Anansi’s Web of Tricks Gameplay

Gameplay Mechanics

Setup

  1. Shuffle the deck and deal 5 cards to each player.
  2. Place the remaining cards in the center as the draw pile and flip the top card to start the discard pile.
  3. Each player selects a Character Card to play as, gaining access to their unique ability.
    PS; take note of your characters ability and USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE

TURN STRUCTURE.

Players take turns performing one major action per turn, keeping gameplay quick and fluid:

  1. Play a Card: Match the suit or number of the top card on the discard pile.
  2. Play a Mischief Card: Use special cards to disrupt opponents.
  3. Use a Character Ability: Activate a unique skill to gain an advantage.
  4. Draw a Card: If no other action is possible, draw from the deck.

Card and Effects

  • Numbered Cards: Match by suit or number to discard.
  • Mischief Cards:
    • Steal: Take a card from another player. The victim draws 2 new cards (4 if it was their last card).
    • Forced Draw: Make a player draw 3 cards. If they play one immediately, you draw 2 cards as a penalty.
    • Vortex Shuffle: Shuffle and redistribute hands among up to 3 players.
    • Wild Distractions: Target one player to pass you a card of a specific suit. They draw 2 cards if they can’t.
    • Nullify: Cancel the last Mischief Card or ability used.
  • Mischief cards once played goes in the discard pile 
  • Character Abilities: Once-per-round powers that enhance strategy (e.g., swapping cards, skipping turns, or blocking Mischief effects).
  • Once the draw pile is empty, shuffle the discard pile to make a new draw pile, leaving the last discarded card face-up. If the last card is a Mischief card, randomly select a card from the shuffled pile to replace it. Play continues until only two players remain, battling it out for the final victory.

Winning Conditions

“It’s a race to the finish! The first player to discard their cards is wins, but the fun doesn’t stop there. The remaining players face off in a nail-biting showdown. The goal is to not be the last player standing, as the final two players will compete for the ultimate victory.”

Anansi Web of tricks Third Playtest: Final Observations and Adjustments

Third Playtest: Final Observations and Adjustments

Feedback:

The third playtest demonstrated the near-final state of Anansi’s Web of Tricks, showcasing its refined mechanics and balanced gameplay. The reception was overwhelmingly positive, with only a few minor insights to consider:

1. Dynamic Interaction:

• Players praised the high level of interaction throughout the game. Mischief Cards and character abilities encouraged strategic thinking and constant engagement between players.

• The combination of sabotage, strategic defense, and adaptability made every round unpredictable and exciting.

2. Replayability:

• Testers highlighted the game’s replay value due to the variety of character abilities and Mischief Card effects. No two games felt alike, which encouraged players to experiment with different strategies across multiple sessions.

3. Balanced Abilities:

• Adjustments made during the second playtest to balance character abilities were well-received. Players felt that no single character was overpowered and that every ability had clear strengths and weaknesses.

• For example:

Anansi’s card swap was impactful without feeling unfair due to its once-per-round limitation.

Fari the Hyena’s laugh mechanic now provided a consistent and enjoyable disruption to opponents, adding humor to the gameplay.

4. Reduced Downtime:

• The streamlined Mischief Card rules significantly reduced delays during play. Targeted effects (e.g., Steal or Wild Distractions) resolved quickly, allowing the game to maintain a steady pace.

Notes from Testing Across Age Groups:

1. Learning Curve:

• Younger players (ages 10-15) adapted quickly to the mechanics, especially the use of character abilities. The thematic connection between characters and their powers resonated strongly with this group.

• Older players (ages 25+) took longer to grasp the concept of character abilities, often defaulting to playing Number Cards or Mischief Cards during their first few rounds. However, after 1-2 games, this group also began to incorporate abilities into their strategies effectively.

2. Time to Learn:

• On average, it took 2 games for individuals to fully understand the interplay between card types, Mischief effects, and character abilities. Afterward, players found the game intuitive and engaging.

