Author: mahst125

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Rules for The Alleyway Pharmacy

Madison Hurst

The AlleyWay Pharmacy

Idea: The Alleyway Pharmacy is a card game in which the players are drug dealers competing against other drug dealers where they have to collect various drugs to resell. The kick to it is, the drug dealers have to make sure whether the drugs they collected are real and not candy. If they are caught using candy (x amount of times) then they will go to jail (lose).

Objective: 

  • Players are rival dealers that are fighting for the same street block. They are competing to make the most profit by reselling drugs while avoiding fake ones (candy). To win, the player must be the first to reach the profit goal ($20,000) or by the last one that didn’t get busted. 

Materials needed:

  • Deck of cards:
  • Drug cards
  • Candy cards
  • Action cards
  • Profit tracker (score pad)
  • Busted disk trackers
  • Rules sheet
  • Your hand for your cards
  • Stash (faced down pile on the table)

Setup:

  • Shuffle cards into one deck which will become the draw pile
  • Each player will draw 3 cards that will be their starting hand 
  • Give each player 3 busted tokens
  • Have a space for the discard pile
  • Discuss what the profit goal will be for this game (default is $20,000)
  • The tallest player will go first

Insight:

  • Hand: these are the cards you can see and choose from (max. Card limit is 5)
  • Stash: cards you placed face down on the table (max card limit is 6)
  • Profit tracker: how much money you are at
  • Busted tokens: track how many times you had a candy drug (3=jail and you lost the game)

Turns:

  • Draw 1 card from the draw pile

You will then move into your action part of your turn:

  • You can choose one action play
  • Options:
  • Play a drug: place 1 card from your hand to you stash pile (face down)
  • Play an action: use it immediately (sneak, inspect, etc)
  • Slip a fake drug (sneak): Put a card from your hand (candy or real drug) to an opponents stash pile (face down) 
  • Pass (take no action)
  • Resell (You can resell if you think you have 3 of the same cards in your stash)
  • If you have all 3 of the same drug, then you will earn a profit based on the value of the drug type. After, you have collected your points you will discard this set

1 Candy drug:

If you have a 1 candy drug  in your stash during RESELL, then your resell fails (even if you have 3 of the same drug) and the player will take a penalty. 

Penalty: Lose ½ of the profit or discard 1 random hand card

  • Discard the candy card after 

2 or more Candy drug:

If the player has 2 or more candy drugs in their stash during resell then resell fails, and collect 1 bust token. Discard all candy cards 

Check hand and stash number:

  • If you have more than 5 cards in your hand, discard extras
  • If you have more the 6 cards in your hand, discard extras

Out of turn options:

Players are able to play an action card during another players turn

  • Inspect: peek at only one card in a players stash
  • Steal: Force a player to reveal one of their stash cards 
  • Snitch: take one random card from an opponent’s hand 
  • Hideout: block a sabotage or inspection against you 

Win/Lose:

  • Be the first person to reach the profit goal
  • Be the last person standing, if the other opponents went to jail
  • Player is out of the game if they received 3 bust tokens

Card Meanings:

  • Inspect: peek at only one card in a players stash
  • Steal: Force a player to reveal one of their stash cards 
  • Snitch: take one random card from an opponent’s hand 
  • Hideout: block a sabotage or inspection against you 
  • Sneak: place 1 card from your hand to an opponent’s stash
  • Swap: trade 1 card from your stash with 1 from an opponent’s stash (face down)

Drug Values:

  • Weed set: $3,000 
  • Pill set: $5,000
  • Coke set: $7,000
  • Heroin set: $10,000
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Carcassonne Game review

Madison Hurst

Was it fun? I felt that Carcassonne was fairly good. I enjoyed the concept of placing the tiles to build a unique and creative map. I liked the simplicity of the mechanics but it was not the most engaging game. It was enjoyable at times but it took a long time to complete and there were lots of moments where not much was occurring.

What were the player interactions? The player interactions were based on chance, whether that was what tile you picked up or how people chose to place their tiles. You can’t really affect other players’ decisions but depending on how you play your tiles and meeples, it can impact how other players might choose to play. 

