Posts

Posted on

Playtest: Camel Up!_Meredith B

Play: Camel Up!

  1. Was it fun?
    • I really enjoyed it. It was a fun version of horse racing and the ideas around it made it very engaging and fun. It seemed easy for any age, and the random chance of which camel would win make it more engaging and more fun to replay.
  2. What were the player interactions?
    • We were acting more as a group, we were cheering when the camel we wanted moved again and would sigh when we were losing. It was no interaction between players themselves, unless it involved the camels.
  3. How long did it take to learn?
    • In only about 10 minutes, the rules were easy to understand and the game was labeled well to understand where the cards are meant to go. The rules were also easy because the premise of “horse racing” is very common, so it helps with a general understanding.
  4. What was the most frustrating moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • It was first when one of the camels that you have previously bet on was losing, but that is part of the fun. The point of the game is meant to be frustrating in that aspect, as it is gambling.
  5. What was your favorite moment or aspect of what you just played?
    • It was overall just a fine time. The smoothness of the game and theming was done well, and the act of randomness made the experience feel more like the players were watching the show, instead of controlling it. It felt cool like we were actually watching the live bets on tv, instead of just playing a game.
  6. Was there anything you wanted to do that you couldn’t?
    • I wanted to revoke my bet if anything. I bet on too early and ending up losing money at the end of the game, and couldn’t ever change the bet.
  7. 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 change some of the betting rules. You can bet up until the last race, and could still get full points if you are the 1st one to go. I would change it so that in the 2nd to last round, all bets must end up being placed. This would prevent last minute betting and still keep the bets open for a long time though.
  8. Is this a game you would play again? Yes _____ No ______ Why
    • Yep! It was fun to play and just an enjoyable experience, which is why I would play it again. The whole game was easy and I feel many people would enjoy the game.
  9. Analyze the game using the 3 act structure.
    • The start of act 1 was learning the rules, which was easy since the instructions and board were easy to understand, plus we watched a video that helped too. Act 2, actually playing the game was very fun. It was, like i said, watching and betting on live horse racing and it very fun, while it was only a game. The ending of act 3 was simple, add up the coins and finalize the money for the bets. It was easy to end the game and easy to get it started again too.
  10. What are the collaborative and or competitive aspects of the game?
    • The game was competitive as we were betting on multiple opportunities (camels losing or winning) which caused players to win or lose based on predictions and chances.
  11. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?
    • I like the whole premise, the racing and the theming was great. It made it fun to play and was a kid friendly way to gamble. The whole randomness of the camels movement, and the fact that not every camel would  move every turn makes it interesting.
Posted on

Trick or Treat Game 2

Game Overview *The Following Condensed version of the game was summarized by ChatGPT*

The game is a race to complete a 10-card collection of your chosen suit. It blends strategic character selection with random six-sided dice-powered actions.

AspectSummary
ObjectiveBe the first player to collect all 10 numbered cards of your suit (Imp, Bat, Ghost, or Pumpkin).
MaterialsThe 40 numbered Minor Arcana cards form the central Muster Deck. The 16 Court Cards (Prince/Knight/Queen/King) are used only for character drafting. You also use a single D6.
Starting StatePlayers draft one unique Court Card to become their character, which defines their goal suit and unique power. Each player starts with 5 cards in hand and 1 Treat Point (TP).

How a Turn Works (The D6 Roll)

On your turn, you roll the D6, and the number determines what you must do:

RollAction TypeWhat it Does
1 or 6DrawYou get new cards from the Muster Deck. (Roll 6 lets you draw 3, but you must discard 2.)
2 or 3AskYou choose an opponent and ask for 2 (Roll 2) or 3 (Roll 3) specific cards. If they don’t have all the named cards, the request fails, and you only get 1 consolation card.
4FortifyYou discard four cards of the same rank (ex., four Aces) to immediately gain 4 Treat Points.
5StealYou name one specific card (ex., “The 9 of Bats”) from an opponent. If you are right, you take the card and get 2 TP. If you are wrong, your turn ends immediately.

The Key to Winning: Character Powers and Treat Points

Character Powers

The Court Card you draft (Page, Knight, Queen, or King) gives you a unique, scaled power that modifies the D6 actions for your suit:

  • Imps (Action): Powers revolve around getting extra turns or free actions after a successful Steal (Roll 5). They are the most aggressive suit.
  • Bats (Intellect): Powers upgrade your Ask (Roll 2/3) actions, letting you ask for cards by Rank (ex., “all your 5s”) or even by Suit (ex., “all your Ghost cards”), instead of naming specific cards.
  • Ghosts (Emotion): Powers revolve around resource resilience. They gain Treat Points when they fail an Ask or when another player successfully Steals from them.
  • Pumpkins (Material): Powers revolve around controlling the Muster Deck and gaining huge amounts of Treat Points from Draw actions (Roll 1/6) or guaranteeing a Draw by spending TP.

