended for evaluation by playtesters and potential publishers” and display prototypes have “… finished art and components, intended for the eyes of distributors or chain buyers” (p. 108). Display prototypes are solely focused on aesthetics and may not even have finished rules. 
    • What is required of a working prototype, and what might cause one to fail? A working prototype must include everything needed to play the game, not include anything that hasn’t been thoroughly tested, be solely about the gameplay, playable, legible, and user-friendly. In general, if you don’t follow these rules, your working prototype may fail. 
    • What makes for a good prototype according to Dale Yu? You should try to make a good first impression, with a clean and nice design (doesn’t need to be totally finalized, obviously). Everything needed to play the game should be there and organized neatly. 
    • What advice from Richard Levy will help you pitch your game? Pitch yourself first before you pitch your game, come prepared and do your homework, get to know the company you’re pitching your game to, don’t let rejection deter you, don’t have a too big or too small ego, recognize the chances are very low but not impossible, know the selling seasons, submit multiple submissions, be careful with agents and marketing companies, have a good prototype and branding 
    • Where might you pitch your game? Mass market game publishers such as Hasbro, speciality game publishers, etc.
    • What do publishers look for in a game? According to Michelle Nephew, publishers are looking for a fun game, minimized set up time and rules, strategy, an interesting theme, an immersive experience, themes and rules relate, good rules and mechanics, inventive rules and components, easy to make components, compatible with the publisher’s other games, right target market, a good title, potential for expansions, can be made in multiple languages, easy for demos, and is collectible only when necessary. 
    • What makes a good set of Rules? A good set of rules should include lots of subheadings, including items such as, overview, components, setup, gameplay, card types, end game and winning, examples/other variations, and credits. 
  • Question Set 2
    • Describe the best game you’ve made this semester in 200 words? Follow Michelle Nephew’s outline.
    • Garden Sabotage! Is a competitive game about curating flower gardens and sabotaging others with bugs. Just when you think you are close to completing an objective with a plot of flowers, a bug may come and eat something! The game is intended for players 10 and up and gameplay is about 30-45 minutes long. 
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Rotten to the Core (collab game) Playtest with Laura 

Game Maker’s Play Tests Notes

This test I modified the rules a little bit to have it so that once you obtain 3 investigation cards, you can roll again to see if you can frame another player. That player had an opportunity to refute this and could roll to reject it or not. 

  • What questions did your players have? She had questions about how the investigation cards worked; like if you can pick which one to pawn off on another player. 
  • How quickly did they learn to play? She learned how to play the game almost instantly. 
  • What kinds of interactions did the players have? Pawning off investigation cards to each other and trying to reject the ones that were pawned off. 
  • What confused players? The investigation card mechanics were confusing, but that was mainly because this was an experimental test. 
  • What made players excited? The card art, the funny scenarios, and flipping through the decomposition booklet. 
  • What did your players enjoy doing? Flipping through the decomposition booklet, having the opportunity to frame other players and block other players’ attempts to frame you. 
  • Did any aspect of the game frustrate players? Being unlucky and accumulating so many investigation cards. 

Player Questions (mine)

  • What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? There was no point in even picking up the Fungi or Bug cards when you land on Snowy on the spinner, because they aren’t worth any points. If you landed on Snowy and also rolled Fungi or Bug then, it was a waste of time with no points earned. 
  • What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I think our game is super cute. I enjoyed framing with the investigation cards.
  • Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I can’t quite articulate it, but I wanted the experience with the investigation cards to be better
  • If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Make the investigation cards not mean so much if you are going to win or lose the game
  • What should be improved with the next version? work on the framing and investigation cards some more, maybe reconsider the end of the game
  • Describe the game in 3 words. adorable, dark, bugs!

