Category: Game Ideas

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Five New Ideas for Serious Games

“Under the Surface” puts players in the role of marine biologists, tackling ocean decline. By studying marine life and tracking pollution, players witness the impact of human actions and learn how small changes can protect ecosystems. This game emphasizes environmental awareness and the importance of conservation.

“Echoes of the Past” delves into forgotten historical narratives. Players piece together lost stories, revealing biases in historical records and highlighting the importance of diverse voices. Through detective work and interactive storytelling, players confront historical events shaped by conflict and displacement. This game promotes cultural preservation and challenges traditional historical perspectives.

“Bias Breakdown” tackles media literacy. Players navigate a digital news landscape, learning to identify bias and misinformation. By taking on roles within the media, they understand how algorithms and narratives shape public perception. This game aims to teach critical thinking and awareness of media influence.

“Prison Pipeline” addresses systemic injustice. Players follow the lives of young people, making choices that illustrate the impact of socioeconomic disparities on their futures. This game exposes the consequences of racial and economic bias within the criminal justice system, highlighting how policy affects real lives.

“Silent Signals” focuses on mental health awareness. Players learn to interpret non-verbal cues and provide support to someone experiencing mental health struggles. By mimicking the difficulties of communication, this game fosters empathy and understanding. These game ideas all demonstrate how games can be used to educate, raise awareness, and promote positive change, moving beyond simple entertainment.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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WEEK 6

Concept and Rule Set: Anansi the trickster
PROTOTYPE 1
• Theme: Inspired by Anansi, the trickster spider, with gameplay focused on outwitting opponents.
• Objective: Be the first player to discard all cards while using abilities and trick cards to sabotage others.
• Deck Composition:
• Number Cards: 30 cards across 3 suits (Trick, Trap, Action), numbered 1-10.
• Trick Cards: 40 cards with various actions (e.g., stealing cards, reversing turns, forcing draws).
• Wild Cards: 10 cards to match any suit or number.
• Character Cards: 10 unique trickster characters, each with special abilities.
• Turn Structure:
1. Play a card to match the top card on the discard pile by suit or number.
2. Play a Trick Card or Wild Card at any time.
3. Use character abilities at any time during a turn.
4. Draw a card if no playable options exist.
• Winning: First player to discard all cards wins.

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Cat Game (Looking For Opinions)

Some of you guys played my cat game and left some awesome suggestions. Here are some updates I’d like to add to it, and Character ideas I would like for people to have.

Character Ideas:

  • King Cat (White Siamese)(can smack anyone they want down one level, only once)
  • Ragdoll Cat (Prone to falling over, but can discard other disadvantage cards)
  • Black Cat (Best luck in the whole game!(Can pick 2 cards from activity )
  • Orange Cat (Can steal out of anyone’s deck, but cant see which card they get)
  • Trash cat(Can steal one treat from one person each turn)

Character cards will always be picked randomly (Need more character Ideas, feel free to tell me if these need changed too!)

New Ideas:

Instead of Treats moving you up a level, you can spend/eat your treats on different items and abilities to help you move up a level.

Card Ideas:

  • Cat Fight- Two Players roll dice, whoever gets bigger number gets to pick something out of other players hand
  • Laser Pointer- Distract other players (need an idea for the rest of this)
  • Vacuum Cleaner- Everyone looses treats (Play Immediately)
  • Eat your treat- Forced to discard 3 of your treats (Play Immediately)
  • Biskets- Benefit card

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Collecting Games

Hungry Hungry Chopsticks

In this game, it has a base sort of like hungry hungry hippos. In the game though, you have to put the small balls in your corner by picking them up with chopsticks. You must pick up the ball and not roll it back to your side. The whole point behind this game is for it to be funny to watch people try and pick up spheres with chopsticks.

Mega Jacks

For a while, I have wanted to create a very large jacks game. Jacks is a simple game that involves you bouncing a ball and grabbing small metal “jacks” before the ball hits the ground. To make this big, you would need a ball roughly the size of a dodgeball, and jacks that are similar sized. When it comes to collecting games, this in an interesting take on a classic game.

Luck of the Lottery

This game is a traditional board game, but the catch is that the only way to collect money is by “scratching” a lottery ticket after each turn. These lottery tickets would just be not scratched on one side and scratched on the other so you may reuse them. Most of the cards would be losers, with some giving a bit of money and some giving a lot.

RMU Runners

This game is more or less a joke (for legal reasons). In this game, all of your players start in one room. You each draw a card from a standard deck of cards to determine order in which you go. If your turn is up, you must run around campus and take parking tickets off of peoples cars so the police force does not administer more tickets. The key is going first because you will have to run farther to find tickets when close by ones run out. The player with the most tickets at the end of the round wins, and you play to the first person to win three rounds.

Ground Hog Hunt

The aim of this game is to collect photos of groundhogs. All players will meet at the Gazebo, and will start the round with a timer for 5 minutes. Each player will run off and attempt to get photos of groundhogs. The player with the most photos of separate groundhogs at the end of the 5 minutes wins. Photos taken withing 5 feet of the groundhog rewards double points for that photo. If you manage to capture a groundhog, you instantly win the game (legally never said this).

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games on collecting

  1. relic seekers

a game revolving around collecting artifacts found around in caves and maps. you travel around the map and when you land on certain spaces you spin the wheel and see what artifact you collect, you want to get the artifacts that have the best value to sell to the museums and you want the most money at the end of the games.