How long did it take to learn? It didn’t take too long to learn, the rules were very straight forward as well as the point system. 

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? I would say that the most frustrating part of the game was the length and scale. The winner was whoever had the most amount of points after all the tiles were played. This took up lots of space and time. Also the pieces were very easy to knock out of place, which could cause confusion because the flow of roads and buildings mattered. 

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? My favorite aspect of the game was that it was a simple game. There were set rules for how to play and how to keep score. There were a lot of moving parts but the simplicity made it easy to follow. 

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I wish that you could complete different structures without having to have all sides match. This would have a new strategy to the game because you could sabotage what other people are trying to create and how they have placed their meeples.

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 the ability to complete a structure or road without needing to match all sides. 

Is this a game you would play again? No, because in the long run it was not a very engaging game. There were fun parts of it but over all across the whole game there was not a lot that kept us players fully focused on the game. It was easy and flowed but not an entertaining pace. In the pandemic it was hard to learn but every turn there was something different that could throw players off or help us get closer to winning. 

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. In the first act of the game we are just setting up the game and board, there were not many tiles on the table or points being scored. Just players setting up different avenues for where they might be able to gain points in the future. Players are also learning how to place their tiles and meeples to build connections and earn points. 

In the second act of the game players are creating more strategy when it comes in as players start to expand their tiles and start to earn points. The board is growing and more meeples are placed to hopefully gain points in the future. Players are more specific about where they are placing their tiles to help benefit themselves. 

In the third act players are incorporating farming and adding up their points. The board has become quite large with many different complete roads, monasteries, and castles. At the very end all tiles should have been played. 

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? Carcassonne has a lot of competitive aspects but not many collaborative ones. The competitiveness comes from the players fighting to score the most points and “out meeple” other players to restrict them from gaining points. There is a little bit of collaboration between players because a player’s action can influence where someone else places their next tile.

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics stand out? The game’s metaphor is about shaping and claiming the landscape. As if you are watching a countryside develop piece by piece. A mechanic that stood out to me was how unfinished tiles like half built roads and cities can still influence the game. This created different routes of strategy choosing between getting guaranteed points or to keep building for more points in the future.

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Game ideas: Theme of Collecting

Madison Hurst

[Game name] is a [category of] game in which [the players or their avatars] [do or compete or collaborate for some goal] by [using tools the game provides them].

Taste Test is a card game in which players have to collect unique ingredients or food to make (various ingredients hold different values), and they have to decipher whether or not that ingredients is cursed/poisoned by other opponents.

The Alleyway Pharmacy is a card game in which the players are drug dealers competing against other drug dealers where they have to collect various drugs to resell. The kick to it is, the drug dealers have to make sure whether the drugs they collected are real and not candy. If they are caught using candy (x amount of times) then they will go to jail (lose).

Recycle Go! Is a card game in which players are collecting and sorting what trash is recycled properly and efficiently. They are to sort plastic, trash, glass, etc and the faster player to do so wins.

Blink and Collect is a card game in which the player has a set amount of time to look at a card that is a picture filled with random junk/objects that contain various things that could potentially earn them points. They have to remember as much as they can from that card to pick cards that gives them points (they saw a chair in the picture, so they would pick up a chair card that is 1 point).

The attic is a memory/collection game in which players are going through their attic while flipping tiles that match the items they found. They have to avoid different setbacks (mice) that affect your collections of matches.

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Mow Masters

Rules Update

Madison Hurst

Mow Masters!

Objective:

  • The objective of the game is to get as many grass points/cards as you and your opponent mow all the grass on the board in order to end the game. 

Materials needed:

  • Board
  • Grass cards
  • Setback cards
  • Two dice
  • meebles  (marks which space/tile was mowed already)
  • Paper and pencil to keep track of score
  • Iphone timer

Setup:

  • Take all of the cards and shuffle them into one deck and place them in a empty space on the board.
  • The tallest player will start the game or be the first turn.

