As far as making a game itself, I think there are certain elements that are required to have and make a game. Elements such as mechanics and rules defining how to play, who goes first, how many players can play, and so on. And then other elements for aesthetics, the metaphor, and story for the game. A good game needs a good metaphor and clear mechanics, as long as those two things are there – the game is good. A good metaphor allows us to step into the world that the game is creating and makes the players more attached to their actions and character. Clear mechanics help players enjoy the actual game. The game can look and sound fun, but if it’s not fun to play then no one will play it. Clear rules help players focus on the actual game rather than learning it, being confused, not knowing if they’re playing it right, not enjoying it, etc. To me, a good game is also something you can play time and time again and still be enjoyable. Personally, how I know I like a game is how often I play it or how many times I come back to playing it. Sometimes games get quite boring and disengaging, and that’s where I consider a game to be bad.
Game review 2/18 class – Emily Buzzie
Persist is a card game where players rank categories for themselves, and then complete funny and sometimes embarrassing actions to collect the cards and complete the categories.
Tsuro is a board game where players build paths, trying to have their path keep them on the board the longest.
Takenoko is a board game where players build land, waterways, eat bamboo, and grow bamboo, while trying to complete goal cards.
2/24 game ideas – Emily Buzzie
A board game where players try to collect the most tokens while getting across the board, while having to buy items to get across the board with.
Players will start at one spot and then travel across the board. Players will choose where they want to go within different checkpoints, trying to collect tokens. At checkpoints, players will have to buy certain items, varying in cost, to get across the obstacle. An example would be getting across a river, you can buy a bridge (5 tokens), a raft (3 tokens), a branch (1 token). Depending on what they buy they will either cross safely and lose more tokens or may fail but have more tokens. The goal is to finish with the most tokens.
A board game where players go to caves and dig for gems, trying to collect one of each gem.
Each player will start outside the mine and must roll the dice and move into the caves. Once a player is in the cave, the player can mine for a gem. The player must roll one dice and get a 4-6, a 1-3 means the player’s axe is not strong enough to cut through this rock. A 4-6 allows the player to pick from the card pile for this certain cave (broken up by color). The player picks a card and it either has a gem or a rock card. With a gem, the player keeps it and collects it, trying to collect one of each color. There are 4 different caves (red, yellow, green, and blue). If you get a 1-3 in a cave and can’t mine for a gem, go to a different cave, and go back to that cave last. The goal is to be the first person who has all 4 gems.
A card game where players try to find matches of cards to complete and collect goal cards.
A card game where players try to collect goal cards. Players will get 7 cards, and always have 7 cards in their hand. During a players turn, they can discard a card, pick up a card, or get the goal card. The goal card has different pairings of cards and you want to get the pair and collect the goal card. Every card is different so getting a match is mostly luck. Players continue to collect goal cards and whoever has the most when the goal cards run out, wins!
A card game where players use ingredient cards to collect dishes and win the cook off!
A card game where players get ingredient cards to form ‘dishes’ which are then paired up to present to the judges for the cook off. Players will pick ingredient cards to collect dishes. Ingredient cards pair up to form certain dishes, which are worth different points. Players want to collect higher dishes and ultimately win the cook off. Once players have 3 dishes (3 ingredients = 1 dish, 3 dishes to go to the cook off) they will be judged (points from dishes cards are added up). Whoever has the highest points, wins.
A board game where players collect smile tokens depending on different situations.
Players will move across the board while running to different scenarios. The scenario will either result in gaining smile tokens or losing some. The player will land on certain spots and have to pick a card with a scenario on it. An example on the card would be: got a puppy! Obviously this is a happy thing, so the player will gain a smile token. Players want to end the game the happiest and with the most smile tokens.
Sushi Go and Tokaido
Sushi Go is a card game where players receive, choose, and then pass cards to other players, all while trying to pair up cards to earn points.
Tokaido is a board game where players collect souvenirs, coins, and panoramas while trying to gain points and stop at various locations like inns to collect meals.