3. Group Dynamics:

• Testers noted that the game excelled in creating lively, competitive group dynamics. The mix of strategy and chaos kept all players invested, even when they weren’t in the lead.

Anansi Web of tricks Second Playtest: Observations and Adjustments

Second Playtest: Observations and Adjustments

Feedback:

After the changes implemented following the first playtest, the second playtest revealed several positive improvements and areas for minor refinement:

1. Improved Game Flow:

• Players noted that the simplified turn structure (one major action per turn) made the game much smoother and faster.

• The pacing issues from the first playtest were largely resolved, with rounds progressing quickly without feeling rushed.

2. Balanced Offense and Defense:

• The rebalanced Mischief Cards and character abilities created a satisfying interplay between offensive actions (e.g., Steal, Forced Draw) and defensive strategies (e.g., Tiko the Tortoise’s ability to block Mischief Cards or Zari the Owl’s ability to draw and discard strategically).

• Players felt that they had meaningful choices each turn, contributing to a sense of control and engagement.

3. Card Readability:

• While the game mechanics were praised, players suggested improving the visual design of the cards for better readability.

Specific Issues: Fonts for numbers and card effects were sometimes too small or overly stylized, making them harder to read at a glance.

Impact: This caused minor delays during gameplay, particularly for new players unfamiliar with the card effects.

4. Character Abilities:

• Although the abilities were better balanced compared to the first version, some characters still felt slightly overpowered or underwhelming:

Overpowered: Anansi’s ability to swap a card remained strong, particularly when combined with certain Mischief Cards.

Underwhelming: Fari the Hyena’s ability to skip an opponent’s turn by making them laugh felt inconsistent in effectiveness.

Documentation for “Court of Champions”

  • Game rules

original:

Final Version:

Photos

The game when setup :

This Is the Final Setup

Details of the pieces:

Protype Pieces: will upload these later for some reason it won’t add them all. – I have the images for anyone interested but it won’t let me upload them

Final Pieces: will upload these later for some reason it won’t add them all. – I have all the images but it won’t let me upload them.

The final pieces are made from the following materials/ ways

  • Boards – Player boards are a digital drawing on procreate, and boards are from amazon. I painted to be black (player boards) and purple (main board). The logo on the main board is a digital drawing on Procreate that I printed on a adhesive label and cut it to fit the board.
  • Small Box- is 3D printed in PETG Material. Logos are digital drawings in Procreate that I printed on an adhesive label.
  • Characters- 3D Printed in white and painted them
  • Chest – Plain Chest From Joann’s, painted it black, digal logo drawings, and stickers from hobby lobby
  • Cards – Digital drawings, printed on a adhesive label, on plainplaying cards from amazon
  • Pull Card Feature to cover answer – Digital darwing on cardstock paper, stuck to card with double sided tape
  • Basketball hoop – Container from amazon and mini hoop taped to the outside to give it a hoop look effect.

  • any process photos – The transition from the protoype to the final
  • any design iterations – changes to the board, cards or pieces
  • An overview of changes made:
  • Alterations to the player game boards making the game last longer, and less confusing to follow. Making the design digtal artwork that was printed on an actual game board.
  • Made the trivia cards have a pull silde card feature in order to cover the answers rather than a taped piece of paper
  • Made there be a Home Team and an Away Team feature for the challenges rather than the teams being randomly chosen per challenge
  • Updated the point system for the challenges
  • Added a timer to the challenges
  • Printed card design on a piece of labeling paper and put it on a plain playing card purchased from amazon.
  • Adusjted the rules for the slam dunk feature
  • Made a collaspable basketball hoop
  • 3D Printed Character pieces in white and painted them with acrylic paint
  • 3D printed small box for cards, and small challenge pieces
  • 3D printed trays to go into box to hold small items
  • Added a chest to hold materials since everything didn’t fit in 3D printed box

An overview of changes to make:

  • As of right now I am not really sure all what I would add or change to it. I know that I would like to make a more sturdy option for the basketball hoop because the tape doesn’t hold on the material too well. I would also like to further develope the pull card feature making it a little more polished.
  • Your thoughts and lessons learned from play testing:
  • Playtesting taught me a lot about this game and made me understand how much potential that my idea truly had that I just needed to profect it. When playtesting I learned that they way the player boards were set up it didn’t really work, it depended on the dice way to much and most times it resulted in the game ending too early.