Turn:

  • Both players are going simultaneously
  • The player will roll one dice, and move the amount of spaces of that number on the dice.
  • The player can go anywhere on the board, no restrictions.
  • The player will pick a card for each space they move. For example, they roll a 2 and move 2 spaces hence pick up 2 cards. 
  • After you have moved (mowed) a space, you will mark it with a x  or a meeble.

(you can still use this space to move around in it but you can not get a card from it.)

Ex: rolls the dice and gets 3, but ⅔ spaces are mowed already. So, you can only pick up one card. 

  • If you pick up a card that has a setback, you will have to complete the task on the card in order to continue. 
  • You have approx. 25 seconds to complete the 
  1. Out of gas 
  2. Nebby neighbor 
  3. Dinner time
  4. Reapply sunscreen
  • You do not have a time limit with:
  1. Mower broke
  2. Dog poop on the blade
  • If you do not complete the setback challenge within the time constraints then you have to remove one grass card point from your pile. 

Winning/Losing:

  • Once the whole lawn is mowed, and there is no more space to collect cards then the game is over.
  • Count up your points, and the points win.
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Game Questions Camel Up

Madison Hurst

Was it fun?- Camel Up was a really fun game, and I loved the whole concept of it. I thought it was different from a lot of games because you didn’t choose a camel to win. I liked how they used the concept of betting on the camels, like you were watching the Kentucky Derby. It was pretty fun trying to predict which camel would win the leg and trying to see who would win the most money. 

What were the player interactions? – The player interactions is not directly affecting each other. I would say the theme of the game is “ best bet wins” in a sense. Every player gets the chance to roll the dice and see what camel moves if that is the action they take during their turn. I would say the only interaction that would affect the other players is how quickly someone picks up a bet card for camel, which would lessen the amount of coins the following person would get if they bet on that same camel. 

How long did it take to learn?- We ended up watching a quick 8-minute video about how to play Camel Up, and briefly read over the directions. I would say it took about 15 minutes and around the end of the first leg to fully understand the game. 

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? – The most frustrating part about the game was only having one action on your turn. For instance, I couldn’t place a bet and roll the dice to see which camel moved up on the space. Though I can see why there was only one action, because they came could’ve been a lot faster or too easy.

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? – My favorite moment of the game was the aftermath of placing a bet and winning. I really enjoyed reading the game and seeing which camel was more likely to win or get second place. I also didn’t mind the twist of the crazy camels going the other way in order to make the game more unpredictable. 

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? – One thing I wanted to do but couldn’t was place multiple bets in one action. I wanted to place two bets at once to possibly benefit me, but I couldn’t and had to wait a whole round. When it came back to my turn, either the reward of that bet decreased in value or the leg ended. 

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 love to change the value of the betting cards and increase them. I think it would add more risk and reward to this game. I think I was rash with betting at some points because the risk/reward wasn’t high enough. The other thing I would change is something with the rogue camels, and making them more of an issue. 

Is this a game you would play again? Yes , I would play this game again because it was super fun and I enjoyed the concept of it. I am not into any type of betting games, but I like this game because it’s not actually an issue, and it’s fun. I really loved reading the game and trying to see what cards to bet. I also loved the design of the board game and the camels. 

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.

In the first act of the game, every player is figuring out how to play and what cards, tokens, and dice mean. Everyone is not reading the game as quickly or to their full extent because we were still learning. I think the only part that everyone struggled to grasp was the player they chose and what bet they placed. 

In the second act, everyone now understands the game, and we are in the second leg of the race. Bets are being placed, and we are starting to see which camel is taking the lead. In this case, this was the blue camel by far (ended up winning the race). Players are taking cards to see who is going to win the leg, and we are rolling the dice to see which camel is going to move. This is the act that the majority of the game is in, and things start to heat up as we close out the game.

The third act is when final bets are made and players are placing their player cards on the final winners/losers. I was rolling the dice and reading the other camel’s spots, and seeing which cards to bet in order to get the most amount of coins. The ending of the game is when the first camel crosses the line, and this is when all bets are final. Each player will count up how many coins they won/lost. The person with the most coins wins!