Some takeways and ideas

  • Change the pt values on the cards so they aren’t identical to the spinner and maybe add some more variety among the cards with the pt values
  • Include the dice logos on the backs of the cards
  • Fix the coloring on the scale, and also fix the spaces because they are uneven
  • Maybe experiment with some dark and grimy colors
  • Make colors more distinguishable on the point scale
  • Maybe make specific cards that are just for framing other players
  • Maybe add another way to get rid of the investigation cards
  • Maybe just go back pts on the scale anyway 
  • Maybe everyone goes to 50 pts and then everyone can subtract their pts from the investigation cards 

Next Playtest Ideas

  • Everyone goes until 50 pts and THEN subtract their points 
  • Allow people to frame other people with the investigation cards at any time when they pick one up (and it has to be the one they just picked up) 
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Game Documentation – The Lamp

Rules Version 1 

The Lamp RulesDownload

Rules Version 2 

The Lamp Rules Version 2 (1)Download

Changes Made in This Version:

  • Clarify that when you choose not to roll anymore you cannot change your mind and go back into the game
  • Allow players to move backward by playing a trading post card, giving it more functionality 
  • Added an area on the board where the light stays on at given point in time

Temporary Gaming Marathon Rules (didn’t end up playing it though)

Gaming Marathon – The Lamp Rules Version 2Download

Changes Made in This Version:

  • Created more opportunities to buy lights at the trading post, when you land OR pass a trading post space you could shop for some lights (that way I didn’t have to redesign the board entirely)

Future Changes 

  • Explore more opportunities where players will move backwards, such as when the light is off or when someone plays a trading post card
  • Create more ways to earn points
  • Change the shape of the board path a little bit
  • Maybe incorporate action dies or cards that affect turns 
  • Add more opportunities for player interaction
  • Add 1,2,3,4 on the back of the survival achievement cards 
  • Make sure that next time I have the ON and OFF dice instead of a 1-6 die, like I originally intended
  • Include reminders on the board itself to let players know what the number on the die means for collecting orbs
  • Make the board bigger
  • Create more opportunities to collect trading post cards 
  • Add functions to the trading post cards that allow you to distract players with the new light source
  • Design my own graphics for some of the cards that I used placeholder stock imagery and AI generated photos
  • Get some little moth player tokens made

Thoughts and Lessons Learned from Playtesting

  • From playtesting this game, I feel as though I have a lot of work to do to make this game the quality I want it to be. I need to work on the shape of the paths on the board as well as other mechanics for making the moths wander away from the lamp when it is not on. I also learned that players really liked being able to turn on and off the little lamp while playtesting, and generally seemed to like the game’s graphics. I would like to further refine this game one day as well, as I feel it is not too overcomplicated and is an original game idea. However, I probably won’t make any major changes to this game throughout the rest of this semester. 

Photos 

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Garden Sabotage Documentation

Rule Set 1 

Garden Sabotage RulesDownload

Rule Set 2 

Garden Sabotage Rules Version 2Download

The changes that I made from the first version to this version include:

  • adding the pesticide cards as a tangible form to get rid of the bugs
  • Making good bug cards worth more since they are so rare in the deck as well as adding more
  • Adding a Golden Watering Can card that gives the first player to reach 5 objective cards more points
  • Making it 5 cards to trigger the final round instead of 7
  • Clarifying some areas of the rules, particularly with discarding cards, the amount of plants you can plant in your garden per turn, and what plant is eaten by a bug
  • Adding the option to dig up the plants in your garden 
  • Action reminder cards that you can refer to throughout the game
  • Incorporated a game board into the rules that would have specific places for the cards so that it doesn’t get confusing 

Future Changes

  • Actually design the game board with the different spots for the cards, making the setup easier and adding to the game’s aesthetics
  • Maybe add a spot for the bug cards on the player mats
  • Get rid of the two face-up bug cards, as it makes it too easy to sabotage and get exactly the bug card you want
  • Clarify and simplify the rules further. For instance, clarifying the pesticide rules and that the order you lay down your cards on the player mat doesn’t matter. 
  • Design my cards myself, by hand, instead of the placeholder AI generated art (most likely a stippling style, undecided if I would do color or not)
  • Add names on the backs of the cards so that the stacks of cards are more easily identifiable or adding the name on the game board itself 
  • Add more instructions on the cards themselves (like what happens with a bug card or pesticide card)
  • Add point values onto the good bug cards so players don’t just need to refer to the rules
  • Maybe have a way to protect certain plants/flowers in your garden
  • Maybe rename the plant cards to be flower cards?