Game play w.i.p DND!

Recently I started a DND campaign recently and this is going to be my reflection so far of my journy!.

Was it fun: so far we are all having a blast playing through our campaign

What where some of the player interactions: So far we have battled a vampire who was locked in a church basement to protect the villagers from the clutches of the BBEG of Stradh. My character(a goliath druid) has trouble opening doors and fence gates so far(had to buy a new set of dice haha)

How long did it take for the party to learn the game: so far we are all still working through the motions of battle and just the workings of rolling and finding out what we have to add or remove based on our stats.

Would you play again: we are meeting this friday to continue our campaign and I am super excited!!

Analyze the game using the three act structure: there are multiple instances of the three act structure in DND every time that we roll for initiative thats the starting phase, then battle through a turn based system ensues and then after we either reap our sorrows or celebrate a valorant victory!

What are the collaborative/competitive aspects of the game: there are many aspects in both respects in this type of game, for collaborative you have a chance to help another member with a roll giving them advantage on their next roll, or on the more competitive side of the game you have the ability to fight multiple different creatures, monsters, and other various entities as well as possibly your fellow party members ( if they are under a spell or enchantment.)

What is the games metaphor that makes the games mechanics stand out: In my opinion the metaphor of this game would be”a living, breathing storybook where you are the author,” “a character development journey through a fantastical landscape,” “a puzzle box where you piece together your own path,” “a grand stage where you play out your chosen role,” “a sandbox where you sculpt your own destiny,” or “a quest for self-discovery within a magical world.” to name a few, and the mechanics that stand out to me the most are the turned based attacks and the interactions within the game itself with the non playable characters.

Anansi Web of tricks(1st Playtest)

1st Playtest

During the first playtest, several critical issues surfaced that needed attention to make Anansi’s Web of Tricks more enjoyable and accessible:

1. Pacing Issues:

• Players often took a long time to complete their turns because they had too many options available (e.g., playing Number Cards, using Mischief Cards, activating character abilities, and drawing cards all in one turn).

• The combination of multiple actions led to decision fatigue, especially for younger players in the target age range of 10+.

2. Disruptive Mischief Cards:

• Certain Mischief Cards, such as the original version of Wild Distractions, which forced all players to pass cards to one another, caused significant delays and confusion.

• Group-wide effects often felt frustrating for players who had carefully planned their strategies, only to have their progress upended without much recourse.

3. Rule Complexity:

• Players struggled to follow the game’s flow because the rules for Mischief Cards, character abilities, and the multiple actions allowed in one turn were not clearly delineated.

• Younger players found it hard to track which cards were played and what their effects were, leading to slower rounds and frequent rule clarifications.

Ananasi Web of tricks(Version 2)

Version 2: Developing the Game

Changes Made:

  1. Streamlined Deck:
  • Reduced Trick Cards to 20 and renamed them Mischief Cards to avoid confusion with the Trick suit.
  • Removed Wild Cards entirely.
  1. Simplified Turn Structure:
  • Limited each player to one major action per turn:
  • Play a Number Card OR
  • Use a Mischief Card OR
  • Activate a character ability.
  1. Balanced Abilities:
  • Adjusted character powers to be fairer and more strategic:
  • Anansi: Changed from “swap hands” to “swap one card with another player.”
  • Tiko the Tortoise: Adjusted to block one Mischief Card per round.
  1. Improved Card Effects:
  • Mischief Card effects were focused on individuals or small groups, reducing group-wide disruptions.
  • Example: “Wild Distractions” was changed from forcing all players to pass cards to targeting one player.