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?- This game is a competitive game and not much of a collaborative one. The competitive side of the game was fighting for the highest betting cards and trying to get as many coins as possible in order to win. The collaborative side of the game was that every player had the chance to benefit from the same camel. There wasn’t a camel that any player couldn’t bet on. 

What is the game’s metaphor, and which of the game’s mechanics stand out?- The theme of the game is a desert camel race, where the player is a spectator and betting on which camel will win. The mechanics of this game are the ability to stack camels and how they affect which camel is in 1st or 2nd place. There are rogue camels that affect where the camels are placed on the board. Moreover, the pyramid dice rolling plays a factor as a mechanical part of the game because there is uncertainty and randomness in it, which can either push the camels to the lead or not even move a space. 

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Rules For Mow Masters

Madison Hurst

Grass mower is a board game in which you are racing your opponent and you are trying to mow the most grass as you endure different setbacks (ex: a wrench in the grass that breaks your mower). You have to fix these setback before you move forward in the game. The tools used in the game is a board, two-four mini mowers, cards, and a dice.

Objective: The first player to get their mini mower across the entire board or mow the most grass as they endure various setbacks wins.

Players: 2-4 players

Materials:

  • one game board
  • 4 mini mowers
  • 6 sided dice
  • 45 Grass Cards (green)
  • 20 setback cards (red)
  • 15 tool kit cards (purple)

Setup:

  • Place board in the center of the players
  • Each player is to pick a mini mower piece of their choosing
  • Shuffle all three deck of cards
  • Each player will roll the dice, and whoever has the highest number will go first. If two players have the same number, they will roll until one player has the highest.

How to Play/ Players turn:

  1. Player is to roll the 6 sided dice to see how many spaces their mower will move on the board
  2. After the player’s mower lands on a space, they will need to check the space to what card they may have to pick up next.
  3. There are 3 deck of cards: Grass cards, Tool kit, and Setbacks
  4. If the space has a green tile, then the player will pick up a grass card that will determine how many patches of grass is on that space.
  5. If the space is red, the player has hit a setback and will pull from the setback deck
  6. In random spaces, they player will have the opportunity to collect a tool kit card. This will help them with their setback cards.
  7. But, if you have a setback in your hand you will not be able to roll the dice until they solve the setback.
  8. They player will have to manually fix it by skipping their turn, matching one of their tool cards with that setback, or remove one of their grass cards in order to roll the dice.
  9. After the players turn they will add up their points

Additional Rules/Actions:

Rule 1: Player can tool trade with their opponents. This can benefit or sabotage either player.

Rule 2: Players can use their turn twice in the whole game to setback their opponent. If they decide to go through with it, they will roll the dice and that’s the amount of spaces the opponent will go back. The opponent will not be able to collect any grass cards until the surpass their initial starting point prior.

Winner: The game will end once the player crosses the finish space. All players will count up how many grass cards they mowed. Additional points will be added to the player that finished the game first.

A grass card will have a number ranging from 1-7 on it. For instance, a player receives a grass card and on the right hand side it has a 4 on it. This means that the player has gained 4 points because they mowed 4 grass patches in that space.

A setback card will have various issues the player will have to solve before moving forward. The card will state what happened to the mower, and what tool kit card the player will need in order to resolve this issue. One example, of a setback card is “a wrench was left in the yard and broke your mower. Fix mower by matching a tool kit card.” The tool kit card will have an image of a brand new mower and says “new engine” and on the back it will say what the card can match to.

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Game Ideas

Format: [Game name] is a [category of] game in which [the players or their avatars] [do or compete or collaborate for some goal] by [using tools the game provides them].

