Ames' syllabi

Game themes

1. Dinosaurs
   1. Explore evolution and mass extinction
2.   Possible bad days, things that go wrong, bad luck
3. Showers, bathing-routines, products,
4. Blanket forts
5. Snoring, sleeping positions, amount of blankets
6. Trash—recycling, landfills

Game design

Audrey Miller

The three board games played this week were Pandemic, Takenoko, and Impero. During the game Takenoko, we played in 4 groups of 2. This game took contribution of all players for one team to win. It was a very confusing game because each icon had a specific type of move to make and we had to keep referring to the instructions to remember. While playing Takenoko, it was obvious that the game was made around the story and the images on the game pieces were well planned and executed. The mechanics of the game seemed to be the final thing the game designers thought about. It was hard to follow at first, and every question we had, the answers were not in the instructions. The next game we played was Pandemic. This game seemed to have a lot of setting up, that was only needed for one person. After the game was set up, we just jumped into the game and didn’t read the directions because one player already knew the rules and just taught us as we went along. Pandemic was definitely and easier game to play but required everyone to contribute. Instead of one person or one team winning, everyone won. We didn’t play the whole game because we ran out of time when the other group was done playing Impero. But we finished the round with curing 2 dieses. The next game played was Impero. All the instructions were in Dutch or French or who knows what. There were a set of English instructions, but they seemed to be just google translated over because we felt as if it was missing more information. The directions told us to start somewhere that was not specified on the board, and the board had these little arrows on them that we couldn’t figure out what they meant. This game was over all insane. It was not a quick game to play. It took us about 20 minutes to play it. The other thing was we didn’t know how people won. We understood that if you take over a continent then you won that way, but the point system was not right. Then the six cards that sat on the top of the board that you could either pay for or get one for nothing, didn’t seem right to me. Because in my mind, of course people are only going to take the free cards because who wants to waist their coins when having more coins might mean something in the end. Just over all it wasn’t a good game and it needed some t.l.c.

Chess Board Game Ideas

1. A Piece of Cake
   Players start with an 8×8 square chess board. Roll a die and go to the square with the corresponding number or a multiple of that number. Each turn, a player must remove a square from the board itself. Choose your steps wisely.
2. Players start with a 2×2 square chess board. The game includes action cards, a die, tokens, and player pieces. If a card reveals an action such as roll the die. The player must roll and place their player piece on the board corresponding to the die roll. Board squares include instant death, resurrection, one token, or a shield to protect you for one round.
3. Sushi Master
   The game includes 4 4×12 square chess-like boards, 48 sushi pieces (flat round graphic discs), and a deck of cards. 2 to 4 players can play and start by choosing their preferred sushi roll. Each turn a player must pick up a card and complete the action. The first player to fill their sushi board wins. Players could use real sushi if desired.
4. Lactose or Intolerant
   Players start with a 6×6 square chess board, choose a dairy token, and pick up a card each turn. There are 3 decks. According to the square you go to, pick up a card for the deck labeled the same. You can only take 4 hits of dairy before you’re eliminated.
5. Musical Square
   Players work with an 8×8 square chess board and decks. Players land a square of the same numbered deck and must answer questions on the musical genre. The first player to collect 5 cards wins. Musical genre decks include rock/alt, pop, international, country, classical, rap, jazz, and metal.

Game Reviews

Dominion is a card game in which players must build their decks and use their current hands to their advantage. We started the game very skeptical of the many decks and purposes of cards. As we played we each slowly pick a strategy of cards we should buy or get rid of. The pacing of the game seemed well divided between the beginning, middle, and end of gameplay. We start slow in order to learn the rules and grow confident in the system by adding cards to our decks. The middle of the game seemed to be when we ran out of the first or second deck of cards. The end felt near when each player started scrambling for estate cards before the third deck ran out. No one really could tell who was the winner until each counted their estate cards.

Munchkin Gloom is a card game whose theme is a miserable story for each character. Players goals are actually to kill their own characters before the other players. This humorous game can be fairly competitive and fast-paced with each player only having 4 characters to kill. Each action card and retaliation card adds an interesting storyline or twist that makes the game a fun experience.

The two games we played in class this week were Gloom Munchkin and Dominion. Playing Gloom Munchkin didn’t exactly make me feel gloomy. But now I see why it is called gloom. Because you have to kill off your own characters and who ever kills off all their characters first basically wins, unless you do not have as many points as someone else. From what we learned, is that you should not kill off all your players so soon. If you keep adding up your points first, then killing them, you will have a better chance at winning than someone who kills all their characters first. Because if the first thing you do is kill them, you might not have that many points. So, it’s a game of strategy and skill. You must pay close attention to what everyone else is playing so you do not make any mistakes. Sometimes it’s just luck of the draw and you end up making a mistake because someone picked up a new card that ruined your plans. But in the end, everyone has a gloomy day because they just killed off their own characters for their own self benefit to win a game. We were able to play this game a couple times because our first round went too fast because we all played cards that ended the game sooner and we didn’t have that high of scores. In the game Dominion, you must dominate and own everything. This is a super long game we only got to play for what seemed to be like 30 minutes. As soon as we all started to pick up on the logistics of the game, class was over! I think we made it into phase 2 of the game by that point because we were out of one deck of cards, and we all were starting to buy points and more gold and the higher-ranking cards. I do want to know what it would be like at the end of this game because it is all about how you play the 5 cards you have in your hand and if you play them right you will have a good chance that turn.

