Author: admst298

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What makes a good game

What makes a game good can vary from game to game. However, a few things go into making any game good. Clear, understandable rules are required to make a game good. If the rules don’t make sense or aren’t clearly communicated, the game can’t function properly. Also, the mechanics must reflect the metaphor and vice versa. A game with mechanics for fighting enemies wouldn’t work as a game about doctors curing a disease.

Some may say that a game must be fun to be good. However, even disregarding the subjectivity of what is fun, not all games must be fun. Depending on the game’s message, a game might be fun or not. Some more experimental games use lack of fun to great effect.

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Game Ideas 2/11-2/18

Out of the Woods

A board game where players must find their way out of a forest and avoid its inhabitants by moving, placing tiles, and rolling dice.

At Sea

A board game where players explore the ocean and find land by placing tiles, moving, and drawing and playing cards.

What Dreams Are Made Of

A card game where players look for their way out of a dream world by drawing cards and choosing which action to take.

The Road Home

A board game where players try to find their way home on a map of the world by drawing cards and choosing an order to play them.

Cavern Climbers

A board game where players make their way up and out of a cave by moving, placing tiles, and drawing cards.

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One Sentence Ideas

Tower of Babel 2

A competitive card game where players must build the tallest tower by collecting and playing cards.

Up Up Down Down

A co-operative board game where players control a single character by drawing and playing cards.

50x Combo!!!

A competitive board game where players create combos by collecting and playing strings of cards.

Steal the Kill

A competitive card game where players fight bosses by playing cards and whoever gets the last hit wins all the loot.

To Slay a God

A co-operative card game where players prepare to fight a Greek god by collecting and trading cards.

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Fluxx Review

Fluxx is a fairly slow paced game. The first act sees players slowly collecting and playing keepers, and setting early goals and rules. The second act is the bulk of the game. The rules will be changing, which changes how much you can do in a turn and affecting your strategy. The third act is nebulous as one player can still be trying to find their path to victory while another can be ready with a big play that will end the game. It is never clear who is closest to victory as the goalposts can move at any time. It is a game that takes some getting used to and benefits from being played multiple times.

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Game Ideas 1/28-2/4

Dungeon Crawl

Players would explore a randomly generated dungeon collecting items and fighting enemies to beat the boss and get the treasure. They would be able to find items to help throughout the dungeon. The dungeon would be made of tiles akin to Zombies!!! or Betrayal at House on the Hill. Items would be represented by cards similar to Munchkin or Betrayal.

Competitive City Builder

Players would build medieval cities on a randomized map. They would compete for land and resources and have to defend from threats. City building would be similar to Kingdoms and Castles and resources would be represented by cards.

Zombie Resource Management

Players must defend a base from zombies while also gathering resources to keep themselves alive and better defend their base. Game would end after a goal is met or the players could play until they lose or get bored.

Tarot Game

Players would have five tarot cards in a plus sign in the center of the table that they can manipulate and replace with the cards in their individual hands. Each player would have a unique goal card that would tell them which cards they need in certain positions to win.

Bartender Game

Players draw and collect cards of alcohols and drinks and have to try to combine them to create different mixed drinks in order to score points. The first player to x points wins.

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Week 1 Game Ideas

Thro Fish – Played like “Go Fish” but the players are ~6 feet apart and cards are thrown. Only caught cards are added to the hand, the rest remain in the center pile.

Simple Ball Bounce – Players stand in a circle, six feet apart. Players bounce a bouncy ball to other players who try to catch it. If a player misses a ball, they are out. More balls can be added for extra difficulty.

6ft Laser Tag (AR) – A laser tag system that can be played anywhere, but players cannot shoot other players that are less than six feet away. Could include various game modes.

Infection (AR) – Similar to tag in that one player starts off “Infected” and must try to “Infect” other players. Other players are infected when an infected player is less than six feet away. Infection isn’t instantaneous, rather a progress bar slowly fills and fills faster the closer the two players are to each other. The progress bar would slowly deplete once the two players are far enough apart. Last one standing wins.

Snowless Snowball Fight (AR) – Players have targets attached to them and a set of balls. Players throw the balls at the target’s on the other players to score points.

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Jackbox Review: Patently Stupid

Patently Stupid is a game that sees players attempting to solve problems created in part by the other players. They use a sketch, name, and tagline to make a product to solve the problem and then present it. Each player then votes on the products they think would be the most successful and points are awarded as such.

Patently Stupid is a fairly straight forward game that is easy to understand and play even for new players. The directions are clear and simple. It is entertaining to see what kinds of prompts players will get and what their solutions will be. It makes for a great party game that can be played amongst friends or family.

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Review 2

For this review, I looked at “Oscar 2018 Year in Review”. https://www.hioscar.com/2018yearinreview

To navigate the website I had to interact with objects on screen and was taken through Oscar’s improvements throughout 2018. The page was well designed and kept me interested all the way through. The use of transparent video made the site interesting and the short, simple bits of information made it easily digestible and memorable.

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Elements of User Experience responses

  1. The goals of Apple’s website is to have the sleek, simple aesthetic they are known for and be usable by almost everyone. This website addresses the needs of someone who just bought their first Macbook by making the different types of products the first thing you see on the page. After choosing the product you see the list of every product of that type on a new page. After selecting your product, you are given information on the product. This is very easy to navigate even for new users and gets them to the information they need.
  2. Facebook’s wall includes a search bar, notifications, and access to your profile at the top; a friends list to the right; various shortcuts to the left; and posts, a place to post from and ads in the center.