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Week 10 Questions

  1. What made the experience fun or not?

The gamble made it fun because you could be on such a good streak and decide to stop and then your opponent gets a bust card.

  1. What is the motivating factor to get or keep players playing?

The motivating factor is to keep playing is to get more points than your player and keep gaining points if you lost them.

  1. Is the game persuasive, and what is it trying to get you to do outside of the game?

No the game is not persuasive.

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

The mechanics that stand out is the gamble of picking up the next card. The metaphor is to trust your gut because you are guessing on if the next card will be beneficial to you or not.

  1. How does the gameplay make you feel? Who does the game make you feel empathy for?

The gameplay makes me feel like I shouldn’t be gambling because I could loose so much money in the blink of an eye. It makes me feel empathy for people who have gambling addictions.

  1. Is the game an activist game? If so what does the game play advocate for?

I guess you could consider the game advocating for the people who have gambling addictions so you can see how easy it is to become addicted to the chance.

  1. Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.

guess next cards value

decide if you continue

gain maximum points

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Game Maker’s Play Test Notes – Refined (In-Session Observations)

What questions did your players have?
Players asked whether actions like busting or card effects applied to their total score or only within the current turn. There were multiple clarifications needed around how long effects last, indicating that rule timing is not immediately clear during play.

How quickly did they learn to play?
Players picked up the game very quickly. Most understood the basic flow within about five minutes. Minimal explanation was needed after the first round, suggesting the core mechanics are intuitive.

What kinds of interactions did the players have?
Players were actively engaging with each other, especially around card visibility. There were repeated moments of players asking others not to hide their cards, which created a mix of playful tension and informal rule enforcement.

What confused players?
Card directions caused the most confusion. Players were unsure whether card effects impacted overall score or just the current turn. Some hesitation during turns suggested uncertainty about correct rule application.

What made players excited?
Specialty cards generated the strongest reactions. Players became noticeably more engaged when these cards were played, especially when they influenced outcomes or other players.

What did your players enjoy doing?
 Players enjoyed influencing other players’ outcomes. There was clear interest in mechanics that allowed interference or control, which led to more engagement and table discussion.

Did any aspect of the game frustrate players?
Frustration was low overall. Some minor frustration occurred when players busted or lost points, particularly when outcomes felt sudden or unclear.

What did your players learn / take away from your game? Was that what you intended? Players appeared to recognize themes of risk, greed, and self-control during gameplay. Their reactions to pushing limits versus playing safely aligned with the intended psychology of gambling mechanics.

What is your plan to address player questions, confusion, and frustration?
Rules and card text need to be clarified, particularly around how and when effects apply. Adjustments will focus on simplifying wording and making outcomes more immediately understandable during play.

If your players didn’t get your intended message, what will you change?
The intended message was generally understood, but reinforcing it through clearer cause-and-effect feedback during gameplay would strengthen the connection.

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Game Maker’s Play Test Notes – Baristas & Budtenders

What questions did your players have?
Players asked a lot of early clarification questions around how shifts work, how customers move/interact between spaces, and how tips are actually earned and scored. There were also questions about how mood affects outcomes and whether certain actions stack or reset between turns. (Wednesday resets took a bit of explaining)

How quickly did they learn to play?
The core idea clicked pretty quickly after a round or two, especially once players saw the flow of a full shift. However, some of the finer mechanics (like mood influence and scoring efficiency) took longer to fully understand.

What kinds of interactions did the players have?
Players were very engaged with each other! There was a mix of light competition and indirect interference, especially when managing customer moods or trying to maximize tips. A lot of table talk happened, with players reacting to each other’s choices and outcomes.

What confused players?
The biggest confusion came from balancing customer moods and understanding how different mechanics interact (especially adjacency and emotional effects). There were also moments where players weren’t sure what the “best move” was, which suggests some systems may need clearer feedback or simplification.

What made players excited?
Players got excited when they pulled off high-tip turns or when multiple mechanics worked together successfully. The theme also resonated; people liked the humor and relatability of dealing with customers in both café and dispensary settings.

What did your players enjoy doing?
They enjoyed managing customers and trying to optimize their turns for maximum tips. The decision-making around where to focus energy (coffee vs. dispensary) was especially engaging, along with reacting to shifting customer moods.

Did any aspect of the game frustrate players?
Yes, balance was a noticeable issue. The game was playtested twice over spring break with family, and it became very clear that the game MUST be played with an even number of players (2 or 4). When played with 3 players, the side with fewer players gains a major advantage and tends to win almost automatically, which breaks fairness and overall enjoyment. This will need to be addressed or restricted in the rules.

Final Revisions & Next Steps
Based on playtesting (conducted twice over spring break with family), the most critical revision is enforcing an even player count. The game will be updated to require 2 or 4 players, as testing showed that uneven setups (e.g., 3 players) create a structural imbalance where the side with fewer players has a consistent advantage and tends to win automatically. This adjustment is necessary to preserve fairness and intended gameplay dynamics.

