Author: Meredith Berkheiser

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Week 3 Game Review

Games played:

Detroit Become Human:I have played this game previously, but I always sympathize with the game and the characters. By having the game be fpv, and your choices directly affect the character. For example, when we killed Todd (Alice’s dad) I didn’t feel sympathy because of his actions towards us (Kara) and Alice, hence us killing him felt justified. But with the interrogation between Connor and the android, I felt bad as there seemed to be motives and unfair treatment which lead to the murder. The game does a great job at making players sympathize with characters because of visuals, voice actors, and the choices.

Outer Wilds: While briefly playing the game, it seemed fun, due to the controls of the game, but it was difficult to play, at least for me. The brief part of the story I saw was that we were trapped in a time loop, trying to prevent something from happening. I figure if I could get into the story more, I would empathize with the story more, but personally, the controls are what ruined it for me.

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Week 3 Reading Questions

Reading questions:

  • 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?
    • She focuses on the idea that games can be a work of art and a piece of constructive content. Games can be used tyo learn something instead of just playing a game.
  • what is an activist game?
    • Games that are used to express social or other ethical issues, not just to play a game. There is more benefit to learning the purpose and reasoning of the game rather then just playing.
  • go and chess are examples of games that feature “perfect information”, what other games share that feature?
    • Uno, Candyland, and Monopoly would count, as all of their info is always available and on the game board.
  • why might chance or gambling games hold spiritual or religious importance to ancient cultures?
    • Life is also a gamble,so having games be a part of that is still a fact of life, or it could be used as a way to express risk and danger without the same issues.
  • when was the earliest battle between government/ religious groups and games? What modern games can you think of that have been banned or demonized?
    • I know Cards Against Humanity has had some issues, but really any game thats considered too vulgar or graphic can get banned
  • what is a fox game, and what would be a modern example?
    • Games that have unequal opponents, D&D can count as this, as one player always has the answers and the other doesnt
  • what was the purpose or intent of the game: Mansion of Happiness?
    • To encourage people to have these good ideas and dewsries in their hearts, which would encourage them to move on both in life and in the game
  • Why do artists from the Fluxus and Surealist movements play games? Why did Surealists believe games might help everyone?
    • They feel that games can help people open their eyes to new ideas and opportunities
  • Changes in what can signal profound changes in games? How were pinball games reskinned during WW2?
    • Changes in life, war, and anything that affects the world can change how games work. Pinball games were made to look like you were shooting and attacking the enemy, with racist images and slurs on it that reflected the US’s opinion during the war
  • What statements did Fluxus artists make by reskinning games like monopoly and ping pong?
    • They commented that world issues can be “played” and made aware of by the people using these games.
  • How are artists like Lilian Ball, Marcel Duchamp, Takako Saito, Yoko Ono, Gabriel Orozco and Ruth Catlowusing war games?
    • They make art that challenges and critiques current events, making their art feel war-like
  • Why is it important for players to have agency in a critical or serious game?
    • Then they can undsertand the game and its purpose, to see how these things are affecting others and how to fix it
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Week 3 Homework

Homework ideas/rules 

“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. Alone
    1. A game where you slime life as someone with depression. It would be a choose-your-own adventure, and you could recover or fall further. The goal of the game would be to show people how serious the experience can be
  2. Adoption
    1. Play as a pet in an adoption center. Learn to appeal to humans and try to get adopted. Allows people to feel sympathy for animals and focus on adopting and not “shopping” for pets
  3. Gaia
    1. Play as Mother Earth, who is dealing with the effects of humanity and how we are polluting the planet
  4. K-12
    1. You simulate a kid growing up in school from K-12, learning who they are as a person, and every choice you make affects how they graduate, or if they do
  5. Exploration
    1. You travel the land and choose what to destroy and preserve based on ancient civilizations.

Rules for a game from week 1:

Star Sailor!

The purpose of the game is to gather materials to keep exploring space. But will you destroy these newfound planets to keep exploring? Or will you fall into the void of space to keep the planets you stumble upon safe?

The goal of the game is to explore planets to gather resources, which can be used to explore further and collect pets and upgrades. Players can end the game whenever they choose, but the only limit is how many cards there are. (Basically infinite)

Basic Mechanics:

  • You fly in a ship, and each turn you pull a card to select what planet you land on
  • It costs resources to fly; either you can claim resources that are left on the planet, leave the planet alone, or destroy the planet for extra resources.
  • Players will have a mat in front of them that has resource sliders, a character icon/token, and spots to put planets they destroyed (so they can’t be visited again)
  • Players can use extra resources to get upgrades to travel to the most planets, or adopt pets!  
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Game Reviews: Monopoly, McDonald’s, and Cool Spot

Monopoly: For this version, we were separated into different social classes to change up the game. Was it fun? I mean I wasd the top 1%, so I was able to get all of the property, but I could tell that the other players were not. It was an interesting take to make the game more realaistic tyo how the modern world it, and to feel like what those billionaires feel like when spending, unaffected by those in lower incomes. I would still play Monopoly after this.

