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Thursday, October 31, 2013

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Board Game Playtesting

    During my initial play testing of my board game, I discovered some fairly interesting mechanics that emerged from dice rolls and branch positioning. In essence, I think the most interesting part about the core mechanic (branch placement) is rotating branches to either benefit the path that you are taking, or reroute the path that your opponent is taking. With later play testing, I found that this mechanic tended to disappear when the players traveled on the same branch. I started to try finding ways to minimize this action, but with my latest play test, I'm thinking that the game is getting a bit too convoluted. All of the different branches and connections seems to be too overwhelming, and I think I need to find some way to tone it all down and make things more intuitive while retaining and reinforcing the branch-placing mechanic. I also think that I need to rethink the way that branches and tiles are selected, because at the moment the player needs to select tiles out from a big pile, which is too overwhelming. The game board also doesn't tend to look very much like a bonsai tree after placing tiles, so I need to find some way to influence the tile placement so it forms a more naturalistic shape.
The board doesn't form into a natural bonsai shape and there are a lot of extra unused branches that don't contribute to the player's paths

   I think that the next step is to lessen the amount of variables that the player has to deal with, possibly by lowering the amount of branch colors used. I also need to find some way to make the board look more like a bonsai tree so that the game is easier to connect to. Maybe the board could be initially shaped like a more fully grown bonsai tree and the new branches could build off that. I will also find a way to make the tiles easier to use. With these ideas in mind, I will continue to experiment with the design. 

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

First Draft of Board Game Rules


Here are my initial rule ideas for the bonsai board game:




 Now it's time to start play testing.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Board Game Theme

  I think that I will go with my bonsai game idea. With this decision, I've now began to think about the theme that will unify the board game. Here is my concept statement:

   "Every moment is a new beginning."

 My reason for this concept statement is based on the transitory nature of my game idea. In the game, the bonsai tree will grow randomly, meaning that the player's route to the top of the tree will need to constantly be adjusted. I would like for this interaction to bring the players into a state of flow in which they focus their attention entirely towards the game. Through this flow state, I hope for players to experience something like the Buddhist concept of mindfulness, an alert awareness of the true nature of things in the present moment. In essence, the game is based around Zen Buddhist, ideas and aesthetics.   

Theme Research

  I found this great article by Ian Bogost that lists many examples of video games that have tried something similar to what I want to attempt and in what ways they succeed and fall short (http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2585/).

 One game listed is That Game Company's flOw. I haven't played this game, but it seems that the visual and audio sensations that the game creates overstimulate that player, detracting from the intended experience. I think that their later game, Journey, very successfully balances visuals, audio, and gameplay to create a sense of presence in the player, particularly towards the end.


 Solitaire in many ways succeeds in creating a sense of presence through the responsiveness of its interface. Solitaire players do not need to concern themselves with shuffling and cards very easily snap into place when moved. This allows players to devote all of their attention to the task at hand.


 Will Wright compared his game Sim City to gardening. Having played these games before, I can understand the metaphor. In Sim City, the player is essentially in charge of setting up the right conditions for desired buildings to appear. In this way, the player doesn't have direct control over what will appear, allowing for lots of surprises that make the game compelling.

 The game Animal Crossing is fairly successful at pulling its player's attentions into the game world. The compressed depiction of time and variety of mundane, yet engaging activities (pulling weeds, decorating, planting flowers) help to pull the player into the present moment.


 Ian Bogost's game Guru Mediation (http://www.bogost.com/games/guru_meditation.shtml), has players balance perfectly still on the Amiga joyboard. The longer the player balances, the higher the onscreen yogi levitates in the air. This game does a very good job at implementing its Zen theme at every level, from the custom packaging to the core game play mechanic, to its simplified visual design and floating yogi.  


Aside from video games, I would like to pull much influence from tabletop Zen gardens, such as this one: http://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-Miniature-Zen-Garden/dp/B000KKRHU6
 




  This particular Zen garden definitely integrates its theme through the earthy colors and traditionally inspired artwork on its packaging as well as the miniature rocks and rakes that look just like the ones used in big Zen gardens.


 Something that I really like about the miniature Zen garden is how its fun to use as a toy, and I would really like to make the bonsai tree in my board game similarly fun to grow.