Anansi Web of Tricks, 1st version

Initial Version

The initial design included 30 Number Cards, 40 Trick Cards (now Mischief Cards), and 10 Wild Cards. Concerns were raised during playtesting:

  • Pacing Issues: Too many options per turn slowed the game.
  • Unbalanced Rules: Powerful Mischief Cards (e.g., Wild Distractions) targeted all players, disrupting flow and frustrating younger participants.
  • Unclear Design: Fonts and text placement on the cards needed adjustments for readability.

Documentation For “War of The Survivors

  • Game rules
  • Photos of:
    • the game when setup 

Details of the pieces

Trivia cards –

Elimination Markers:

Reward Tokens

  • any process photos – I didn’t happen to taken any process photos during this game.
  • any design iterations – This game didn’t have any changes since I chose not to expand upon it.
  • Your thoughts and lessons learned from play testing

An overview of changes to make

  • More variety in the trivia categories, especially with tougher, non-pop culture questions.
  • Add a “challenge” option to question answers—maybe we could contest a wrong answer from the other team.
  • Make Reward Tokens more flexible, like allowing extra dice rolls or changing the turn order.
  • The elimination process. Once a player is out, they have no role—maybe let eliminated players help in small ways.
  • Add more variety to the checkpoints, like negative effects or rewards for the other team.
  • The trivia categories need to be more balanced in difficulty.
  • Make the endgame more exciting—add a final challenge or twist to make it more competitive.

Your thoughts and lessons learned from play testing

  • Players generally picked up the game fairly quickly, especially the basic mechanics of answering questions, using tokens, and moving along the board. It took only a few rounds for them to understand the flow of the game and how the strategic elements (like the checkpoints and Survivor Tokens) worked.
  •  There were a lot of fun moments where teams tried to outwit each other, especially around the checkpoint rewards and when players started targeting weaknesses in the other team’s knowledge.
  • The timer caused some stress, as players felt rushed to come up with answers, which led to frustration and sometimes poor decisions.
  • Some players felt that certain trivia questions were either too easy or too difficult, leading to some uneven moments in the game.

Documentation For “Truth or Lie”

Game rules:

The game when setup :

Details of the pieces:

  • Prompt Cards: A stack of cards containing statements or questions for players to use.
    • On their turn, a player draws a card from the Prompts Pile.
    • The player reads the prompt aloud and decides to share either a truth or a lie related to the prompt.

Front of “Prompt” Card:

Back of “Prompt” Card:

  • Lie Cards: A stack of cards with challenges or tasks for players to complete if they guess incorrectly.
    • Incorrect Guess: If a player guesses wrong, they must follow the instructions on the drawn Lie Pile card, which may include:
      • •. Performing a silly task. •Sharing a secret. •Completing a dare.

Front of “Lie” Card

Back of “Lie” Cards

  • Wild Cards: nclude special cards in the “Prompts Pile” that introduce unique rules or actions when drawn.

Process Photos – making

  • I don’t think I have any orginally process photos since I made all of it digitally and used all the same files since the beginning.
  • Design iterations – There hasn’t been any real design alterations since I decided to not move forward with this one and it was the seconf game I made. I hope to expand on it in the future at some point though.

  • An overview of changes to make – This game still needs a lot of work. I think I would love to add some sort of point stytem rather than it just being to get so many cards to end to the game.

  • Your thoughts and lessons learned from play testing- This game could be very entertaining to say the least but it really depends on the audience. Some playtesters weren’t affraid to be caught in a lie and that made the game fun. Other rounds weren’t as fun. I think I need to incorperate a way to encourage players to tell lies no matter what.

Game Documentation #3 Freezing Folly

Connor + Reese Collab Game

Game Rules

The Game Setup

Game Piece Details

Design Iterations

  • Cartoonish art style, with a color spunk appealing to the eye. Illustrations correlate to the theme, with cool colors representing ice, water and snow. On the iceberg board, the skulls represent a game over, and the deeper the water, the darker the blue. Design is kept simple, advocating towards a unique feel to the playing experience.