McDonald’s: Very sad when I had to kill the cows, but it’s overall pretty accurate in representing what corporations can go through to succeed. I kinda had fun? But I didn’t read the instructions at 1st, so it was harder, but after I read asbputy it,it was much easier.

Coolspot: Honeslty I wouldn’t have known this was a branded game unless I was told. It was genuinely fun to watch, I couldn’t play it as its discounited, but it looked like an enjoyable game, similar to the old Sonic games. However, it won’t convince me to drink 7-UP.

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Week 1 Questions: Game Design 2_MB

-Ian Bogost comments on how these games are essentially meaningless, repetitive, and have nothing to them. The point of these games is simply to have something to do, which makes them less engaging than they should be and gives other games bad names.

-“Friends” on these social games are tools for advancing and getting money. They allow you to trade currency and items in order to make yourself better, without having any real connection to these people.

-If a social game tells you “3 hours till next reward”, then the player is constantly waiting and anticipating those next three hours, causing a cycle of dependency on these games, which is very unhealthy. It can destory meaniningfdul moments by having the time be focused on a game.

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5 Game ideas that never end!

Group members- Sarah J, Meredith B, Andrew, Maria

  1. ‘Pire: lets you build and evolve an empire, and as natural disasters happen, the empire falls and keeps going, pick a time period.
  2. Antique-coon: A tycoon game that allows you to get more items as the years progress, there will be more and more items to sell, hence it never ends
  3. Star Sailor: A planet exploring simulator with randomly generated planets to explore and gather materials from
  4. Minimum wage simulator: Work at a restaurant to get out of debt, never ends
  5. Charon: You are the person that take people across the river to the underworld, allowing to talk to people while you sail across .

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Final Project: Spooky Detection Agency

Spooky Detection Agency 2Download

For my final project I deiced to make a board game based on ghost hunting. This was the 3rd attempt for a game like that’s, as previous iterations were tough for users to understand. This one has a better quaily board, colored chacarer tokens and updated rules. I wanted to dye the players, however rit dye was extreamly messy and didnt adhere well, so alcohol based markers were a subsitute, otherwise all pewioces are 3-D printed or cardstock.

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Playtest: Camel Up!_Meredith B

Play: Camel Up!

  1. Was it fun?
    • I really enjoyed it. It was a fun version of horse racing and the ideas around it made it very engaging and fun. It seemed easy for any age, and the random chance of which camel would win make it more engaging and more fun to replay.
  2. What were the player interactions?
    • We were acting more as a group, we were cheering when the camel we wanted moved again and would sigh when we were losing. It was no interaction between players themselves, unless it involved the camels.
  3. How long did it take to learn?
    • In only about 10 minutes, the rules were easy to understand and the game was labeled well to understand where the cards are meant to go. The rules were also easy because the premise of “horse racing” is very common, so it helps with a general understanding.
  4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • It was first when one of the camels that you have previously bet on was losing, but that is part of the fun. The point of the game is meant to be frustrating in that aspect, as it is gambling.
  5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • It was overall just a fine time. The smoothness of the game and theming was done well, and the act of randomness made the experience feel more like the players were watching the show, instead of controlling it. It felt cool like we were actually watching the live bets on tv, instead of just playing a game.
  6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
    • I wanted to revoke my bet if anything. I bet on too early and ending up losing money at the end of the game, and couldn’t ever change the bet.
  7. 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 change some of the betting rules. You can bet up until the last race, and could still get full points if you are the 1st one to go. I would change it so that in the 2nd to last round, all bets must end up being placed. This would prevent last minute betting and still keep the bets open for a long time though.
  8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
    • Yep! It was fun to play and just an enjoyable experience, which is why I would play it again. The whole game was easy and I feel many people would enjoy the game.
  9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
    • The start of act 1 was learning the rules, which was easy since the instructions and board were easy to understand, plus we watched a video that helped too. Act 2, actually playing the game was very fun. It was, like i said, watching and betting on live horse racing and it very fun, while it was only a game. The ending of act 3 was simple, add up the coins and finalize the money for the bets. It was easy to end the game and easy to get it started again too.
  10. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • The game was competitive as we were betting on multiple opportunities (camels losing or winning) which caused players to win or lose based on predictions and chances.
  11. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?
    • I like the whole premise, the racing and the theming was great. It made it fun to play and was a kid friendly way to gamble. The whole randomness of the camels movement, and the fact that not every camel would  move every turn makes it interesting.
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(9/18/2024_MeredithB) Homework/Rules