Lost game ideas
- Path home is a card game where teams of 2 players each pick up cards that are map pieces, in order to build their map and get home. (2 player teams, 1 player pick cards , player one can not see the card, teammates can not talk to each other, player 2 must help player 1 keep or discard cards. These cards will be laid out at the end and made into a path from spawn to safe)
Blueprint is a card game where players collect items needed to build a plane and fly off the island that they are lost on. (players need a certain number of certain cards – depends on the blueprint card that the player picks at the beginning of the game, ex. 4 trees, 1 spare raft, 3 airplane seats, 2 coconuts. Players pick either cards out of the deck or ask players if they have certain cards, no= nothing, yes= get card)
Puzzle Map is a card game where players work together to create a map that they put together while following guidelines. Players pick puzzle piece looking cards, players fit pieces together to build an island map, showing where x is. There must only be one x and the puzzle must fit together. Players on their turn can pick up 1 piece, set down the piece or discard the card, no holding cards. Players must communicate to build the map and follow guidelines. Game is over when a puzzle is built and follows guidelines or there aren’t enough cards to build the puzzle/map.
Labyrinth is a board game where players pick cards in order to find out which direction to go, and eventually find their way out of the maze. Players’ game pieces are on a board that looks like a maze, players pick cards determining where they go. Card example: 1. Go left 2. If you can’t go left, Go right. 3. if you can’t go right, Go straight 4. If you can’t go straight, Turn around. But the order of these will change. Goal is to escape and find your way out of the maze, first to do so, win.
Where am I? Is a board game where players try to guess where they are and win by guessing correctly. Players will pick a card at the beginning but don’t know what it is until the very end. Players must guess the location of the card they have is. Players must move around the board to get to their location that they guessed which hopefully matches with their card, while sabotaging other players to keep them from getting to their predicted location. During the entire game, players won’t know where they truly are. If their ending location is the same as their card: round over, +1 point. If it is not the same, no points. 3 points = win.
Game Ideas 2/11
Game 1:
Players will combine cards and try to get the most points before the cards run out. Players move clockwise, picking up cards, creating different combinations and getting different point values. Once the cards are gone, the round is over. An Ace can pair with any card to get 10 points. 2 and 3 pair to get 3 points. 4 and 5 pair to get 5 points. 6 and 7 pair to get 8 points. 8 and 9 pair to get 10 points. 10 and Jack pair to get 15 points. Queen and King pair to get 15 points. Two Ace cards get 30 points, and doubles of any cards give you 10 points.
A card game where players combine cards and receive points, trying to have the highest point amount before cards run out.
Game 2:
A drinking game where players roll a dice and move the shot according to the dice value. The game is between 2 players, but can have as many teams as you want. The person who rolled the higher value gets to move the shot towards the other player’s side. Start with the drink in the center and it eventually ends on one player’s side.
A drinking game where players roll a dice to move a shot closer to the other players side so that they’ll have to take it.
Game 3:
Players pick 1 card and roll 1 dice and then determine points based on the pair. You first pick a card then roll the dice. If you pick a card that is 2,3,4,5, you need to roll a 6 in order to get +1 point. If you pick a card that is 6,7,8,9,10, you need to roll a 4,5,6 to get a +1. If you pick a Jack, Queen, King, or Ace you get +1, regardless of your dice roll, but if you roll a 1, you don’t get a point. First to 10 points, wins.
A card and dice game where players combine card and dice values to gain points and be the first to reach 10 points.
Game 4:
2 players pick a card and reveal the card face up, seeing who got the higher card. The higher card gets to keep the lower value card. If both players have the same values, just reveal another card. Each player starts with half the deck each. You want to end with all the cards, and the other player with none.
A card game where two players pick and reveal their cards, gaining or losing cards, trying to gain all the cards and get all the other players out.
Game 5:
Players roll 2 dice and want to get to a combined value of 8 or higher. If you can’t get to 8 points, you get no points. Rolling a value of 8 or higher, gives you 1 point. If you roll a combined value of 12, you get 2 points. The first person to 20 points, wins.
A dice game where players roll a dice, hoping for high values in order to gain points and ultimately reach 20 points first.