Changes Made Overview

  • We were focused a lot on the graphics of this prototype, which is why our biggest change came from a design iteration. This change involved what the character board would look like. The first idea was a sunken pirate ship but changed when we settled with the iceberg. We adhered to the story of the game, which involves pirates seeking refuge on an iceberg when their ship has crashed. Besides, it was convenient to shape the iceberg into three columns for the players.

Changes to Make Overview

  • As with most of the games, a major change will include clarifications within the rules. This includes more examples, in order to put things into perspective for the players. I feel as if the rules are very short in explanation, so increasing each rule specifications will result in more player comprehension. I have to keep in mind, it’s always best to keep things short and simple, in order to avoid confusion when understanding the rules.
  • The design for this game can only get better, and we have changes we’d like to incorporate. For starters, the iceberg game board needs to be on a solid foundation. This can include any type of board for the paper to stick onto, increasing durability. With a solid foundation, players don’t have to worry about playing on a flimsy paper, but rather on a flat board.
  • A thought we have had was an incorporation of difficulties. There could be a potential “easy” “medium” and “hard” mode, allowing players to alter their experience. It is a matter of how we can incorporate these ideas into our rules.

Thoughts and lessons learned from playtesting

  • One thing I’ve learned during this type of playtesting has to do with the capabilities of the player. Our game relies a lot on memorization, which can be a niche skill for gatherings of people. Now we can assume anyone playing our game has adequate memory, but how can we make this appeal to those who have poor memory? Little considerations like these diversify the playing experience, allowing anyone to have fun.
  • Another thought we have had during our playtesting is how we can make this game more complicated. Watching players interact during the game seemed awkward, and it was only a matter of people taking turns guessing. I think that we can think of ways to make the game more intense, raising the stakes. As long as the players had fun, that’s all that matters. However, I want to see this game go beyond basic interaction, giving people more to talk about their playing experience.

Week 2

Question Set 1

  1. What Mechanics would you like to use for a game with a theme that revolves around being the size of a nanometer? I would play around with the scaling of things and make the player have to change sizes to fit through different objects. 
  2. Who are you making games for?  I am making games for my little brother and my roommate. 
  3. Who will be your playtesters outside of class? My older brother my roommate and my teammates. 

Question Set 2

  1. Can you think of a game you were able to play without referring to the rules?  Rock paper scissors, connect 4, black jack, 31 (scat), LCR, euchre
  2. How do you define what a game is?  I would say its up to the creator. You can make a game out of pretty much anything. As long as there are set rules and and end goal with a winner. There doesn’t always have to be a loser. 
  3. What features can make your games more intuitive?  Keeping the rules simple and a clear explanation of the rules. 

Question Set 3

  1. What was your gateway game? What do you play to introduce others to gaming?  I think a good gateway game is mario kart or something on the wii. 
  1. What features do gateway games share?   I feel like gateway games have to have a somewhat easier difficulty level so that they can win and get hooked on that winning feeling. They also should have lots of pretty colors and look pleasing to the eye. 
  2. What are the 10 beautiful mechanics and what should you aim for with your own?  You should aim to make the game easier fir the player to do little things in the game. Such as when you killed someone in Fortnite early in the games life. You has to pick up all the individual things that they had. Later on in the games life when you killed someone they made it so that if you just walk over them you collect their stuff. This speeds up the game a lot more. 
  3. How does luck and strategy factor in to game play?  Luck and strategy are very different yet go hand in hand. One could get lucky because they used good strategy or one could get lucky with bad strategy. 

Game Ideas thats can be played using cards

game 1: Players use cards representing the four classical elements—Fire, Water, Earth, and Air—to battle against each other. Each element has strengths and weaknesses, and players must strategically play their cards to defeat their opponent’s cards. The goal is to win the most rounds by having the stronger element in play.

Card Types :

Fire: Beats Earth and Air, but loses to Water. 

Water: Beats Fire and Earth, but loses to Air.

Earth: Beats Air and Water, but loses to Fire.

Air: Beats Fire and Water, but loses to Earth.