  • Orchard King is a board/card game in which players are to collect or pick blueberries, strawberries, and peaches and can end the game by either obtaining all of one fruit or completing x amount of objective cards. The tools used in the game is cards and a board game.
  • Preserve and Conquer is a card game in which players have strawberry, blueberry, and peaches cards along with different spices. Their goals is get as many jam recipes (combining the spices with the fruits) and each recipes is worth various amount of points. The game ends when players go through the whole deck, and then they will round up their points to see who wins. The tools needed is cards.
  • Cup Luck is a board/card/cup game in which the player has to flip the cup and land it in order to move up on the board. The first person to get to the end wins by using the tools of two cups and a game board with game pieces and cards. The player has the opportunity to level up their turn which can allow them to pull a card that will benefit them or push their opponent back.
  • Car Jam is a board game in which the players are competing against each other and try not to let the other players let their cars escape the parking lot (blocking them in). The players with the most cars escaped wins by using the board game and mini cars.
  • Grass Jam is a board game in which you are racing your opponent and you are trying to mow the most grass as you endure different setbacks/jams (ex: a wrench in the grass that breaks your mower). You have to fix these setback/jam before you move forward in the game. The tools used in the game is a board, two-four mini mowers, cards, and a dice.
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Game Questions Takenoko

Madison Hurst

Was it fun? – I thought the game was very fun because I enjoyed the tactics of the game. It made me think steps ahead and how my opponent’s moves could help me. For instance, I thought it was fun when I was able to complete an action or be extremely close to winning the game.

What were the player interactions?- The player interactions were competitive because we couldn’t see each other’s cards. We were trying to get the panda to eat the bamboo that the other player just placed to prevent them from getting ahead. Some of the interactions were beneficial because players were able to add bamboo to their tiles that weren’t watered if another player added a water tile or water stick. The majority of the game was competitive, but at times it was collaborative without the players realizing. 

How long did it take to learn?- At first, it was super tricky to learn because the directions were lengthy, but we watched a five minute overview of the game on YouTube, and I fully understood the game after that. 

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?- The most frustrating moment of the game was not being able to move the panda where you wanted, and making it go only forward, not diagonally. I struggled to succeed with the panda action card since at points of the game it was across the entire board.

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?- My favorite moment was being able to see how the plan I made three to four turns back worked out in my favor. For instance, I planned to use the gardener for the green bamboo, which would garden any tile adjacent to it. This helped me get my 6th card, and I knew that if I grabbed the two tile action cards, then the next round I would be able to use them to win. 

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?- Something I wanted to do but couldn’t was being able to add more bamboo on top of a tile. At times, it felt difficult to add, but I may have been missing something or didn’t fully grasp that instruction. 

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything

From the experience, what would it be?- If I could count an action card being successful, I would. I thought it was a freebie when you completed an action, but when you placed it down in your pile, it didn’t count a 1 of the action turns. 

Is this a game you would play again? Yes, because I thought the game was pretty light and fun. It still had a competitive aspect to it, but I really enjoyed the designs and the uniqueness of the game. I think it challenged me to think about my turns and future turns, but didn’t confuse me or make “my brain” hurt. 

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.- In Act 1 this is when players are reading instructions and understanding what the game’s purpose is. Tiles are starting to be placed, and we are figuring out different ways to win. In Act 2, everyone now understands the game, and this is when I was completing actions and gathering points. I was now being more strategic with my moves and what I wanted to turn in the future turns. I started to bet on what other players were doing and working off of them. This is when everyone’s wheels were spinning and figuring out how to get a leg up. In act 3, the game slowed down a bit, and I was close to winning. I started to think how I can ensure other opponents don’t get even with me when regarding completed action cards. In this act, it was the final moves to secure the win. 

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? – The majority of this game was competitive, while having some aspects of collaborative play without us knowing so. The competitive side was when players were using the panda to eat our tiles, bamboo, or using the dice to possibly get a leg up. The collaborative side was when a player would add a tile to the board, which set you up for your next turn. This happened a lot when Meredith would play a tile that would help accomplish a task. 

What is the game’s metaphor, and which of the game’s mechanics stand out? – The theme of this game was between nature (the panda) and the gardener/players growing bamboo. The game was all about agriculture and watering systems while completing tasks to win. Some of the game mechanics were tile laying, getting action cards done, weather dice, and preventing the panda from eating your bamboo crops. The tile laying allowed you to grow various bamboo types, which helps you successfully complete the task. The weather dice mechanic can give an extra turn or make your life easier for that round. Lastly, the panda mechanics made it difficult to grow bamboo and forced you to still be aware of your crops throughout the game. 

