Ames' syllabi

Kaley Rohanna and Madison Hurst

Mad Dash

By: Kaley Rohanna and Madison Hurst

Game Board Creation

What is Mad Dash: 

A two player game requiring players to roll dice in order to progress their piece across the board. The goal is to get to the opponent’s end and steal all their marbles.

Materials:

4 marbles (2 for each player), 2 marble holders, 2 dice (1 for each player), 9 Wild Cards, 1 Dice Number Key, 2 player pieces, 11×17 cardboard, 11×17 cardstock board design, 

Mad Dash Initial Testing:

• Coming into the first game board testing, we created a board design (11×17) on Adobe illustrator
• Kaley and I decided to go with each player having 3 marbles and a total of 10 spaces on the board. 
• Mad Dash was intended for two people to play
• The initial instructions for this game was:

1. One player must call out a number,#1-6 on the dice that was given, that both players are trying to obtain first
2. First one to get a selected number moves their piece up one space, and gets to call out the next number.
3. Once one player reaches the opponent’s side should take one of their marbles 
4. Both players will reset to their starting positions
5. First person with all of the marbles wins

• Our findings was the game was never ending, and many players struggled to get at least one marble.
• The game always kept each player at neutral so, if one player stole a marble, a couple seconds later the opponent would equalize the playing field. 
• Players were able to understand the game fairly quickly, but had a lot of questions come up regarding when they both landed on the same space. 
• We let the players continue to play while still in the same space, and waited to see who rolled the selected number.
• The players were really excited when they attained a marble or got the selected number before the opponent. 
• Some frustrating aspects of the game was it being slow/long, and going back to zero or starting space.
• Another question that was brought up was if the player that lost that round (didn’t get marble in time) had to also reset to starting positions as well. 
• At the end of the board game testing, we had some key takeaways:

1. Possibly having dice with red and green for each person, and making it a subtraction game. 
2. Or if you got a selected number on red dice, you had to go back a specific amount of spaces). 

• One suggestion from the player was to change to one die and subtract both players’ roll and winner move up spaces. They said to make the board longer and add more checkpoints. 

Mad Dash 2nd Testing: 

In this test, we added wildcards to handle the instances where the players’ pieces reached the same space and gave each player only one die to roll. 

Instructions for Testing 2:

Set up

Each player puts 3 marbles in their box

Choose piece to play as

Each player gets one marble

Goal

Make it to the opponent’s end to steal a marble

First one to steal 3 marbles wins

Instructions

1. Each player constantly rolls their die, don’t worry about taking turns.
2. The number rolled determines how many spaces you move either forward or backward.
3. Once you reach the opponent’s end, take a marble and go back to your own end, at the starting position. Continue rolling as soon as you’re ready.
4. Opponent does not go back to their starting position but continues where they are.

Rolling the Dice

If you roll a…

1 = +1 space

2 = +1 space

3 = +2 spaces

4 = +2 spaces

5 = -1 space

6 = -2 spaces

When pieces land on the same space…

You enter WAR with your opponent.

1. You and your opponent roll the die once.
2. The higher number gets to draw a card from the pile, and will determine your fate.
3. Follow the rule on the card (Each card asks you to roll a certain number to win the war.)
4. Once each player’s move is determined, return to previous play until a new war. 

• Many people enjoyed the addition of the wild cards.
• Landing on the same space and stealing a marble excited the players.
• The pacing had improved.
• It did take a few minutes to memorize what each dice roll meant, but it was not difficult to understand. 
• Some frustrating aspects included not getting to move their piece forward and losing to the opponent.
• Overall this test went well and players had fun. There were some changes and additions that led to major improvements in the gameplay.

What would we fix for the following testing: 

• The 2nd testing went very smoothly, and there was minimal suggestions of bugs in the game
• The only thing that Kaley and I believe that we should improve is the die key
• The improved die key would be:

1. #1= +3
2. #2= +1
3. #3= +2
4. #4= +2
5. #5= -1
6. #6= 0 

• Fortunately, we were able to make this minor adjustment while we were testing the second time around and found that this improved die key works better.
• The prior key, didn’t allow for a player to win as quickly and slowed the game down
• But, the newer key gives players a chance to steal the marbles at a fast pace which creates a sense of urgency. This part helps truly engage the users. 

Chance Against Chess Case Study

Kaley Rohanna and Madison Hurst

The only frustrating aspect of the game I can see would be the rock-paper-scissors, and I would recommend the option to roll a dice to see who goes during the turn.

I enjoyed the gameplay and the mechanics. Easy to understand.

I would adjust the health, for example double the health to make the gameplay last longer.

The only frustrating moment I had was the length of the game in case the players would be in a time constraint. If there was unlimited time, this wouldn’t be an issue.

I enjoyed all other moments, the game was engaging and fun.

The scoring system where all players either begin with 20 or so points is an awesome idea and it can be changed to accommodate the time-frame of how long individuals would want to play.

I do not have any recommendations for improvement with the next version, this version was optimal.