5 game ideas:

  • Shell Sprint is a racing game in which players control turtles who compete to reach the ocean first by navigating hazards, riding ocean currents, and using power-ups like speed boosts and shell shields.
  • Turtle Tactics is a strategy game in which players lead turtle clans who battle for territory in a shrinking pond by placing defenses, outmaneuvering rivals, and evolving their shells for specialized advantages.
  • Tide Travelers is a cooperative adventure game in which players are time-traveling turtles who work together to restore balance to aquatic ecosystems by solving puzzles, cleaning up pollution, and recruiting ancient sea creatures as allies.
  • Shell Shocked Arena is a multiplayer battle royale game in which players control armored turtles who fight to be the last one standing by collecting weapons, crafting shell upgrades, and mastering the art of shell-sliding combat.

Game rules: Axo-Mageddon

Must team up or fight to cause the most damage, leading to global domination.

Starting game/Setup

  • Place cards and setup board as shown
  • Pick gamepeice and put them into starting tank

Cards

  • Classes
    • Pick a role, Barbian, Technician, Arsonist
    • Barbian adds and extra points of damage added on to every
    • Technician gets a free extra upgrade every 5 turns
    • Arsonist, all flammable damage gets multiplied by 2
  • Destruction
    • Pull a card and it has a set $ amount of damage, and some will have a multiplier on that
    • Can have extra multipliers added on
  • Upgrades
    •  Can be used to make your axolotl have damage multipliers, stringer, or avoid a “trouble”
  • Trouble
    • Other animals, the government, aliens and outside forces that will affect and slow your destructive streak

How to play

  • Roll to see who goes 1st, then each player picks 3 class cards and picks their class
  • Roll a dice to move, get cards and follow along the board, gain damage and upgrade cards.

Winning

  • Player who caused the most destruction wins!
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(9/18/2024 Week 4_Meredith B) Play: Takenoko

Takenoko is a bamboo cultivation game where players must grow bamboo and grow their land, while taking bamboo and growing it while trying to get the emperor’s favor to win.

  1. Was it fun?
    • I enjoyed it, the cultivation and growing of land, but having it be in a collective sense was fun, just some of the rules/mechanics (mostly irrigation) were a bit confusing.
  2. What were the player interactions?
    • Yep! We had to work together to grow land, but we also were taking and interfering with other players’ goals.
  3. How long did it take to learn?
    • Only 10 minutes, the rules seemed confusing at 1st but we had a video that explained it really well.
  4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • Figuring out the irrigation systems, especially since you could only get one bar or irrigation per turn (unless the weather says otherwise) which would be annoying since half of your actions would be just getting water.
  5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • The whole game and its design was very cute, one of the cutest and well visually designed games i’ve played. The game pieces of the bamboo were cute and same with the artwork, everything seems like there was so much effort put into it, and it turns out really good.
  6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
    • I wish the panda and the gardener could move in a different direction instead of just straight, since it makes it take 3 turns minimum to move to a diagonal square, and any other player could mess that up.
  7. 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 change the movement of the gardener and panda, just so it could move diagonally and be used more often. I found myself avoiding options that had to use the panda due to the annoying movement pattern.
  8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
    • I would, it was fun to play and took up a good amount of time to play. However the age rating says for 8+, I feel that’s a little too low, as it seems a little difficult for an 8yr old to understand.
  9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
    • Learning it (Act 1) was pretty easy, we had a video to teach us how to play and set up things. Act 2 of actually playing was fun, and Act 3 of ending the game was easy, since it immediately ended after a player got all of their objectives done.
  10. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • Player could use each other land to grow bamboo and use it claim objectives, and competitively take and add upgrades to change the game in their favor
  11. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?
    • The metaphor is growing bamboo for an emperor, which is prevented as those cards are claimed within the game, also the visuals helped push that point. The mechanic of irrigation made the game really unique, while annoying at times, brought a new level of challenge to it.
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9/11/25 (Week 3_MeredithB)Playtest: Arugment

Argument is a competitive/collaborative game in which players claim pieces by moving and jumping on other players.