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The Fuzzies Game Questions

Madison Hurst

Was it fun?- In the beginning, the game was super fun, but quickly became boring. I think there was not as much action or tension per se as the game continued. The act 2 structure was very static, and a few issues arose. 

What were the player interactions?- The player interactions were competitive because we were all trying to make the fuzzy Jenga harder in order not to be the person who makes it fall apart. For instance, one interaction that happened was when it was my turn, I pulled a green fuzzy ball from the bottom, which then made the tower extremely unstable. This challenged the steadiness of my opponent’s hand and made the game harder and more intense. 

How long did it take to learn? Learning was immediate since the game mirrored Jenga but used fuzzy pieces. Everyone grasped the rules instantly, while the action cards introduced a challenge. 

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect? The most frustrating aspect was repeatedly drawing the same action, like getting “cover one of your eyes” while pulling a green fuzzy ball. This repetition bored players and lost their attention. 

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?- My favorite moment of the game was making it challenging for others. I would pull a fuzzy ball that would lead to the opponents messing up or making their turn difficult. 

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?- I wanted to add more variety in the action cards to make the game more challenging/interesting. 

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 use of the tweezers. All players, when it was their turn, were able to use the tweezers, but I think that made the game easier since you didn’t need to grip them as much. But, I would change the tweezers into an action card (as a benefit) and make the other actions cards harder. 

Is this a game you would play again? No, because it was pretty boring. I lost focus pretty fast because there was barely any tension between the players, and the action cards didn’t challenge us. I would prefer to play regular Jenga since it’s wooden blocks, and you have to be more careful with your technique. In the Fuzzies game, the fuzzy balls tend to stick to each other, which makes it a little bit easier.

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure. – The first act was understanding the game and making sense of the action cards since normal Jenga doesn’t have them. At this point in time, the players are figuring out how easy it is to grasp a ball and understand the rhythm of the game. The second act is when players start to become more analytical with their turns and pull a fuzzy ball that could potentially put another player in a tough position. This is the act where I felt the game slowed down and was lacking fun. The third act is the ending of the game. The Fuzzies’ ending was becoming more obvious, and it was a matter of time before someone’s hand was going to be shaky and mess up. Most of the fuzzy balls were on top of the tower. At this point, everyone was fairly checked out, and we went through all of the action cards. 

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? – This game is competitive in a sense because you were challenging yourself to pull a piece/ball out of a tricky area in the tower in order to make it shaky for your opponent. The competitiveness came out when a player would make a mistake or was really close to losing. 

What is the game’s metaphor, and which of the game’s mechanics stand out? – The game’s metaphor or theme is ensuring your stability and creating a risk for others. The game’s mechanics precision, tensions increase with each turn, and obvious risk. Fuzzies require precision to make a big time game move and put yourself in a good position for that round. When picking a fuzzy piece, you take the risk of collapsing the whole tower. Lastly, there is tension with each turn, as the player must avoid messing up when the tower is shaking. 

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Game Questions Pandemic 9/11/25

Madison Hurst

Was it fun? – At first, my friends and I struggled to fully grasp the concept of the game and what actions were allowed to do. But after we started playing and learning all of the hacks and tricks of the game, it became more intriguing.

What were the player interactions?- The player interactions were working together to take down the four infections. I thought this game was unique in a way because it encouraged players to work together and to see each other’s cards. In a normal card/board game, players are against each other and trying to win.

How long did it take to learn?- I would say the game took a fair amount of time to learn because the directions were vague or didn’t say you couldn’t do a certain actions or move. For instance, we struggled to understand what role cubes could take and who couldn’t. My one friend had the Quarantine Specialist, and the card never said if he could take a cube off a city, but as we played and we found that in a small sentence in the instructions that he could take one cube off.

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?- The most frustrating moment or aspect of the game was it being over after you went through the player deck. The other frustrating part about the game was the 4 actions rules because I was the research specialist, and I was able to help cure the infections, though I couldn’t in times due to the action limit. This made us wait until the next turn and struggle to get the cards together to cure the infection.