Thoughts and Lessons Learned From Playtesting

  • I learned a lot from playtesting this game. I realized that there is a need to clarify and simplify some the rules more. I thought I had a pretty solid set of rules until it was playtested and the group didn’t really understand it. 
  • Along with that, I also learned that I really needed to distill some of the information for players since the game is complicated with the amount of actions you can take on each turn. This is why I created the action reminder cards.
  • I thought that the players generally seemed to have a pretty good time playing this game. The player’s interaction with sabotaging others’ gardens with bugs was a mechanic that players really seemed to like. 
  • I would like to continue refining this game at some point, but I likely will do that in the future, but not too much more during this class. I think that it is a pretty solid game idea and I have a lot of the rules and mechanics worked out to the way I want them to be, but I feel as though this isn’t the most original idea for a game. However, I think this game has a lot of potential for the design aspect of it, and I am really really into drawing bugs and plants lately. 

Details and Photos of the Game:

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Garden Sabotage Playtest at Gaming Marathon 

Game Maker’s Play Tests Notes #1

  • What questions did your players have? Not really any 
  • How quickly did they learn to play? Pretty quickly, but there are a lot of little rules and different actions that make it more difficult. I was able to explain the rules faster than it would have taken to learn. 
  • What kinds of interactions did the players have? Playing bad bugs on each other, trying to prevent each other from reaching 5 objective cards first. 
  • What confused players? A little bit of confusion with how the pesticide works 
  • What made players excited? Being able to play a bug card, complete objectives, etc. 
  • What did your players enjoy doing? Same thing
  • Did any aspect of the game frustrate players? Not having any protection over the plants that you have. They could be eaten at any time. 

Player Questions #1 

  • What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Being sabotaged with bugs and losing a plant you planted 
  • What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? Sweeping the plant cards, sabotaging with bugs. 
  • Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? Have protection for my plants with the pesticide 
  • If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Magically hand draw every illustration 
  • What should be improved with the next version? Specify that you can play the cards in any order, it doesn’t need to be the order that’s on the card. 
  • Describe the game in 3 words. Strategic, competitive, cute 

Potential Changes

  • Design the game board to look like plant pots, shelves, or a greenhouse maybe
  • Clarify that when dealing cards to players you take it from the top of the pile and not the reserve 
  • Have names on the back of the cards 
  • Have more instructions on the cards themselves
  • Have a protection over bugs being placed in your garden 
  • Clarify pesticide rules
  • Don’t have the two faceup bugs because it makes it too easy 
  • Clarify that you can lay down your cards in any order on your player mat
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Rotten to the Core Playtests and Game Maker’s Notes

Game Maker’s Play Tests Notes #1

  • What questions did your players have? I don’t think the players really had any questions. They understood this game fairly well. 
  • How quickly did they learn to play? The players learned how to play very quickly, because it has pretty simple mechanics. 
  • What kinds of interactions did the players have? The interactions between players weren’t really a result of any mechanics but players had fun pointing out who was the most suspicious when they kept landing on investigation. 
  • What confused players? Some of the cards didn’t make the most sense due to some of our mistakes in creating the cards. For instance, some of the cards made you gain points on the decomposition scale, but in reality, they wouldn’t have really sped up decomposition. 
  • What made players excited? I think the story behind it made players the most excited. I think the first paragraph really set the scene for what the game was about and they began to imagine the scenarios of how they murdered their victims. 
  • What did your players enjoy doing? Players enjoyed flipping their booklets and looking at the cute illustrations
  • Did any aspect of the game frustrate players? I think it was frustrating to some players to roll Investigation so many times because it was a guaranteed loss of points. 