Treat Points (TP)

TP is your hidden weapon. Its primary use is to give you control over the card supply:

  • Currency: You can spend 3 TP to perform a powerful Search action (once per turn) where you swap a card from your hand with any card in the discard pile. This is how you snag that one card you know your opponent got rid of.
  • Tie-Breaker: In the extremely rare event that two players complete their 10-card set at the exact same moment, the player with the most Treat Points wins the game.
Posted on

Smoke Screen

For my Smoke Screen prototype, I rigged up a PVC skeleton, which I then wrapped tape to connecting the acrylic plastic sheets to the PVC perimeter. I drilled holes into the bottom PVC pipe to act as a vent that slowly dispersed the fog upward through the acrylic pathway; and the end results are great. One thing I know is that this set up will look great with a rotoscoped video playing, as it would give the floating holographic screen illusion. Another thing I need to take into consideration for a final rendition, is the make and aesthetic of the smoke screens themselves, as although this rendition worked great as a prototype, it still looks a bit ghetto. Overall I think I’m making immense progress with everything and I am happy with how these results turned out.

Posted on

Rules for The Alleyway Pharmacy

Madison Hurst

The AlleyWay Pharmacy

Idea: The Alleyway Pharmacy is a card game in which the players are drug dealers competing against other drug dealers where they have to collect various drugs to resell. The kick to it is, the drug dealers have to make sure whether the drugs they collected are real and not candy. If they are caught using candy (x amount of times) then they will go to jail (lose).

Objective: 

  • Players are rival dealers that are fighting for the same street block. They are competing to make the most profit by reselling drugs while avoiding fake ones (candy). To win, the player must be the first to reach the profit goal ($20,000) or by the last one that didn’t get busted. 

Materials needed:

  • Deck of cards:
  • Drug cards
  • Candy cards
  • Action cards
  • Profit tracker (score pad)
  • Busted disk trackers
  • Rules sheet
  • Your hand for your cards
  • Stash (faced down pile on the table)

Setup:

  • Shuffle cards into one deck which will become the draw pile
  • Each player will draw 3 cards that will be their starting hand 
  • Give each player 3 busted tokens
  • Have a space for the discard pile
  • Discuss what the profit goal will be for this game (default is $20,000)
  • The tallest player will go first

Insight:

  • Hand: these are the cards you can see and choose from (max. Card limit is 5)
  • Stash: cards you placed face down on the table (max card limit is 6)
  • Profit tracker: how much money you are at
  • Busted tokens: track how many times you had a candy drug (3=jail and you lost the game)

Turns:

  • Draw 1 card from the draw pile

You will then move into your action part of your turn:

  • You can choose one action play
  • Options:
  • Play a drug: place 1 card from your hand to you stash pile (face down)
  • Play an action: use it immediately (sneak, inspect, etc)
  • Slip a fake drug (sneak): Put a card from your hand (candy or real drug) to an opponents stash pile (face down) 
  • Pass (take no action)
  • Resell (You can resell if you think you have 3 of the same cards in your stash)
  • If you have all 3 of the same drug, then you will earn a profit based on the value of the drug type. After, you have collected your points you will discard this set

1 Candy drug:

If you have a 1 candy drug  in your stash during RESELL, then your resell fails (even if you have 3 of the same drug) and the player will take a penalty. 

Penalty: Lose ½ of the profit or discard 1 random hand card

  • Discard the candy card after 

2 or more Candy drug:

If the player has 2 or more candy drugs in their stash during resell then resell fails, and collect 1 bust token. Discard all candy cards 

Check hand and stash number:

  • If you have more than 5 cards in your hand, discard extras
  • If you have more the 6 cards in your hand, discard extras

Out of turn options:

Players are able to play an action card during another players turn

  • Inspect: peek at only one card in a players stash
  • Steal: Force a player to reveal one of their stash cards 
  • Snitch: take one random card from an opponent’s hand 
  • Hideout: block a sabotage or inspection against you 

Win/Lose:

  • Be the first person to reach the profit goal
  • Be the last person standing, if the other opponents went to jail
  • Player is out of the game if they received 3 bust tokens

Card Meanings:

  • Inspect: peek at only one card in a players stash
  • Steal: Force a player to reveal one of their stash cards 
  • Snitch: take one random card from an opponent’s hand 
  • Hideout: block a sabotage or inspection against you 
  • Sneak: place 1 card from your hand to an opponent’s stash
  • Swap: trade 1 card from your stash with 1 from an opponent’s stash (face down)

Drug Values:

  • Weed set: $3,000 
  • Pill set: $5,000
  • Coke set: $7,000
  • Heroin set: $10,000
Posted on

NEW UPDATED RULES – CHRISTINE URSINY

Tale Weavers: Official Rules

Game Description

Tale Weavers is a competitive storytelling game, with cards that you might find in Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity, in which a group of players builds a narrative by drawing from a deck of character, setting, and plot cards to create and build a story amongst players. 