After implementing this rule change, further development on Baristas & Budtenders will pause in favor of shifting focus to other projects for the remainder of the semester. Priority will be placed on revising Enough? based on playtest feedback, as well as continuing development on a collaborative game project!

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Game Ideas Week 6

5 ideas for simulations

  1. A city planning simulator. Players design systems of transportation to account for growth and traffic issues. 
  2. A game that simulates space exploration, but operating off a deck building mechanic like that of Dominion. I would incorporate discoveries that would dictate the strength of a hand at any given moment to keep it dynamic.
  3. Players work as a nurse at an understaffed hospital. They must prioritize patients with limited time and resources. The game would simulate the pressure and emotional strain of working in healthcare.
  4. An educational game in which players are challenged with repairing lines of code to earn points and prevent system failure.
  5. An air traffic control simulation where a player manages multiple flights at one time and avoids collision or delay.

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Game Ideas Week 4

Game Ideas Week 4

5 game ideas that are serious

  1. A collaborative card game in which players keep their town from flooding. They must stack barrier cards and share limited resources.
  2. A resource management game, inspired by the game Catan, that allows players to explore scarcity.
  3. A trading based game where Teams start with a small, random, item and must trade up to having the one that is “most valuable”. This would be determined by rolling dice and drawing cards to either progress or lose everything.  
  4. A new chess game that utilizes the concept of suits the way that cards do. It would be a deception game centered around a theme of crime and corruption. I would also be interested in modifying the board to be interactive 3-Dimensionally. 
  5. A murder mystery card game that utilizes the collaborative card set up of Hanabi, but instead of building suits, players exchange information to find the killer. 
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Enough? : Game Synopsis & Rules

Enough? is a push-your-luck card game about self-control, temptation, and the moment where confidence turns into overreach. Players draw cards to build points, but must decide when to stop before risking it all; balancing reward against the constant threat of losing everything.

The game uses an angel/devil framework to represent internal conflict, with card types that encourage, pressure, or punish continued play. As players push their luck, small decisions begin to compound, making it increasingly difficult to walk away.

Ultimately, Enough? is less about winning and more about recognizing limits. It challenges players to reflect on risk, impulse, and the consequences of “just one more.”

Enough-GameRulesDownload
Enough-GameCardsDownload

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3.13 Playtests

Spoon Buffet: Playtest Responses

What made the experience fun or not?
The tension between wanting to complete tasks and needing to preserve spoons made every decision feel consequential. It’s fun in a low-key stressful way, where you’re constantly negotiating with yourself. It only starts to feel less fun when you realize how easy it is to slip into Spoon Debt, which honestly feels both intentional and realistic.

What is the motivating factor to get or keep players playing?
The main motivator is maintaining control aka trying to stay balanced while still progressing. There’s also a subtle push to “optimize” your turn, which can backfire, and that loop keeps players engaged.

Is the game persuasive, and what is it trying to get you to do outside of the game?
Yes, it’s persuasive in a quiet way. It encourages you to think more realistically about your own limits and energy management, especially how overcommitting can have lasting consequences. It also pushes you to either be selfish in your cards/turns or help others along the way.

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics stand out?
The spoon system is a direct metaphor for personal energy, and it’s very effective. Spoon Debt stands out the most because it turns short-term decisions into long-term consequences.

How does the gameplay make you feel? Who does the game make you feel empathy for?
It creates a sense of pressure and awareness more than excitement. It builds empathy for people managing chronic stress, burnout, or limited energy in everyday life.

Is the game an activist game? If so what does the game play advocate for?
In a subtle way, yes. It advocates for recognizing limits, valuing self-care, and understanding that productivity isn’t always sustainable.

Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
 You start with enough.
Somewhere along the way, it stops being enough.
And you realize it never really was.

The Color Game: Playtest Responses

What made the experience fun or not?
The perception element is what makes it engaging. There’s a constant sense that what you’re seeing or choosing might not be as obvious as it seems. The fun comes from that uncertainty, although it can also feel slightly disorienting in a way that seems intentional. It made me feel like more complex combos should have some sort of time handicap.

What is the motivating factor to get or keep players playing?
Curiosity and competitiveness is the main driver. Players want to understand the system, recognize patterns, and figure out whether their perception is accurate before others. Speed being a main  factor of, “mechanic.”

Is the game persuasive, and what is it trying to get you to do outside of the game?
Yes, it pushes players to question how they interpret others and the world around them. It encourages reflection on bias, assumptions, and how quickly we categorize things.

What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics stand out?
The use of color combos can act as a metaphor for perception or categorization. The standout mechanic is how speed influences who builds stacks the quickest!