Forbidden Island and Munchkin Gloom
Forbidden Island is a card game where players collect treasure, flooding and unflooding tiles, while trying to fly off the island by picking cards and using teammates’ advantages to win.
Munchkin Gloom is a card game where players decrease their characters’ happiness and life while increasing other players’ happiness by picking cards and either following the action or reallocating the card(s).
Card Game Ideas
Eat the Rich
This game is similar to love letter, being 10 cards for each person, everyone keeps a card to keep and one to discard each turn, keep discarded cards in front of you. Once all cards are gone, all players reveal their hand and the round is over. The lowest rank wins. Highest does not receive a token and is out for the rest of the game. However, if you have the highest card in the first round and you have the lowest card in your discard pile, you are back in. Rest (not highest or lowest) of the players continue on but get a black token. Continue playing until everyone is out. 3 black tokens means you are out. There are no ties with ranks, only higher or lower. This game focuses on the class dynamics during the French Revolution so the lower ranks are fighting back and dislike the higher ranks. Therefore, lower ranks are better in this game. Cards: 1. Peasant 2. Farmer 3. Servant 4. Merchant 5. Knight 6. Count 7. Duke 8. King 9. Priest 10. Pope. Keep playing until everyone is out and someone wins.
Match
Each player starts with 3 cards, you want these cards to match the win cards. The win cards 3 cards chosen from the stack on win cards, that the players want to match in order to win. Once a round is over all win cards go into a discard pile. The round goes on by players picking up a card and discarding one. The first player to match the 3 win cards, win. Shuffle the discard pile when there are no more cards. Shuffle the win card pile each round. 4 piles: New win cards, discarded win cards, new match cards, discarded match cards.
Not it
There is a deck of 10 cards, 2 of which are all black, 4 players max. You want the black cards, but you don’t want anyone to know that you have it. Other cards may allow players to see your hand. All players will start with two cards, then choose one to keep and one to discard. The round begins and ends rather quickly, either in or out. When the round ends, and if you have a black card in your hand, you get a point for the round. All other cards besides the black cards have different actions applied to them. If you discard cards 1-8, follow these actions: 1. Out of the round 2. Swap card with the player to your left 3. Look at the hand of the player to your right 4. Nothing 5. Lose one card, pick up a new one 6. Swap hands with another player 7. Show one person your hand 8. Out of round. Since there are 4 players max, 2 cards will be set aside and not picked up when the round begins.
Green Thumb
Goal of the game is to grow your plant the fastest. Players will get level cards and element cards. Level cards show what cards you need to level up and eventually win. Element cards are used to level up. This game works like go fish, where you ask players if they have different element cards. Yes = get the card, No = nothing happens. Each player starts with 2 cards. If a player has 0 element cards, they can pick up 1 at their next turn. Element cards include: water, fertilizer, sun, soil. Level cards include: seed, bud, sprout, flower. Each level consists of different element cards:
Level 1 to 2: 1 water, 2 sun, 1 soil.
Level 2 to 3: 2 water, 2 sun, 1 soil.
Level 3 to 4: 2 water, 2 sun, 1 soil, 1 fertilizer.
Level 4: win
There are a decent amount of sun and water cards, a few soil cards, and only a few fertilizer cards.
Smoothie Smash
Players get fruit cards and a recipe card. Fruit/ingredients combine to make “smoothies”. Each smoothie has a different point value associated with it, more points = winner. Round/game is over when all fruit cards are gone. To play the game: players pick fruit cards, make a smoothie with those cards, receive points for the smoothie, and then pick more cards at next turn. Sort of like scrabble in how the game operates. Example: you get a orange, blueberry, strawberry, and banana card: you can make a orange sunrise (10pt) by combining orange and strawberry or you can make a berry blast (15pt) by combining blueberry and strawberry, you pick.
zombie fluxx review
Emily Buzzie
Zombie Fluxx
Zombie Fluxx was all about being flexible and adapting to new rules and goals. The goal of the game was to follow the rules and complete the goals. To win, you complete the goal, sounds fairly simply however, the rules would change constantly, and so would the goals. One minute you could be seconds away from winning, another minute, you may not have anything that matches the goal. This game was broken up into 4 cards, actions, goals, keepers, and rules (play, hand limit, draw, etc.).