Player Questions #1 

  • What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? There was no point in even picking up the Fungi or Bug cards when you land on Snowy on the spinner, because they aren’t worth any points. If you landed on Snowy and also rolled Fungi or Bug then, it was a waste of time with no points earned. 
  • What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I think the game is really cute and enjoyed spinning the spinner and flipping the booklet when I moved onto the next stage of decomposition. 
  • Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I wanted there to be more interaction with the decomposition booklets. Like maybe the bug and fungi cards directly interacted with each other. 
  • If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Create more interactivity with the decomposition booklets besides just flipping the page; how to do that, I’m not sure. 
  • What should be improved with the next version? Add the possibility of framing other players when you roll Investigation. 
  • Describe the game in 3 words. Cute, sustainable murderers

Game Maker’s Play Tests Notes #2

  • What questions did your players have? I don’t really think the players had many questions
  • How quickly did they learn to play? Very quickly
  • What kinds of interactions did the players have? In this test, players could frame each other once they obtained 3 investigation cards if they rolled investigation on the die one more time. 
  • What confused players? The mechanics for framing other players were a little bit confusing, but that was mainly because it was a mechanic quickly thrown in. 
  • What made players excited? I wouldn’t say that anything particularly excited the players, but the opportunity to frame other players potentially did. They also liked how cute the game is. 
  • What did your players enjoy doing? The players enjoyed flipping the booklets. 
  • Did any aspect of the game frustrate players? It was frustrating landing on snowy on the spinner because of the lack of points it gives or landing on investigation so often because you lost points. 

Player Questions #2

  • What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Landing on investigation so many times. 
  • What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I liked having the opportunity to frame other players this time. 
  • Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I still think it would be a good idea to have more interaction with the booklets. 
  • If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Make the booklets feel more necessary, more player interaction and interaction between the different game elements. 
  • What should be improved with the next version? More interaction with the booklets, build the framing into the mechanics a little bit better. 
  • Describe the game in 3 words. Love the creators

Ideas & Potential Things to Change

  • Change the points earned when it is snowy and you pick up a bug card or fungi card. I think sometimes the points could be 0 for both scenarios, but it shouldn’t be that anytime you roll bugs or mushrooms and land on snowy, it is a wasted turn
  • Maybe add type of the decomposition stages to the tombstone 
  • Add and smooth out mechanics to frame another player
  • Maybe add an inter-circle that has a humidity dimension that also alters the bodily decomposition
    • This could maybe be a multiplier?
  • Change the random events card about the children digging up the body because it just doesn’t make sense
    • Probably just get rid of it and replace it with a different scenario
  • Maybe add an event at the end of the game to hide the dried remains
  • Detachable body parts on the decomp booklets?
  • Operation like decomp booklets?
  • Add more interaction with the cards and the decomposition booklets
    • Maybe play the cards on the booklets?
  • Maybe add other faces of the die be things that aren’t cards or come up with another set of cards
  • Maybe have some spaces on the decomposition scale that make you do something, gain, or lose points?
  • Have a punishment for having a certain amount of investigation cards
    • Maybe you are taken in for questioning 
    • Maybe you go to court? Or jail?
    • Maybe you have to skip a turn 
  • Have some options for turn actions so people aren’t doing the same exact thing every turn
  • In the random events rules, remove the thing about having a scale for points
  • Decomposition booklet ideas
    • Maybe make the decomposition booklets a little smaller
    • Make the decomposition booklets flip more easily 
    • Make them clear with stickers
    • Make them like boxes
  • Maybe add some blush to the illustrations
    • Some think the illustrations could be gorier too 
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Strike Force Playtest

  • What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? At first, there was no reason for us to not just play all of our combat cards and almost kill the other players in one turn. I think there needs to be an opportunity for more strategic decisions. 
  • What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I liked the pixelated art style. Although this type of game isn’t my favorite, I could see it working for your target audience. 
  • Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I wanted to have a better way to keep track of my HP, rather than just keeping track of it on a piece of paper. I also wanted to have a store of ammo so that it isn’t just deciding how much ammo you want to use and it essentially means nothing because there was no penalty for running out. 
  • If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I would want a lot more strategy in the game.
  • What should be improved with the next version? A couple suggestions that I have, in addition to what I already mentioned, would be to include a 3, 2, 1 and then lay down the cards, a better way to keep track of bullets and ammo (physical bullets like in Bang?), make sure that the cards aren’t see-through. I would also work on some of the mechanics so that players can have more strategy. I wonder, too, if there are some fun physical elements that you can incorporate to enhance the experience, aside from the cards. 
  • Describe the game in 3 words. Competitive, team combat