2. critter garden

each player has a garden that they can inhabit with multiple different creatures. each critter needs 2 of a kind to be placed to live in the garden. the first to fill their garden wins.

3. galaxy collector

it starts with getting all of the different components from the draw pile to make different parts of a galaxy form planets to stars to meteors to moons. their are different kinds of planets that you can get and each set of planets and moons make different types of galaxy’s

.4. time traveler gallerys

its is like your playing as doctor who, you travel through time with the board and their are different things to collect to get out of each time and specific things you can take with you to put into your gallery. each time has its own cards and the first o get an item from each time wins.

5. fruit salad

people draw cards and try and collect the same types of ingredients for salad, whether it be fruit, veggie, pasta salad they all have certain cards that go to build them, you must take and hold on to cards without others knowing what you have. you try and get the most ingredients to get points and certain ingredient can have multiple to get more points.

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Game ideas(Collecting)

  1. Anansi’s Web of Tricks is a trickster strategy game in which players collaborate and compete to discard their hands by using character abilities and trick cards to outwit and manipulate each other. Players collect trick cards, action cards, and number cards, which they use strategically to discard their hand and manipulate the game.
  2. Temple Path is a tile-laying adventure game in which players collaborate to build paths toward the center of the temple while using action cards to assist each other or overcome obstacles. Players collect path tiles and action cards that help them build routes toward the center of the temple.
  3. Corporate Espionage is a strategy board game in which players act as rival executives in a high-stakes corporate world, collaborating with or sabotaging others to secure the most resources by using underhanded tactics, corporate spies, and bribes. Players collect resources, such as money, insider information, and influence, by using spies, bribes, and underhanded tactics
  4. Sabotage Heist is a real-time card game in which players compete as thieves on a heist, secretly sabotaging each other’s plans while trying to pull off the perfect crime by using bluffing, deception, and carefully timed traps. Players collect valuable loot during the heist while using bluffing cards and sabotage tools to prevent others from succeeding
  5. The Saboteur’s Ball is a social deduction party game in which players are attendees at an elite gala, trying to identify who the secret saboteurs are while undermining each other’s efforts to influence key figures by spreading rumors, planting evidence, and setting traps.
    Players collect rumors, evidence, and influence as they try to identify the secret saboteurs and undermine other attendees at the gala
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Carcassonne Review

Was it fun?

Personally, I thought this game was a lot of fun. It had a lot of strategy involved, which to me is fun.

What were the player interactions?

The player interactions includes us bartering to place pieces in certain spots if we needed them, and placing pieces in spots to make the opponent have a disadvantage.

How long did it take to learn?

This one was pretty easy to learn, but it took a while to understand how the point system worked. The farmers, roads, etc all have different values so I did not understand how bad I was doing at first.

Would you play it again?

No, simply due to the games length.

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.

In the beginning, you start by placing your first cards and slowly start to build small structures. In the middle, you start to place bigger structures all while screwing other people over. In the end, you finish your structures and the game ends. Once you count your points, the one with the most wins.

What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?

There aren’t really any ways to collaborate other than working together with another player to finish a structure. For the competitive aspects, it is basically the same in reverse by working with players in order for someone not to finish what they were trying to build.

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?

The metaphor that I think of is that it is a game of life, and each tile you place represents your future. But each tile you look back on is the past, and it cannot be changed.

The game mechanics that stick out most to me are the builder pieces, which is a nice addition that makes it easier to finish structures. But also, I find it interesting how once the game is coming to an end, everyone is looking for that one specific piece they need, basically gambling on whether or not they will ever find it.

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Game Ideas: Red Solo Cups

Battle Cups

Battle Cups is a game Owen and I worked on last year, and I still believe that it is flawed and needs a revisit. The concept of the game is that you are playing battleship, but instead of trying to guess exact spots, you are shooting a ping pong ball into the cups. It adds a sense of skill to battleship, which others and I seemed to enjoy last year.

Cup Darts

This game is a teammate game in which you switch positions every turn, while also playing against another team. In this game, it starts by having a dartboard on the ground like a cornhole board, and you have to throw a red solo cup with a dart attached to the bottom at the board. It behaves much like normal darts, but your teammate that did not throw the dart has the chance to throw a ping pong ball at the cup. If the hit the cup, it is a 2x multiplier, and if you make it inside the cup it is a 3x multiplier. You can play this with any traditional dart game, such as cricket or 301.

Structural Integrity

In this game, you are given a deck of cards that are custom made for the game. On each card, is a different structure that you have to attempt to make out of red solo cups. In a separate deck of cards, there is a required weight that your structure has to hold. (EX: One pound, 1/2 pound, etc.). The way you win the round is by your structure being able to withstand the weight you have drawn. First player to 3 rounds won wins. To wrap this game up, why not add a classic sand timer as well.

Towers

In this game, you are given a large stack of red solo cups. The objective of this game is to create the largest or most creative structure out of red solo cups possible. You have 5 minutes in order to make your structure. At the end of the 5 minutes, the person with the largest or most creative structure wins.

Flip Cup Race

In this game, it is much like a normal game of flip cup. But instead, you will line 10 cups on the edge of the table and be on teams of 2. You will start about 10 feet away from the table and when the buzzer sounds, you run to the table and attempt to flip your first cup. If you do not land the cup, you must try again until you do so. If you do land the cup, you must run back and tag your teammates hand to let him go flip a cup. You keep alternating turns until the other team finishes first, or you finish your cups first.