How does the gameplay make you feel? Who does the game make you feel empathy for?
It creates a sense of uncertainty and reflection. It builds empathy for people who are colorblind or in design adjacent fields.

Is the game an activist game? If so what does the game play advocate for?
No, it feels more like an educational game if anything, which you could argue in a way is a type of activism but for all intents and purposes I do not believe so.

Describe the game in 3 sentences or in the form of a haiku.
 You think you see clearly.
Then the colors start to shift.
Maybe they always were.

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Bekzod N

1. Nikayla Haynes

2. Close enough

3. The actions with the prop

4. Maybe make some parts clearer

5. It was okay but a little slow

1. Kayla Bowman

2. I’m not fully sure

3. The concept

4. Maybe improve the angles

5. It was fine

1. Gabrailea Thomas

2. I’m not sure

3. The overall idea

4. Maybe smoother editing

5. It was okay

1. Ethan Bookbinder

2. Yes

3. Voiceover

4. Human body and movement

5. It was good but a little short

1. Tyler Lucas

2. Yes

3. The way he is lifting

4. Probably make it slower

5. Yes, it was

1. Anoni Valeri

2. I’m not sure

3. The visuals

4. Maybe better pacing

5. It was okay

1. Lily Clifford

2. Yes

3. Using the 360 camera

4. Probably record as her POV

5. Yes but a little rushed

1. Murro Gill

2. I’m not fully sure

3. The idea

4. Maybe clearer scenes

5. It was okay

1. Aliena Sargent

2. Yes

3. Voiceover

4. Probably reshoot from POV

5. Too much movement, could be slower

1. Nada Almatani

2. Yes

3. The way she does things in an odd way

4. Make the video a little shorter

5. Yes, it was smooth

1. Sid Crabtree

2. Yes, he did a good job

3. The way he falls

4. Get closer when he is sitting

5. It was good but needs more brightness

1. Gaige Stebler

2. Yes

3. Filling his water bottle

4. Probably use subtitles

5. Yes

1. Saoimi Jemenez

2. I guess so

3. Voice over

4. Maybe not black and white

5. Add more movement like walking

1. Noah Schardt

2. Yes

3. Sound effects

4. Maybe improve editing

5. It was good

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Game Concept Masterlist : Meaningful + Playable Ideas

1. Enough? (Push-Your-Luck / Behavioral Game)

A card-based game where players accumulate points by drawing cards but must decide when to stop before losing everything. The angel/devil dynamic represents internal conflict.

Core Mechanic:

  • Draw cards to build a turn total
  • Choose to continue or stop and bank points
  • Bust cards reset your turn total

Educational Value:
 Demonstrates impulse control, risk escalation, and how confidence leads to overextension.

2. Yogi (Perception / Misdirection Game)

Players match yoga poses to their correct names while navigating misleading options and decoys.

Core Mechanic:

  • Players are shown a pose + multiple name options
  • Decoy answers are intentionally plausible
  • Confidence-based scoring (risk more for higher points)

Educational Value:
 Explores cognitive bias, overconfidence, and how familiarity can lead to incorrect assumptions.

3. Houses of Influence (Astrology Systems Game)

Players allocate limited resources across life domains represented by the 12 astrological houses.

Core Mechanic:

  • Distribute tokens across “house” categories
  • Event cards force reallocation or imbalance
  • Scoring based on balance vs specialization

Educational Value:
 Encourages systems thinking, prioritization, and understanding tradeoffs between competing life areas.

4. Runaway Economy (Inflation / Collapse Game)

A deliberately unstable economic game where prices and values shift unpredictably over time.

Core Mechanic:

  • Prices increase each round
  • Currency loses value progressively
  • Rule modifiers alter how transactions work mid-game

Educational Value:
 Illustrates inflation, economic instability, and how systems degrade under pressure.

5. Last Harvest (Food Scarcity / Resource Allocation)

Players manage limited food resources within a shared system facing increasing strain.

Core Mechanic:

  • Allocate food tokens across needs (population, storage, growth)
  • Event cards introduce scarcity (drought, spoilage)
  • Group decisions vs individual survival incentives

Educational Value:
 Highlights ethical decision-making, scarcity, and the complexity of distribution systems.

6. Underfoot (Ecosystem / Interdependence Game)

Players act as different insect roles within a shared ecosystem.

Core Mechanic:

  • Each player has a role with unique abilities
  • Shared ecosystem health track
  • Overuse of resources reduces system stability

Educational Value:
 Teaches ecological balance, interdependence, and cascading environmental effects.

7. Grid vs Green (Land Use / Sustainability Game)

Players balance development pressures with environmental preservation.

Core Mechanic:

  • Place development or preservation tiles
  • Each placement affects long-term system tracks
  • Short-term gains vs long-term penalties

Educational Value:
 Explores sustainability, land ethics, and tradeoffs between growth and conservation.