Objective

The main goal is to collaboratively build a story. The player who contributes the most compelling or humorous plot points, as judged by the Storymaster each round, wins the game. The player with the most successful Plot Cards, represented by Point Tokens, is the winner.

Setup

  1. Gather 3-5 players.
  2. Shuffle the Character, Setting, and Plot decks separately and place them face down.
  3. Deal five Plot Cards to each player. This is your starting hand.
  4. Place the Point Tokens in a central pile.
  5. Designate one player to be the Storymaster for the first round. (The player who most recently read a book for fun.)
  6. Use a 30-second sand timer to add urgency in selecting plot cards.
    • 30-second timer → wait until the timer runs out to start the round
    • Everyone has to have a card placed down by the end of the sand timer
    • What happens when the timer runs out and you don’t pick? → You take the top card

Card Color Key:

Coral Color – Character Card

Magenta Color – Setting Card

Lavender Color – Plot Card

How to Play:

The game is played in rounds, with the role of Storymaster changing after each round.

1. The Storymaster’s Turn 

  • The Storymaster draws 2 cards from the Character deck and 2 from the Setting deck.
  • They choose 1 Character and 1 Setting card from their hand to use and then discard the others.
  • The Storymaster begins the story with an opening sentence or two, introducing the character and location.

Example:
If the Storymaster draws:

  • Character Cards: “A paranoid mother” and “A surprisingly eloquent badger”
  • Setting Cards: “The inside of a zoo food court” and “A wizard’s tower turned into a daycare”
    • “Once upon a time, a paranoid mother who frantically scoured through the jungle known as the zoo food court…”

Note: Everyone has to have a card placed down by the end of the sand timer

2. The Players’ Turn 

  • Starting with the player to the Storymaster’s left and going clockwise, each player takes a turn.
  • On your turn, place one Plot Card from your hand, play it face-up, and read it aloud.
  • Weave the card’s concept into the story, building only on the setting and character card, not any other players’ plot cards
    • Plot cards are independent of other players’ plot cards.
  • After playing your card, draw one new Plot Card to replenish your hand to five.

3. The Storymaster’s Turn (Judgment)

  • After every player has played one card, the Storymaster considers all the Plot Cards that were submitted.
  • The Storymaster selects the most compelling or entertaining Plot Card as their favorite for that round.
  • The Plot Cards that were not chosen are placed in a discard pile. If the draw deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to create a new one.

4. End of the Round 

  • The player whose card was chosen collects 1 Point Token.
  • The winning player becomes the new Storymaster for the next round.
  • The new Storymaster can then decide to either continue the existing story or start a completely new one by drawing a new Character and Setting card.

Ending the Game

1. Point-Based Victory 

  • First player to reach 5 Point Tokens wins.
  • Optional twist: If multiple players hit 5 in the same round, the Storymaster chooses the funniest/most creative winner.
Posted on

Tale Weavers – Playtest 1

Date of Playtest: 10/02/2025

Playtime Observed: 6 minutes 25 seconds (first round)
Learning Time: 2 minutes 41 seconds (to learn rules)

1. Player Questions

  • Does the story flow from player to player, or is it told individually?
  • How do players weave their cards into the story, build on the last or reset each round?
  • What happens when the timer runs out and a card hasn’t been played?
  • Should a specific book be read to determine who goes first?
  • How does the game end — tokens, alternate endings, or another system?

2. Learning Curve

  • It took 2:41 minutes for players to learn the rules.
  • Players commented that the setup was easy.
  • The example card in the rules was helpful.

3. Player Interactions

  • Players laughed, smiled, and nodded throughout gameplay.
  • Conversations about cards applied to characters and settings.
  • Debated whether the story should be told cumulatively or individually.

4. Points of Confusion

  • Story flow: cumulative vs. sectioned/individual.
  • How exactly to “weave” cards into a story.
  • The role of settings in character and plot cards.
  • Game endings: whether to use tokens or multiple end conditions.

5. Sources of Excitement

  • Randomness of card draws (“random is better”).
  • The tension created by a sand timer mechanic.
  • Room for interpretation and creativity in storytelling.
  • Loved leading humor in the narrative.

6. Player Enjoyment

  • Making connections between cards and the story.
  • Building individual story sections rather than a single collaborative plot.
  • Experiencing humorous or unexpected story twists.

7. Sources of Frustration

  • The collaborative story felt confusing and less engaging.
  • Settings on cards felt restrictive.
  • Multiple game-ending options created uncertainty.

8. Design Adjustments

  • Clarify Flow
    • Emphasize that each player tells an individual story, not a cumulative one.
  • Simplify End Conditions
    • Establish one clear win condition (ex., first to 5 tokens?).
  • Refine Card Design
    • Remove settings from character and plot cards; make prompts more open-ended and funny.
  • Timer Rules
    • Require players to place a card before the sand timer ends; if not, they must take the top card.
  • Rules Support
    • Keep and expand example cards in the rules to streamline learning.