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?- My favorite moment of the game was when we worked together to get me the blue cards through the duration of two rounds, and curing blue to then eradicate it. It was super fun, and I think it pushed us to want to cure the next infection. This small win gave us motivation to continue the game and kept it fun.

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?- Some of the things I wanted to do that I couldn’t were to be able to cure an infection because the other players couldn’t meet my game piece. At times, we had all of the cards in order, but they weren’t in the same place, which then made us wait a whole round.

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything

From the experience, what would it be? – If I could change or add anything to Pandemic, it would be more specific instructions in the rules. I think it was hard at times to understand what to do, and it was made harder than it was.

Is this a game you would play again? Yes, because my friends were asking when we are playing it next. I think after we understood what to do it was super fun. I think it challenged us to communicate and figure out game strategies to eliminate the pandemic. This made it fun and intriguing. Furthermore, my attention span was long, and I stayed engaged in the game throughout the whole duration.

Analyze the game using the 3-act structure. – In Act 1, this is when the players start to see their role and read the instructions. Cards are being dealt, and diseases are starting to be implemented throughout various cities. Players are starting to understand what the research hubs and basic tools are in place. Act 2 is when the epidemic starts to get fairly bad and more difficult to control. We start to see outbreaks happen, and epidemic cards coming into play. Sharing cards has become a thing, and switching city to city becomes more difficult since the outbreaks are coming from opposite sides of the world. Tension to make the right move and the risk of losing increases. Act 3 is when players are drawing cards to find a cure for the four diseases as we near the game’s potential ending. Key cards are becoming limited as we suffer outbreaks around the world. The final rounds are crucial in deciding the player’s fate, whether they will lose or win.

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? – Pandemic is a collaborative game, and has the players join together to compete against the game itself. Their competition is the outbreaks, the epidemics, the risks, and the limited resources. The collaboration is encouraged through sharing knowledge cards, giving out roles, and every mistake affecting everyone rather than just one.

What is the game’s metaphor, and which of the game’s mechanics stand out? – The game’s metaphor is the global health crisis and outbreaks, which is the entire theme of the game. In the game, we see outbreaks happen, and the spread of the pandemic rapidly increases. The roles that each player has in the game are some jobs people have in reality, which makes the game more “realistic” for the player. For instance, my role was a research specialist, so when an outbreak happens, I study what it is and figure out how to cure it. The metaphor creates tension and urgency, which can be compared to what may happen in real life. For instance, the Kobold’s guide, Part 1 does a great job explaining how games are created through metaphors. They help make the mechanics of the game and ensure it is more cohesive

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Homework Questions

Madison Hurst

[Game name] is a [category of] game in which [the players or their avatars] [do or compete or collaborate for some goal] by [using tools the game provides them].

Lights Out is a card game in which the players have to hold their card up on their face without seeing what it is and have to guess what number it is. The only trick is the person who is the farthest from their number will have a restriction or punishment (by adding the amount of cards to their deck they are trying to get rid of in order to win.) The tools needed is a deck of cards.

Heist is a board game/card game in which the players chosen con artist avatar have to compete against other players as they compete to get 1 million dollars out the bank by using various cards/game pieces that could help them or hurt them.

Battles of the Forest is a board game in which the players get to choose a unique/mystic animal that could potentially lead them to victory through their superpowers and by points systems. The game provides benefit cards and natural selection cards.

Cups is a board game that includes cup stacking in which the players have to stack the cups into a pyramid and back down in order to roll the dice and move their piece across the board. The faster you cup stack, the more chances you get to win.

Nothing But the Truth is a card game where the players have to say how much money was on the card they pulled, but they only issues is they could be lying. Each person is trying to get to a certain amount of money without getting caught by other players. If you are caught then you have to subtract the amount you said from your balance. The tools needed is a designed cards for fake money.