  I would like the aesthetics of the board game to be based largely around nature and the simplified design found in Zen Japanese artwork, including woodcut prints, calligraphy, gardens, and woodworking.
This packaging has very soothing and earthy colors


This appealing bell-holder was very simply put together through traditional Japanese joinery
This altar was also designed with storage in mind. The idea of one thing serving multiple functions would fit well with my theme 

 A central idea behind Zen art theory is the idea of capturing the essence of something, rather than accurately depicting it. I would like to follow this general idea while creating the game.


Color Schemes

I would like the game to utilize a majority of neutral earth tones with a small usage of more saturated colors to draw the eye. I think there would be a majority of warms over cools. Here's a few ideas that I pulled from color scheme designer:


Thursday, October 3, 2013

Board Game Ideas

  I've been working on coming up with ideas for the board game project in game design class. I started out by listing some "what ifs" for potential ideas, themes, and mechanics. Here's the list that I came up with.

    1. What if the game involved gardening?
    2. What if the game explored the concept of mindfulness?
    3. What if the game involved rolling a wheel different distances to gain points?
    4. What if the game involved growing a bonsai tree?
    5. What if the game incorporated a traffic circle?
    6. What if the game simulated painting?
    7. What if the game was a competitive puzzle?
    8. What if the game simulated the relationships between different tribal groups?
    9. What if the game was based on industrial era coal mining?
  10. What if the game involved animist ideas?
  11. What if the game simulated stock market trading?
  12. What if the game took place inside a clock and involved time as a core mechanic?
  13. What if the game involved a solar eclipse?
  14. What if the game included horseback riding?
  15. What if the game was based on Taoist philosophy?
  16. What if the game included aircraft?
  17. What if the game involved anthropology with a core mechanic involving observation and data collection?
  18. What if the game made use of magnets?
  19. What if the game involved effects of physics in some way?
  20. What if the flow of the game board was based on that of a waterfall?
  21. What if the game was a puzzle involving resource management?
  22. What if the game utilized sound perception as a core mechanic?
  23. What if the game was a political hacking puzzle where the goal is to rig elections to gain the most votes?
  24. What if the game involved solving a maze?
  25. What if the game involved trade caravans and making money with a cooperative twist?

  This preliminary list helped me to start coming up with some more fleshed out ideas. Here's a couple of ideas that I came up with.

Competitive Bonsai Maze Game 

 In this game, the players would start at the bottom of a bonsai tree. Their goal would be to reach the highest point of the tree before the other players. Every turn, the player rolls a die, and the number on this die would correspond to a section of the tree where a new branch would grow out. Over time, these branches may end up interconnecting, causing possible paths of movement to constantly change. This also means that the highest point on the tree will also constantly change, so players will have to adjust their paths based on the growth of the tree. Players would also get the opportunity to reshape the tree by trimming off sections of the branches.
Game board sketch. Players initially move one blue point per turn. New branches are added at the growth points (marked GP). As players reach the new branches, they move along one branch segment each turn. There could be different variations of branch segments that are randomly chosen, as shown on the left.



Competitive Coal Mining Game

 Each player has a mining shaft that would be visually represented as a straight line with a number of tiles. Players start out with the first tile available for mining. Accessing the next tile down requires more mining equipment that is purchased by one coal token. The highest density of coal is in tiles that are slightly more than halfway to the bottom. There is gradually less coal in tiles above and below the high density tiles. The amount of coal gathered in a turn is represented by a die roll. Regardless of the die roll, the player may only harvest as much coal as there is available in the tiles that he or she has purchased. A die roll of an even number triggers a random event for the player, which involves re rolling, with the new number corresponding to an event.

 Here's some possible random events based on the die number rolled:
    1- Flooding: Lose one tile or pay two coal to immediately regain it
    2- Explosion: Lowest tile is unavailable for next two turns
    3- Worker strike: One tile of the player's choice is unavailable for the next turn
    4- Fire: Bottom three tiles are unavailable until one coal is payed to extinguish
    5- Mine collapse: Bottom two tiles unavailable for one turn
    6- More coal discovered: Add 10 coal to a tile of your choice (this coal must still be harvested through rolling the die)

Sketch of the basic space that each player interacts with. Players use coal to gain access to the next level of tile, where they can harvest more coal. The most coal is located in the tiles a bit more than halfway down. There could be more or less tiles depending on what ends up being the most fun.
The goal of the game is to have the highest amount of coal after a determined amount of turns.

  So these are my ideas at the moment. I'll continue to post updates as I keep working working on this project.