  1. Was it fun?
    • I can see how it would be, but not a game I personally found fun
  2. What were the player interactions?
    • There was, The size of the game made us rely on each other to move pieces in order to play.
  3. How long did it take to learn?
    • About 5-10 minutes, it was nice because game pieces were color coded so that players could always tell what they were doing without having to look at the rules.
  4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • The moving style was a little difficult to understand, even though it was on the game pieces. I think personally the unique shapes were cool, but hard to understand, especially with the circle board.
  5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • The visuals and colors of the board were cool, I enjoyed the visual aspects of the game.
  6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
    • Being able to stack your own pieces easily, and more more freely.
  7. If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
    • Change some of the movement patterns for the pieces, since they were difficult to understand and translate to a circular board
  8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
    • No, I am not a fan of collaborative games, and I didn’t find it super engaging enough to be willing to play it again.
  9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
    • Act 1 is learning the rules, which is quick and easy. Act 2, playing the game was easy enough but took a little since we were still trying to understand the mechanics of the game. Act 3, ending was the quickest, as the game ends as soon as a player has 6 stacks of game pieces.
  10. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • It was collaborative in the fact that, due to the size/shape of the board, other players would have to move pieces for you. Competitive still in the fact that there could still be a single winner of the game.
  11. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?
    • The main metaphors were chess and rock paper scissors, however this was mostly due to the colors, the entire game was utmost stripped down to just mechanics. However the mechanic of having chess and rock paper scissors as a movement system was very cool.
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9/11/25 (Week 3_Meredith B) Playtest: Forbidden Island

Forbidden Island is a collaborative game in which players must collect all of the lost artifacts and escape the island before it floods by using their abilities and teamwork.

Was it fun?

No, not for me. I can understand how some people would find it fun, but the lack of competitive gameplay and the lower stake gameplay made it less engaging for me.

  1. What were the player interactions?
    • In a collaborative aspect yes, we would each use each other’s abilities to move forwards and progress within the game.
  2. How long did it take to learn?
    • About 10 minutes, it was decently easy, however we had missing cards so we had to relearn the rules to include the cards after we printed some out.
  3. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • Nothing was frustrating, except missing cards that were crucial to gameplay. We were missing the cards that connect with the abilities of our game pieces, so we had to make more. 
  4. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • The idea of the game was fun, and using one of our teammates’ abilities, the pilot, who can move anyone, allowed us to play the game quickly and survive.
  5. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
    • I would have enjoyed it if the game was competitive which would add a mechanic of stealing the treasures from other players. I would also want to un-flood certain sections of the map, however that may have been a gameplay mechanic that we missed.
  6. 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 add an option for competitive play, which is a stealing or sabotage mechanic to make the game more competitive.
  7. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
    • No, but that is because I am not a huge fan of collaborative games, with tabletop games. I can understand how some people would find this game engaging, however it was not for my personal taste.
  8. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
    • Act 1: This was learning the rules, still the quickest section however there was a roadblock due to the missing the cards. Act 2: The middle lasted the longest since its the actual gameplay, where we would move across islands and grab cards in order to get the artifacts and best the game, this section took about an hour. Act 3: The end was easy, as we used certain classes’ abilities in order to skip sections and get to the end quicker, which is where we got on the helicopter and left.
  9. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • Collaborative aspects were the fact we could trade and share cards in order to collect the artifacts, and each character’s ability works together. There were no competitive aspects within the game, except the fact we had different abilities as players, but that’s about it.
  10. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics stand out?
    • The metaphor was an island obtaining artifacts. It was done really well, every epic had a mysterious vibe to it, or made to look like a treasure map. It looked really good and the theming was done well, as it was prevalent through the whole game. The cool mechanics were the moving and flooding based on locations and character abilities, and the water rise level was cool.
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9/11/25 (Week 3_Meredith B) Homework

Khaos Kitties is a collaborative game in which  a few scandalous kitties cause the most destruction, up to global takeover,by teaming up and using abilities/technology.

Alien Activist is a collaborative game in which Mutiple Aliens Protect humans from getting invanded by debating and protesting other alien races from acting humans.

SpaceRace is a collaborative game in which players race through a shifting asteroid belt, avoiding obstacles and battling rivals] by teleporting and using hovercrafts..

Towering Troubles is a  collaborative strategy tower defense game in which players defend a kingdom from invading monsters by placing and upgrading magical defenses, summoning elemental allies, and utilizing enchanted resources.

Echoes of the Forest is a cooperative survival game in which players work together to survive in a mysterious enchanted forest by crafting tools, building shelters, and unlocking the forest’s secrets through exploration and puzzle-solving.