1. In a pool- The floor is lined with a checker board and the players are the pieces. Normal checker rules apply. But when a person is ‘king’ the player gets another one of their players on their shoulders.
2. Use of Lego characters. The goal is to rescue the Puppy that is placed in the center of the board. The first one there has to carry the puppy back home (to the starting position). The other players can chase down the lego man with the puppy to steal it. First one who makes it back home safe with the puppy wins. Roll (1) dice to move character. 2-4 players.
3. Eels and escalators. Use pipe cleaners as the eels and popsicle sticks as the escalators. Land on eel, you must slide down to the tail. Land on an escalator, get to climb to the top. Goal is to make it from the bottom left of the board to the top right. Roll (1) dice to make moves. 2-4 players
4. 4 in a row. Everyone starts off the board. Everyone has different colored chips. The goal is to get 4 of your color in a row, right to left; up and down; or diagonal. First person to get 4 in a row wins. Everyone gets to place one chip per turn. Everyone except the first player on the first turn, has to place a chip in a square that is next to another chip. 2-4 players
5. The board is Velcro. Hang the board on a wall and set up the board like a normal chess or checkers game. To play, you must pick up the piece you want to move and you must stand back and throw the piece. Where ever it lands on the board, it must be played. Even if it landed on the wrong colored square. If the piece is thrown and doesn’t make it on the board, keep trying until the piece is played. After 3 tries the person must give up turn and place the piece back on the board in the original spot it was picked up from.

Flux: This was my least favorite of the games we played. It was very complex and easily became confusing. What I did enjoy about the game is that there was (almost) constantly a new task to complete or rule to follow.

Hannabi: This game was especially interesting because it required everyone to work together. It was a game of trust. You must trust the instinct of your fellow players in order to win the game.

Love Letter: This was my favorite game of the three. Its very interactive but easy to understand. I like that it has a very laid out story to follow. It makes the game more interesting and easy to connect to.

1. [Love Triangle] 3 to n players. Each player attempts to confess their love to the person to their left. The first person to confess wins. In order to confess, you must have a certain level of confidence, your love must have a certain level of trust, and you both must have a certain level of charisma. These stats can be altered by cards.
2. [Pawn] ~4 players. Players need to meet a certain gang quota, and do so by “robbing” the deck and each other. Some cards are item cards to be pawned at the end of each round, and some cards are action cards that interact with item cards. Not meeting the quota at the end of a round, or being caught by police, results in elimination. Item cards have certain characteristics that makes them easier/harder to hide or worth more/less. Winner is last person standing.
3. [Math] 2-6 players. Players attempt to simple solve math equations that they themselves create with a deck of standard playing cards. Each player plays 1 card per turn, in a line following previous cards. If the card can be considered the “solution” to the previous cards, the player wins all cards on the table. A solution means that the previous cards can add or subtract to equal that card, and the player chooses the operators and order of operation. Whoever wins the most cards at the end wins.
4. [Witness Protection] 3-6 players. Players work together to find and kill the witness card. An entire deck of action cards are dealt, then a smaller deck of characters are dealt. One character is the “witness,” and whoever is dealt the witness is secretly the “rat.” Each player keeps their hand in order. Action cards are used to deduce the contents of players hands, to shuffle hands, and to kill characters. The “mobsters” win when the witness is killed. The “rat” after x turns or too many non-witnesses are killed.
5. [Crossroads] 3-6 players. Players use their devilish charm to bid on items and souls. Auction cards trigger a round of bidding for something. Action cards can steal other’s items/souls and impact the outcome of an auction. The player who acquires the most souls at the end of the game becomes the crossroads king, winning the game.

Game design
Reflection
week 2
1/16/17

Games Played: Munchkin Gloom and Dominion

The main focus for the games played this week focused on the different acts/stages that take place during the game. For the most part, every game is broken up into 3 acts (learning the rules/familiarizing oneself with the goal, 2. getting more comfortable with the rules of the game, and 3. (typically towards the end of the game) when everyone focuses on the goal and is completely comfortable). By playing these two games I was able to loosely pinpoint when these acts were taking place and changing.

Munchkin Gloom, simply put is Gloom under the art and humor of the Munchkin brand-which put a humorous twist on the game itself. This game is card based, and each player is assigned a set of character cards. The overall premises was to kill off all of your characters while lowering their self worth. The person with the lowest score of self worth of dead characters wins. In my limited game experience, this was the first time I’ve seen the concept of losing masked as winning. Although the goal was set in stone, I did appreciate how there can be different approaches to winning the game. In one round of playing alone my group went through tactics of blackmail, throwing each other under the bus, prioritizing negative self worth or prioritizing the killing of characters. Because of this aspect it is anything but a game where you can keep to yourself and bank on luck. It forces you to take notice of your teammates hand and strategize. The most enjoyable aspect of this game was clear to everyone, the transparency of the cards that allowed moves to be played on top of one another by either enhancing or negating a character. This mechanic was very original and intriguing- I’d love to be able to incorporate this type of ingenuity into my own game design in the future.

As far as the acts were concerned in Munchkin Gloom the first act of the initial understanding of the rules and concept was a little slow at first and definitely took the longest. The instructions on the cards were most helpful in this instance and made us communicate and talk out the game with the other players. After the first act transitioned into the second the pace picked up and we very quickly skipped our way to the last act.

Dominion took some getting used to personally. The overall concept was to collect money to buy cards that acted as tools which in turn yielded more money. Then with all that money you buy victory points. In order to win this game you must have the most victory points, however the game ends when certain stacks of cards are depleted. What I liked about dominion is that there are so many possibilities for different strategies and options of games to play, therefore it doesn’t have to be the exact same strategy and routine game after game. The acts during this game make me wonder if they are one continuous transition or if each player has their own variation. I struggled to latch onto a strategy for the majority of the game, therefore I feel that it is the latter. If given the opportunity to play more than once I definitely think I would gain a better sense of what to do and how to benefit but I think the different options and possibilities were slightly overwhelming at first which held me back in the beginning.