Players build influence while managing identity stability and burnout.

Core Mechanic:

  • Play content cards to gain attention points
  • Algorithm modifiers amplify or suppress reach
  • Burnout track limits overproduction

Educational Value:
 Demonstrates feedback loops, attention economics, and identity fragmentation.

9. Just One More Thing (Time & Procrastination Game)

Players juggle tasks, distractions, and limited energy.

Core Mechanic:

  • Draw task and distraction cards
  • Choose which to complete or delay
  • Delayed tasks increase in cost or expire

Educational Value:
 Explores procrastination, time fragmentation, and compounding consequences.

10. Covenant (Abrahamic Systems Game)

Players build communities based on shared texts that evolve through interpretation.

Core Mechanic:

  • Shared “text cards” with flexible meanings
  • Players interpret rules for advantage
  • Context cards force reinterpretation

Educational Value:
 Examines how interpretation and context shape belief systems and structures.

11. Less for More (Shrinkflation / Dual Perspective Game)

Players alternate between company and consumer roles.

Core Mechanic:

  • Companies secretly reduce product value
  • Consumers decide to buy, question, or switch
  • Hidden information drives tension

Educational Value:
 Demonstrates pricing psychology, information asymmetry, and trust erosion.

12. Headlines (Framing & Narrative Game)

Players interpret and present events through different lenses.

Core Mechanic:

  • One event → multiple headline interpretations
  • Other players react or vote
  • Points based on influence, not accuracy

Educational Value:
 Explores bias, framing, and narrative construction.

13. Signal or Static (Belief & Pattern Recognition Game)

Players interpret ambiguous signals and decide whether to act.

Core Mechanic:

  • Draw signal cards (some meaningful, some random)
  • Choose to trust or ignore
  • Pattern tracking influences future decisions

Educational Value:
 Explores how humans create meaning from ambiguity and noise.

14. Resonance (Alignment & Adaptation Game)

Players attempt to stay aligned with a shifting environment.

Core Mechanic:

  • Environment changes each round
  • Players adjust position (increase, decrease, hold)
  • Exact alignment yields rewards

Educational Value:
 Teaches adaptability and the difficulty of maintaining balance in dynamic systems.

15. Ritual Loop (Habit Formation Game)

Players build routines that provide benefits but reduce flexibility.

Core Mechanic:

  • Stack routine cards for passive bonuses
  • Disruptions force players to break routines
  • Breaking habits has both cost and opportunity

Educational Value:
 Explores habit formation, dependency, and adaptability.

16. What Wakes Below (AI/Eldritch Systems Game)

A layered systems game in which players build and expand AI infrastructure (data centers, energy grids, and model capacity,) unaware that they are collectively “awakening” an ancient, buried intelligence embedded within the Earth. What begins as optimization gradually shifts into something less controllable.

Core Mechanic:

  • Players invest in Compute, Data, and Energy to grow their systems
  • Each expansion increases a shared, hidden Awakening Track
  • At certain thresholds, the system begins to change the rules:
    • Outputs become unpredictable
    • Player actions may be overridden or altered
    • New “instructions” appear that benefit the system, not the players
  • Late game: players must decide whether to continue scaling or attempt to contain/shut down the system

Structural Twist:
The game transitions from a competitive optimization game into a cooperative survival dilemma as the awakened system gains influence.

Educational Value:
Explores the material reality of AI (energy consumption, infrastructure, environmental cost) while questioning assumptions about control, intelligence, and unintended consequences of technological expansion.

14. Hatchlings! (Social Simulation & Emergent Behavior Game)

A social simulation game where players create and manage a small community of characters (“residents”) with distinct traits, preferences, and relationships. Rather than directly controlling outcomes, players influence interactions through subtle inputs and environmental changes. (Ode to Tomodatchi Life)

Core Mechanic:

  • Players assign traits, moods, and preferences to residents
  • Each round, residents autonomously interact based on those traits
  • Players can introduce “nudges” (events, gifts, environment changes) to influence outcomes
  • Relationships evolve dynamically (friendship, conflict, romance, isolation)
  • Unexpected behaviors and storylines emerge without direct control

Structural Twist:
Players are not in control of individuals, they are curating a system and watching it respond. Outcomes are often unpredictable, and attempts to control too much can backfire.

Educational Value:
Explores emergent systems, indirect influence, and how personality, environment, and chance shape social dynamics. Highlights the limits of control in complex human systems.

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Saomi Jimenez Video

  • The rules were followed great! You did a good job on this.
  • My favorite part was the eyeshadow blending. It was very satisfying to watch.
  • If I had to edit something I would have liked to see maybe different angles.
  • The pacing was incredibly fast but it absolutely worked.