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Week 2 Reading Questions

Madison Hurst

  • 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 it would be interesting to make the players feel tiny, and very aware of the sizing throughout the duration of the game. I think it would be cool to make the players complete different tasks, and “going against” different scales.
    2. Who are you making games for? – This game could be played by 9-15 year olds. I think with this theme it could be used as a fun game to play in science class or just in general.
    3. Who will be your play testers outside of class? – My play testers could be my roommates or since my mom teaches 6th grade science she could let them play the game since they are within the age range.
  • Question Set 2
    1. Can you think of a game you were able to play without referring to the rules? – I am able to play UNO or BS without needing to refer back to the rules.
    2. How do you define what a game is? – I would define a game as immersive environment that encapsulates the player and keeps them interested in the game. A good game is when it is so fascinating that the player will not break focus from it. Furthermore, a game typically has a specific set of rules that users have to follow as they attempt to win in the end.
    3. What features can make your games more intuitive? – Some features that can make my game more intuitive is having a consistent rules, color scheme, and readable cards/boards.
  • Question Set 3
    1. What was your gateway game? What do you play to introduce others to gaming? – My gateway game was either UNO or SushiGo! I love both of these games and they are still a staple game my family and I play. I would play UNO if I had to introduce other people to gaming because it is an extremely quick game to pick up, and will keep the player interested.
    2. What features do gateway games share?- Some features that gateway games share is simple rules, engaging, able to understand or see who won easier, and approachable.
    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, Mississippi Queen Paddlewheels, Times Up Communication breakdown, Dominions constant shuffling. These games are important because they are all considered to be extremely engaging and successful. By going off of how they were created and how they were designed is the baseline when making your own. These games give you reference points of what games have good mechanics.
    4. How does luck and strategy factor in to game play? – Luck and strategy play a big factor into game play because it can be out of your control. When playing, you are not in control of the cards you get or the action that another player does. Strategy is important because this is the part where you are in control of. This is when you are making plans and actions that is aiming to set yourself up to win. Moreover, I believe that skills is a factor as well. It is the knowledge that you had prior to the game, and are able to utilize throughout. Skills enable you to potentially make the right decision at the right time.

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Game Questions Week 2

Bohnanza Madison Hurst

Was it fun? I thought this game was pretty fun at points. Though in some areas of the Bohnanza it was slow because you were waiting a long period of time for your turn. I did enjoy how it forced you to think about what cards you had to keep by adding limitations or getting rid of specific cards before you can use your own hand. 

This game was highly interactive, with players decisions directly affecting others. Trading cards often led to tough choices, especially when multiple players wanted the same card. Players competed to collect and harvest specific cards to get coins. 

How long did it take to learn? The game didn’t take long to learn because it would end after we went through the deck of cards three times. So, we had plenty of time to understand and fully play. I would say it took about 15 minutes to fully comprehend and begin playing competitively. The only confusing part in the beginning was understanding how you gained points/coins. 

What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? The most frustrating part of the game was not being able to “steal” cards from your opponents after they planted the bean. For instance, Meredith and I had the same bean planted, and we couldn’t steal from each other after the bean was planted or placed down. 

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?- My favorite moment of Bohnanza was collecting the coins. It was fun being able to take 2-3 coins after gathering multiple cards of the same bean. 

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?- After you were done with a card or didn’t have a use for it at that point in the game, you would discard it. But I really wanted to bring back that card later on in the game because it would’ve been beneficial. So, I just wish the discard pile was recycled faster. 

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 probably change the pace of the game and just go through two decks of cards instead of three.

Yes, I’d play again because I enjoyed the challenge of making the most of my cards and the engaging trading aspect of the game. This kept the game interesting despite occasional slow turns.

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.

The act of the game is when players start to learn what each card type is worth, and exploring the rhythm of planting the beans. At this point, trading cards are hearted, and players can be unaware of the meaning or unable to see the full effect of that trade. The second act is when the players are in the middle of the game. This is when competition kicks in and trading deals go wrong, or someone is on the wrong end of the deal. Moreover, we see players start to get a vast collection of cards, and are thinking about harvesting and collecting their coins. The third act is when the game is close to being complete, and every bean planted matters. Trades are extremely cutthroat or can lead a player to victory. The resolution happens in this act, and this is when all the coins are accounted for, and we see who the victor is.