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(9/4/2025 Meredith_B) Reading/Homework Questions

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 think having a jumping or shrinking system would be cool. Jumping in context of jumping over/around household objects, or shrinking to open the opportunities to have a tall and tiny version of the game (Like Antman)
  2. Who are you making games for?
    • I want to make fun for ages 12+ as that is a good range to have some somewhat complex mechanics, but also to keep the game easy to understand, allowing for my game to reach wider audiences and be a generally family friendly game.
  3. Who will be your play testers outside of class?
    • Mostly friends/peers, since I am too far away from home to test board games on younger family

Question Set 2

  1. Can you think of a game you were able to play without referring to the rules?
    • Uno,Life,Cards Against Humanity, Blackjack
  2. How do you define what a game is?
    • A game is something that has a set of rules to push players into a state of mind for some kind of goal to be completed in some way.
  3. What features can make your games more intuitive?
    • Keep point values/ important information is placed on cards or game pieces so they are always visible and can be easily referenced.

Question Set 3

  1. What was your gateway game? What do you play to introduce others to gaming?
    • It depends on if its for tabletop or video games. For tabletop games my gateway game was Candyland, and Minecraft was for videogames. To introduce people to games, I would offer them UNO and MInecraft or Roblox, since they are easy to understand and can be adjusted and there are multiple versions and ways to branch out, and starts a good foundation for other games.
  2. What features do gateway games share?
    • Easy to pick up, simple concept and rules, and can be understood by 99% of the population.
  3. What are the 10 beautiful mechanics and what should you aim for with your own?
    • Kingmaker’s Noblesse Oblige,  BattleTech’s Heat, Set’s Set-making, Magic Card Tapping, Battle Cattle Cow tipping rule, xXxenophile’s Popping, Bohnanaza’s hand order rule, Mississippi Queen Paddlewheels, Times Up Communication breakdown, Dominions constant shuffling. As a gamemaker, you should aim to understand and use these guidelines as a bar to go above in order to make your game successful.
  4. How does luck and strategy factor in to game play?
    • It adds a factor that the game can always keep changing until the final moment and keeps the player engaged. It’s no fun when one person is always winning, so luck can help anyone win, and strategy can be used to push the factors of luck more to help someone win.

Homework: 

  1. Game similar to uno, but its collecting cards instead of getting rid of them
  2. Card game version of battleship?
  3. Dress up based card game, score points based on outfits
  4. Zombie apocalypse card game, have to pick teams
  5. Interior decorator card game, based on locations of decor gives points

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(9/4/2025_MeredithB) Playtest: Bohnanza

  1. Was it fun?
    • I didn’t really enjoy the game, it was a weird premise and the game itself was difficult to understand. We had to watch a video to understand it (I still did not understand it) instead of reading the rules, and overall I did not enjoy the game. It didn’t really have a major goal other than collecting coins, which was a very passive goal, and that was it.
  2. What were the player interactions?
    • There was, so in the game you either have to trade or donate cards if you don’t want them. This caused a lot of arguing and negation to be made in order to get the cards we wanted, but also to give away cards so we don’t have to deal with them.
  3. How long did it take to learn?
    • 1hr+, at least for me. I was still trying to understand and learn the game for the entire time, in comparison my peers understood it quicker, but it would have been closer to 20-30 minutes for them.
  4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • Just trying to understand what a “turn” is within the game and how to properly play. It changed how many things could be planted and played depending on trades, and overall I could never tell if I accidentally played too much, or I was essentially skipping my turn.
  5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • The premise and conceptual idea of the game was cool, but I just didn’t like any of it. The playstyle, the rules, and even the look of the cards weren’t for me, but I can understand how this game would be desirable for others.
  6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
    • Buy more plots of land, you were only allowed to have 3 plots, I wish you could have 4 or even 5 instead. However I understand why players are not allowed to do this, as it would take away from the sacrifice that can be made based on trades.
  7. If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?
    • The artwork was not for me, and in general I would change the whole game so it isn’t Bohnanza. The game just isn’t for me like I have stated, so I would change the whole aspect of the game.
  8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
    • Nope, I didn’t enjoy the game or the concept of the game, so I would not go out of my way to play it.
  9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
    • (Act 1: Start) The start was setting up plots, learning the rules and getting your starting hands. This section was the quickest since it was just distribution of cards and taking things out of the box. (Act 2: Middle) This was the longest section, lasting over an hour, and would have been longer if we would have followed the rules and went through the deck 3 times. This section, due to the nature of the game, was designed to be the longest. (Act 3: End) Although this section would have been longer if we played longer, it only took a few minutes since the only point system is whoever has the most coins in the end.