Category: Game Reviews

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Catan Review

What were the player interactions?

Trading, Negotiating, Blocking

Was it fun?

Yes

How long did it take to learn?

15-20 min

Would you play it again?

Yes

Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.

  1. Setup and build initial settlements.
  2. Conflict starts to arise from resources and trading.
  3. The final starts when strategies start to unfold and someone wins the game

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

Trading resources and building / scoring

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

Metaphor for resource management and community building. The trading and building stand out to me.

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game reviews

anansi’s web of tricks

  1. the rules not being on the cards and having to look in the rules over and over again.
  2. it was like uno
  3. no
  4. no
  5. more cards, suits
  6. cultural, fun, trickster

word relay

  1. nothing was very frustrating.
  2. the fast pace.
  3. no
  4. more ways to get points to make it more even points wise.
  5. more points
  6. fast, fun, intuitive

dillon’s game

  1. knowing how to start and how the damage parts work
  2. i don’t think i had a favorite moment , maybe going into the negatives of stats for fun.
  3. no
  4. have more points possible for skills and have more health.
  5. how the damage system works.
  6. challenging, dnd, interesting
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Playtest Review – Evelyn’s GoViral

Overall, I really enjoyed this game! I hope you continue to work on this idea! This is a game that I would definitely consider purchasing if I saw it somewhere! 

  • What was the most frustrating part or aspect of what you just played? The most frustrating part was trying to come up with captions with no time limit. (I think the timer definitely helped!)
  • What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I love that this game isn’t just writing prompts or attaching premade prompts to a card. It’s a combination of both and I think that really makes this game unique. 
  • Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I wanted to be able to more easily discern a winner when there was a tie. 
  • If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I think I would make it so that there was a little bit more strategy to how you go about playing the game? Overall, I really like this game so I’m not entirely sure. 
  • What should be improved with the next version? I think just adding more trends, clarifying what happens during a tie, and maybe a scoreboard/scale to keep track of points so that players are shooting for a goal. 
  • Describe the game in 3 words. Creative party game
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Playtest Review – Reese’s Tasty Travels

Overall, I really enjoyed this game and I think it has a lot of potential! 

  • What was the most frustrating part or aspect of what you just played? The resources running out. Some countries would have a lot more resources than others and some resources weren’t available at all, like flour. 
  • What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? I really like the randomization of the ingredients across the countries. 
  • Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I had a difficult time cooking certain dishes so I wish there were more basic ingredients like flour and eggs. I also wish that I could go any direction that I wanted. 
  • 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 make it so that the ingredients distribution was more balanced and that it was a little bit easier to complete dishes but still a little difficult. 
  • What should be improved with the next version? I think that the beginning of the game could be specified and cleared up a bit more so that it is more intuitive for the players just by reading the directions. I think the total distribution of ingredients after a certain around would help so that certain countries don’t end up with less or more ingredients. The problem with ingredients running out could also be potentially fixed by limiting the amount of ingredients a player can hold at any given time. Some fun stuff ideas: personal boards, cute little pot for the ingredients, etc. 
  • Describe the game in 3 words. Luck-based, unique, fun! 
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Honey Heist Review

  • Was it fun? Yes, this game was fun. I have never played a role-playing game before so it was exciting. 
  • What were the player interactions? Players had to deliberate amongst each other to make decisions that would alter the outcome of the game. 
  • How long did it take to learn? Pretty quickly, because it was just like telling a story. 
  • Would you play it again? Yes, I would. 
  • Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.The first act of the game was when we were first learning the rules of the games and assigning roles and characters. We were introduced to the goal – to secure the honey. The second act of the game was when we started to really strategize about how we were going to get this honey and who could do what job based on their abilities. The third act would have been when we got close to the cabin with the honey and it was evident that we were more than likely going to succeed in securing the honey. 
  • What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game? This game is very collaborative. Everyone has their own special abilities and jobs that makes them uniquely contribute to the team. As a team, we were supposed to work together to get the honey and we had to make decisions as a group. 

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout? The metaphor is a group of bears who are going to steal honey from a convention and will do whatever it takes to get it. The standout mechanics of this game was that pretty much everything was determined by the roll of a die—what kind of bear you were, your abilities, if you succeeded in doing a task, etc.

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slime wars game makers play test notes

  1. the advantages ? other than that the first time i played tested they had literally every question about how to start because i forgot to add integral parts in the rules.
  2. for how the first group played like 30 minutes for how they ended up playing, for the second group like 15 minutes maybe, and the third time like 15 as well.
  3. they tried to trade and also found loop holes that were really stupid. they also liked to attack a lot especially in the first group.
  4. how to start with the first group and their weren’t many confusions with the rest of the groups.
  5. grouping up on people.
  6. loop holes, and forming alliances, building up aries.
  7. blurry cards, and how to start.
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shark frenzy review

  1. he barley had any rules and for some reason it was in a poem format.
  2. winning was my favorite part
  3. have more things happen with my cards
  4. i wouldn’t change any thing.
  5. more cards, and a more competitive aspect like random action cards that can be used.
  6. fish, card, cool
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Art Heist

What was the most fruatrating moment or aspect of what you just played? keeping track of where everyone was

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? getting to blame the other players

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? no

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? add other jobs because the joker is the only one who actually reaches for the art

What should be improved with the next version? more reasons to reach for the art because its obvious who it is if only one person is reaching for it.

