Our board
game was based on four game IP’s; each had its own section of the board. The
games were Need for Speed, Pokémon, World of Warcraft, and Mario. The gameplay
consisted of rolling a dice to move your counter around the board a specified
amount of times before heading back to the centre where the game starts, the
first to do this wins. However, certain squares that the player would move
across meant they had to pick up a card; these cards would have various effects
that would either help or hinder them and the other players. Additionally these
cards were themed accordingly to the game that was being illustrated in the section
of the board you were in, so the Pokémon section had Pokémon cards, the Mario
section had Mario cards, and so on.
There were
two types of cards, random draw cards and creature cards. Cards from the random
draw deck would either be action or consequence cards, with action cards
providing a benefit or boost to the player who drew it (such as moving forward
a certain amount of squares) and consequence cards negatively effecting them in
some way (such as missing a turn). Creature cards on the other hand would have
more of an effect on all the players in the game once drawn (such as all
players would have to role a dice and if they roll below a certain threshold
they move back), additionally these card would be based off of characters or
iconic creatures from their respective games.
These cards
helped to introduce an element of skill to our game, since without them the
winner would merely be determined by how lucky each player was with the role of
the dice. Although some cards just had a direct effect, such as in the Mario
section one card said you had been hit by a red shell and had to move back two
squares, others allowed the player to make decisions (hence the introduction of
skill). For example, one such card from the World of Warcraft section allowed
the player to choose if they wanted to risk drawing a card from the random draw
deck or play it safe and stay where they are without drawing a card, so
depending on the players position in the game they can make a tactical decision
as to if the risk is worth the reward.
The board
itself was designed in such a way that despite having fixed three-dimensional
features, it could fold up into a box for manageable transportation and
storage. Additionally, some smaller removable three-dimensional features could
be placed, along with the cards, in a container that made up the bottom of the
box when the board game is packed away. This means when the game is not in use
there are no lose parts or anything sticking out, just one box with everything
condensed inside. We felt this was a vital feature to incorporate into the
design of our board, since otherwise it had the potential for parts to be lost
easily as well as being very large even when not in use, which would make
storing the game very inconvenient for any potential customers.
When
deciding what games to base the design of our board game on, we made sure not
only to consider that each one had enough content for us to get an in-depth
theme for our illustrations, but also that each one differed from the others
enough that the individual sections really felt like different games all
together. We decided this was important to consider since it stopped the game
from becoming repetitive as you moved round the board when playing; just as
you’re getting used to the design of the board and lore within the cards, it
changes to something completely different. Additionally we felt the overall
idea of incorporating multiple games into one allowed for a much wider target
audience if our game were to be marketed as an actual product.
In terms of
making our board it was easy to delegate who in the group could do what, since
there were four members and four sections. Each member was responsible for
making the backgrounds to their quadrants of the board, creating a design that
could incorporate some three-dimensional element, and making all the cards that
go with their game. We worked on the arts and craft side of the design for the
three-dimensional features as a group, since we had to ensure each section fit
around all the others so the board could fold neatly up into a box.
As a whole
the group worked together efficiently and productively, with the board quality
being at top standard. The only shortfall was some sections had much fewer
cards than the agreed amount, so the gameplay within these quadrants can become
repetitive due to being forced to recycle cards. However I personally am very
pleased with the board game we have made; its aesthetics are extravagant and
interesting, its functional everywhere it can be, the game IP’s it is based on
are illustrated clearly, and most importantly the gameplay is very
entertaining.
