Ames' syllabi

Description: Road Paver is a game in which players plot out a system of roads to grow and evolve their cities all while juggling the happiness of their citizens and the well-being of the environment.

How to Play:

• Each player will have their own independent City that they want to build up. Each Player will start with a single Dirt Road Tile as a foundation for their City.
• The Player who got their Driver’s License first gets to go first, go clockwise from there.
• When it is a Player’s turn, they will pick a single Road Tile or Building Tile and attach it to their City. If there are no Road Tiles from the Current Era remaining or you have no space to attach a Building Tile to your roads, you must skip your turn.
• Players will repeat this process until all Tiles from the Current Era are gone. Once all Tiles from the Current Era have been used, Players can move to the next Era of Tiles.
• The game will end once all Tiles from all Eras have been placed.
• To determine a final score, add together all of your Happiness Values and Environmental Values. The Player with the highest combined total of Happiness and Environment Value is the winner.

Game Mechanics:

• Happiness Value (HV): Happiness Value is one of the two scores Players must keep track of. Building Tiles will have varying levels of HV attached to them, some positive and some negative. Players should aim to keep as high of a HV as possible.
• Environmental Value (EV): Environmental Value is the other score Players must keep track of. Building Tiles will have varying levels of EV attached to them, some positive and some negative. Players should aim to keep as high of an EV as possible.
• Road Tiles: Road Tiles are the building blocks of the game. Road Tiles can only be placed next to another Road Tile and the paths on the Tiles must match up. Road Tiles from separate Eras are allowed to connect.
• Building Tiles: Building Tiles are how players will gain their HV and EV. Building Tiles each have a set amount of HV and EV attached to them. Building Tiles must be touching a Road Tile from the same Era to be placed.
• Current Era: As Players place Tiles, their Cities will progress through different Eras. Cities will start in the Stone Era with simple Dirt Paths and Wooden Huts, but will eventually progress to the Modern Era with Highways and Skyscrapers. In order to progress to a new Era, players must place every available Tile from the Current Era, Players cannot advance to the next Era until all Tiles from the Current Era are used. Building Tiles from each Era can only be placed on Road Tiles from the same Era.

• Game about doing everything right as a black astronaut and still not being allowed to go to space
• Game where you’re a beloved politician, but no matter how right or informed one of your decisions seems, you only see the worst outcomes
• Game that makes you dissect the mice used to test common medicines (this is not a statement against common medicine I just went out with a girl who does that as a research job and thought it was insane how frequently and mercilessly they kill mice)
• Game that simulates short term memory loss symptoms by dropping the player into high-context conversations – without the necessary context (maybe you can tattoo yourself like in Memento)
• Game that puts you in the position of an American Defense Planner after being notified of an unprecedented nuclear attack. There are no rules.

I wanted to be unique with my feedback and create a questionnaire myself with my own questions that I was wondering specifically, on top of the questionnaire that Ames already provides to everyone during a play test. I asked everyone:

1. What did you think of the colors/aesthetic? Would you change anything? Were the colors denoting the type of question properly?
2. Would you be open to experiencing a video as a ruleset instead of a written, lengthy ruleset? Why or why not?
3. Was the 2-minute sand timer enough time? If not, what do you think it should be?
4. Did you enjoy the red bolt category (actions)? Do you have any recommendations for actions to add or ones to adjust? Why?
5. Would you recommend this to a friend? Would you play the finished version/play again?

Shane’s Answers

1. I like the idea of having categories/colors. I think stating the color of the card could make the game more interesting/add more strategy.
2. A video ruleset would be nice. Seeing the game played out is always easier than reading.
3. I think the time was good. It never felt too short and never felt too long either.
4. I thought having actions was a fun way to spice things up. Having more active ones could be fun and make managing your time more interesting.
5. I would recommend this. I had a fun time and it felt competitive the whole time. It was a good mix of fun and educational.

Ben’s Answers

1. I think a various color boxes (red, yellow, green) for correct answer to fill and a reward of a meaningful object(s) (like Beatstar).
2. I think both are fine since I saw the written rules are organized; video is a bonus for fun exploration.
3. I think it’s a fair amount.
4. I enjoy it since it’s a mission trivia for fulfill the level of striking signs.
5. I would recommend for video game designer field and students since this mechanics are very towards the video game reward system.

Shane Ames’s Questionnaire

1. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played? Some questions I had zero idea on the topic, but I’m not sure anything could be done to help that.
2. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played? The competitive aspect of trying to get enough cards was a lot of fun.
3. Was there anything that you wanted to do that you couldn’t? I would have liked to know the color of the card I was being asked.
4. If you had a magic wand, and you could change, add , or remove anything from the experience, what would it be? Know the colors easier for more strategy
5. How was the play experience changed since the first play test? n/a
6. Is this a game you would play again? Why? Yes, mentioned on other sheet.

My response to user feedback

I think a lot of what Shane and Ben said is valid. I was already thinking about a lot of their concerns and questions such as the color of the cards and potentially playing around with the concept of changing the back of the color to whatever color the bolt is on the front of the card. Given that the user answering doesn’t get to see the question/answer side, it makes sense to change this so they have an idea of at least what kind of question they are going to be asked. Also, I’m glad that both of them thought the time given (2 minutes) was good because that was one of my main concerns given the variety of questions/actions on the card.

Clay added some insight as well. He was talking to me about explaining the answer to the person answering if they answer incorrectly. In the play test I left that open ended to see what the users would do when answering incorrectly. Would they be curious and ask what the answer was? Or would they simply fall into a cycle of confusion? Unfortunately it was the latter. This wasn’t the end of the world, but I edited the ruleset to explain that and even added in the house rules section an optional hint section.

Ames talked to me about my blue bolt section. Some of the questions weren’t necessarily “general knowledge”, so I changed this section to be classified as “Pop Culture” to give me some leeway in that regard.

Lastly, from just observing, I found that I wasn’t specific enough about who was flipping the tube and who was picking the card. In most card games, if it is your turn you are the one picking the card. However, in this game, since the answer is on the card, the person not actively answering (the person who’s turn it is NOT) is the one picking the card from the deck to read to the other. That means that the player that is actively answering is the one flipping the sand timer.

Class today was productive. I worked more on color theory and the overall aesthetic for BrainyAct. I found that the best look is to go with a black and white color scheme and have the colorful aspect of the game be associated with the types of challenges that come with the game. I originally experimented with primary colors (red, blue, yellow) with the addition of a bright green. However, after looking at the concept art and mockups, I decided to go against the brighter colors and instead chose a pastel color scheme for the same colors. This gave the look a more unique feel and made the game feel better art-wise.

Next week I plan on elaborating on the experimentation I did and begin to test the game mechanics. Until then I will be working on making at least 5 challenges per color category and do some user research/testing while doing so. I think this would be a good addition to the portfolio as well.