Was this game fun?
At first, this game was not fun at all. Also, our group did not play with the zombies, so maybe that could affect my opinion, but without the zombies, it was not fun at first but got fun later on. Since none of us have played the game before we had to learn it and it was quite confusing. So at first, the game was stressful rather than fun. Once we understood what we had to do and what we could do, it got a bit more fun. I’m sure over time and playing the game, it would be a lot of fun.
Interactions between players?
The interactions between players was a lot and also a little. There wasn’t much communication between players, you could probably play the game without talking to each other if you wanted to or had to. Interactions were more focused on the cards that each player had. Each card that someone would have, could affect all the other players. The action cards could involve other players, an example would be, getting one card from every member in the group. The goal card would affect your goal and what you are working towards, it could also sabotage another player. If you see a player is close to completing the goal, you could put down a new goal card, causing them to no longer be close to winning. The keeper cards don’t affect or interact with other players, however, these cards can affect your strategy and how you play. Also, some action cards allow you to trade the keeper cards. The rule cards would have the biggest effect on a player. These cards affect how many cards you can pick up, how many cards you are allowed to have, how many cards you need to play, and so on. So in summary, players interact through the cards.
How long did it take to learn?
This game took a while to learn, and even then it was so difficult, confusing, and stressful. Luckily Professor Ames explained a good bit or else we would have taken even longer to learn the game. The rules and directions don’t explain A LOT, for example, order and hierarchy of the rules are VERY important, but that isn’t mentioned anywhere in the directions. Was a lot of text that wasn’t very helpful. Just reading the directions, and never playing the game before make it a very very difficult learning experience. Unfortunately, how stressful it was to learn is one of the main things I remember about the game.
Would you play again?
Due to the stressful and difficult learning experience, I will probably not play this game again. I will definitely not buy it, or go out of my way to play it. If someone ever asks, “want to play zombie fluxx?”, I’ll just watch. Even if I ended up playing the game, I wouldn’t hesitate to mention my learning experience. All in all the game isn’t bad, for me, the learning experience outweighs the potential future games of zombie flux, i could play.
JackBox, Stupid Inventions
Emily Buzzie – Game Design
The goal of this game is to finish various prompts, get shown 2 random prompts that were filled out by other players, draw a ‘stupid invention’ to solve the problem said in the prompt, and then vote on other players inventions, which are given a title and tagline before presented.
Was the game fun?
This game was a lot of fun. I’ve never played it before, and it made a good first impression. Due to the mad lib style prompts, randomization, varying drawing skills, and creative titles and taglines made the game very different for each player. Even during the second round, when given the same prompt, everyone’s inventions, names, and taglines were so different from one another.
Interactions between players
Some interactions between the players include finishing prompts for other players. Each player gets to finish a prompt or two, which is then given to another player to pick from. So when you are drawing, you are creating an invention for other players’ prompt. Another interaction would be the voting process. Once everyone has drawn their invention, and created a title and tagline, all the other players vote on each other’s work. This determines points, and ultimately the winner. Everyone’s reason for voting is different, personally I choose the funniest invention or the invention that I would want and use.
How long did it take to learn?
As mentioned earlier, this was my first time playing this specific JackBox game, and it didn’t take very long at all. There is a narrator that explains a little bit in the beginning, and continues to explain each step and each time something appears on the main screen and phone screen. It was very easy to pick up, no confusion, and very quick to catch onto. The title helps with this, as the goal of the game is to make a stupid, funny, helpful invention.
Would you play again?
I definitely would. I have played JackBox before, but never Stupid Inventions, it is already one of my favorites, if not my favorite. Getting able to draw was fun, but getting to decide the title and tagline was somehow more fun to me. Voting was the most fun, in the whole game, it was super funny to see what everyone came up with. All in all, I would 100% play this game again. I feel like no matter how many times I played and who I played with, it would be different each time.