Game 2: this game is for two people. One player picks up a card from the standard 52 card deck. The next player has to guess higher or lower with ace being the lowest and king being the highest. 

Game 3 : This is played with a standard 52 card deck. You deal the cards out to all players in a clockwise direction till there are no cards left. Each player picks a card and puts it in the center face down if someone spots a match to their card they shout “Match” and that player picks up all the cards in the middle. The winner has the most cards. If two players say match at the same time then it is a tie and the next round is double or nothing. 

Game 4:  Be the first player to make a hand totaling exactly 10 points. Use a standard 52-card deck. Remove the face cards (Jacks, Queens, Kings) from the deck. Aces are worth 1 point. Shuffle the remaining cards and deal 3 cards to each player. The rest of the deck goes face down as the draw pile.

Rules

 Each player looks at their hand and tries to make a total of **exactly 10 points** using any combination of their 3 cards. On each turn, a player may: Keep their hand and pass their turn. Draw a new card from the deck and discard one from their hand to keep a total of 3 cards. The game continues with players drawing, discarding, and trying to make exactly 10 points. The first player to reach exactly 10 points says “Ten!” and wins the game.

Game 5 Use a standard 52-card deck. Shuffle the deck and deal 5 cards to each player. Place the remaining deck face down in the center as a draw pile. Players take turns drawing a card from the draw pile and discarding one card from their hand. The goal is to collect 5 cards of the same suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades). Players must always keep 5 cards in their hand after every draw and discard. The game continues with players drawing and discarding until one player has 5 cards of the same suit. The first player to collect 5 cards of the same suit wins the game!

Week 13 Question Set 2

  • Question Set 2
    • Describe the best game you’ve made this semester in 200 words? Follow Michelle Nephew’s advice.
    • In all honesty, I believe that my best game that aligns with Michelle Nephew’s advice is my game The Tattoo Parlor. The rules of the game are clear and engaging: pick the prompts, set a time, pick a winner. It is fast to learn and requires almost no brain effort, making it approachable for a wide range of players, though there is a target audience. It is a game that you could replay for as long as you’d like to, as the client switches from person to person each round. The game was humorous and the playtesters loved it, they could make it their own and still had fun while staying completely engaged. There is a no cheating component, as players are free to search what particular prompts look like, encouraging more creativity and engagement. The theme stays consistent, with a design centered around various tattoo styles and trends. This not only enhances gameplay but also boosts marketability, as its target audience would naturally include tattoo artists, tattoo enthusiasts, and people who enjoy light, funny party games. It could constantly be updated with the newest tattoo trend, and promote tattoo shops to make more revenue. It also could encourage collaborations with famous artist/shops. My game successfully blends thematic consistency, replayability, and humor into an experience that players would want to return to again.

Weeks 12-13

  • Question Set 1
    • What is the difference between a “working” and a “display” prototype?
      • The difference between a working and a display prototype is when you have a working prototype it is playable and a display prototype is design ready
    • What is required of a working prototype, and what might cause one to fail?
      • There needs to be a clear rule set, almost like you’re reading a “For Dummies” book, one other reason that it might fail is a lack of engagment between players
    • What makes for a good prototype according to Dale Yu?
      • A simple design, testable components, engagement,thematic integration, improvments
    • What advice from Richard Levy will help you pitch your game?
      • I think the best advice I could take out of it was to handle rejection gracefully, I need to be able to be told when something isn’t ready or not right.
    • Where might you pitch your game?
      • I would like to pitch my game to Dolphin Hat Games, they are super unique for their game Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza
    • What do publishers look for in a game?
      • Good gameplay and player feedback.
    • What makes a good set of Rules?
      • Simplicity, and fairness should be part of a good rule set

Skater Skirmish: Version 1

Attached above is the first version of our game skater skirmish. In this iteration, the skatepark was much larger and less refined than the final version.

In this version, the deck of cards was also much smaller and included a smaller amount of tricks. I believe this version was important since it gave us a stepping stone to do much better, from a design that already took us long enough.