Descibe the game in 3 words? mysterious, active, interesting

Bear Heist

What was the most fruatrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Being creative enough to figure out what to do

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? The chance of seeing if youll roll under a 3

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?  nope

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I like the game how it is

What should be improved with the next version? Maybe add more characteristics for the bears

Descibe the game in 3 words? fun, creative, collaborative

To Feed or Not to Feed

What was the most fruatrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Picking up only low cards

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? getting to feed my animals

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? no

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? add a rule for what happens if you tie

What should be improved with the next version? I think its pretty solid and a lot of the changes were added already

Descibe the game in 3 words? fun, competitive, intresting

Jokes on You Prototype 2

Players: 3-6

Setup: Shuffle the deck including the Jokers. Deal 7 cards to each player. Place the remaining cards in the middle of the table with another card placed next to it face up.

Gameplay: The goal of the game is to be the first person to get a run of 7 cards. A run is 7 cards in numerical order that are all the same suit(7♠ ,8♠, 9♠, 10♠, J♠, K♠, Q♠). You can pickup from either deck, but you can only grab from the top of the deck. The first player discards to the person to the right. Always pickup a card first and discard last. The rest of the game the players discards to the discard pile and the person to their right. The card discarded to the right will wlays remain faced down. If you pick up a Joker, you can use that card to take someone elses card from their hand. Once the Joker is used it goes into the discard pile and cannot be picked up again unless the deck is shuffled. Frist person to get their run and says “Jokes on You” is the winner.

Other Rules: If you run out of cards, reshuffle the deck

The run does not have to start at ace/one, you can start at any number as long as you can get 7 in a row. (you can’t start at Queen as you can only get two cards past it)

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garden sabotage test

  1. nothing frustrated me, only my luck in pulling cards. also not getting to finish the game.
  2. getting to have as many cards in my hand as i wanted.
  3. no.
  4. maybe adding more of certain flowers, i know the point s for some cards to be more rare to get more points but i was struggling to get the cards i needed.
  5. only having a way to get rid of cards in your hand, cues the no hand limit is fun but at some point i think you would start running out of cards.
  6. pretty, strategic, creative.
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academic integrity test

  1. i wasn’t frustrated at all everything made sense and was straight forward.
  2. getting to give people cards that are comedic with the prompt.
  3. no.
  4. no.
  5. nothing really needed improved.
  6. artistic, comedic, fun.
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jam sesh test

  1. mostly it was the people, the game itself wasn’t ever frustrating, well maybe the amount of times we all rolled 12s.
  2. my favorite part was getting to make the songs and hear everyone’s peices.
  3. no, nothing felt like it needed to b added.
  4. maybe trading cards with others or being able to chose the key of your piece, but that would get very technical. also making it more competitive in a way, i know games don’t need to be competitive but it makes it more fun for me.
  5. having more cards.
  6. creative, simple, musical.
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Sara Estus – To Feed or Not to Feed Game Review

1.) Running out of food tokens was hard, I think it changed the game a lot

2.) I enjoyed that it was repayable through shuffling the deck after rounds!

3.) I wish I could have interacted more with the animals I had, rather than just feeding them and putting them to the side.

4.) More food tokens, and maybe more animals?

5.) I think the animal cards having more purpose, and that there should be more food tokens as stated above!

6.) Animals Very Hungry

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Sara Estus – Builder Buccaneers Game Review

1.) Trying to be super quick with building! It’s part of the game so I enjoyed it, but that can be hard sometimes to build fast.

2.) I enjoyed the aspect of having a range of different levels to build, with the levels reflecting super well with the building difficulty.

3.) Play the game longer, I felt like it ended super early, but for a prototype I’d say that’s good for further trial and error!

4.) A bigger board, with obstacles, pirates, treasure and different levels of difficulty.

5.) The length of the game and the board, as my previous comments on why.

6.) Fast Building Ships

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Playtest Review Lauren Yunk

To Feed or not to Feed

What was the most fruatrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Keeping track of which animals were fully fed or still needed fed.

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? The fact that the game relates to war.

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I dint think so.

If you had a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be?  I feel like it would be fun to have certain animals tie because then you could encourperate something where youd have to battle to see who would win.

What should be improved with the next version? Adding a different color food for when you are finsihed feeding your animal.

Descibe the game in 3 words? fun, competitive, simple

Builders

What was the most fruatrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Making sure the build was built neatly.

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? The competitive aspect of trying to do something neat yet quick to get the points.

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? Nope.

If you has a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? I would add more builds

What should be improved with the next version? The cards telling you what to build

Descibe the game in 3 words? speedy, entertaining, competitive

Jam Sesh

What was the most fruatrating moment or aspect of what you just played? knowing what notes were what

What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? getting to hear my song at the end

Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t? nope

If you has a magic wand to wave, and you could change, add, or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? i would remove or change the part where the notes have to be four notes apart to be placed next to each other, if that is even what that rule meant, because as someone who knows nothing about music, I found that very confusing

What should be improved with the next version? design aspect

Descibe the game in 3 words? musical, fun, ineresting