Week 43 reflections

Henrik’s reflection: http://henrikandersson89.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/game-night-week/

This week has been a very busy one. At the start of the week we had a testing session with Marcus where we explained our board game to him and got some valuable feedback. On Wednesday we tried to apply some of them but got stuck very fast. We had a lot of problems getting unstuck so in the end we scrapped most of our ideas and started over with a really good brainstorming session.

With the new system our game felt more engaging and more fun. I still feel that there is something missing but at least now it is playable. On Thursday we improved the visuals of our game and updated every piece that would be used in the game. We got new models for our in game currency. We painted our game board and all the tiles. I felt that it made the game more interesting.

On Friday I went to Stockholm and Tekniska museet where I showed Tribal Marathon on Game Night. We had some amazing feedback on that game and a lot of people wanted it released so they could play it. The trip was really amazing and I cannot wait for GAMEX next week.

The goal for this week was to iron out our game mechanics and write a game design document. We did not have time to create the game design document but I think that the result of our brainstorming have ironed out our game mechanics to the point that we will be able to write on the next week without any problems.

Rasmus’s reflection: http://rasmusbjorling.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/week-43-reflection/

This was another tough week for us. Many of us (me included) we’re sick and away during the start of the week. When we all finally got together at Wednesday we had some major issues facing us. Both from the testing session last week and from the meeting we had with Marcus Monday we learned that the game we had simply did not work. The biggest issue we had was perhaps with sabotage; it was set up so that it was costly in resources for the one who performed the sabotaged and drained much resources for the target of the sabotage. If all four players of the game got into sabotaging the game would basically come to a standstill and all resource flows would stop. If three players got into sabotaging and the fourth player stayed in her/his own corner, avoiding all player interaction, that player would win by a landslide. This system felt unfair to players and was really not fun as it made the most tactical players interact less with each other instead of more.

Another problem we had was with the resource system. The victor of the game was determined by the first to reach 20 resources. But these were the same resources you used to build mines and saboteurs and new workers. This made it hard to know what the best strategy of the game was. If you never bought anything, but simply used your first worker to explore and gather resources you might win. This is really counter-intuitive and definitely not how we intended the game to be played.

All in all, it’s safe to say we all felt quite uneasy when our meeting Wednesday started and we knew we needed to somehow fix these issues. For some time we just threw out ideas; these ideas where usually cut down immediately by the group on the grounds of not solving any of the problems we were facing and sometimes on the grounds of creating a whole new range of problems. Needless to say, our spirits were quite low. Some of us wanted to change something drastic, while others wanted to take smaller steps to be able to test what worked with each iteration. It didn’t really matter though as we had no strong ideas for what we wanted to change, and how that change should look.

Eventually it all collapsed when we started screaming at each other. I think I was the one who managed to save the situation by suggesting we cut down features to the very basics of our game and then take another look at our aesthetic goal and work from there. We scraped the entire sabotage system and resource system. We went back to the aesthetic goal of being an explorer in a struggle for resources, and our first order of business was to create a new resource system. We settled for a system where the resources you got would not be able to buy you more income or additional characters, but would only work to get you closer to the victory condition.

What we eventually got was a game where each player controls two characters. There were four types of resources; A, B, C and D. The different resources where located in the four corners of the map, and two different types were needed to build a victory structure. The first player to build three victory structures of different types would win. Sabotage was a lot more subtle now as players could block each other from building structures, but not directly steal or destroy what others had build. To fill the void we introduced trading into the game.

Players can trade any resources with each other if their characters are in the same room. To further encourage trading we also introduced a trading resource which the players could get from their structures. A trading resource could not be used to build structures, but if it is traded the player who receives it would be able to swap it for any other resource. (Inspired by Pokemons evolving only when traded).

With these changes the game felt much more tactical; players would have a clear goal to work towards and clear available paths to reach that goal. Player interaction also became much more meaningful as trading is heavily encouraged by the game and because sabotaging isn’t so present and is much more tactical when it occurs. For the first time we actually enjoyed the game when we tested it during this iteration!

Finally we have used the rest of the week for testing and iterating and adding some flavor to the game. Our setting is in a cave and we changed the resources to gems of emerald, ruby, sapphire and topaz. The trading resource became magic gems. The players are controlling the king and queen of their respective dwarf-clans and they are racing to become the first to build three gemstone monuments!

Linus’s reflection: http://hotfireblags.tumblr.com/post/65231254752/weekly-report/

Goal for this week

Our goal for this week was originally to get feedback from Marcus and then work on our system with that feedback and what we got earlier from testing, in mind. We had noticed from our earlier testing sessions that we had some major problems with our system. Either everyone would spend resources trying to sabotage for either players, which would make the game result in a stalemate, or one player would focus on protecting his single resources boost and win the game. There really wasn’t that much to the game and it didn’t help that players couldn’t really interact with each other. It was more like you were playing at your own race.

What was achieved?

The game has now drastically changed since last week and that is for the better. We still have the exploration system as we had before, but resource gathering are different and we now also have an event system. There are now four different resources to gather. They can be found in predefined areas on the map. These resources are used to construct monuments on other predefined areas on the map. The areas where you construct monuments and the areas where you gather these resources are placed so that they are as far apart as possible to encourage so that people will trade with each other. We also do this by having a special resource which is only for trading, which you get though building a structure. You can trade it with other players and they get a resource of their choice.

How was it achieved?

During one of our meetings, we sat down and tried improving the game with the help of the feedback we had gotten. We discussed on how to implement some of the things we got as feedback but never felt quite satisfied with what we got. Between some testing sessions we tried brainstorming some ideas but some solutions would only cause other problems so we had trouble getting anywhere. One of our group members made the suggestion that we try going all the way back to the aesthetic goal again and that we also try to remove as much as possible from the game and just have the basics which we had a week back. Then we worked from there, looking at the aesthetic, thinking how we can take what was good about the game before and then improve.

Tobias’s reflection: http://tobkar05.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/board-games-dwarfs/

This is a continuation of my latest post that was about a board game we created.

We had some rethinking to do as our of how our game was it didn’t look good. So our task was to improve the game, and we did so quite drastically.

I can simply say that the game has changed a lot again and I believe we are getting close to the finish line. As the game is very defined now and it is more engaging to play. Still it might not be the perfect game but I really like what we have have accomplished so far.

We have made the exploration more interesting this time as things happen when you go to a new tile, bad things can happen or good things can happen and that is what makes the exploration part fun. The game still takes place in a cave but now everything else is also getting more defined too as the players play as some dwarfs that are in a cave that are supposed to construct three different monuments in the cave and the first one to complete the task wins. You are also supposed to collect resources to be able to make the structures.
You can make your own paths with dynamites or make blockades with dynamites and you don’t have an endless supply of them either. In fact you can only carry up to 1 dynamite at a time with a character. And you have only 2 characters.

You can not harm other players only block their path with a dynamite or you can build a structure where maybe someone else was going to build their structure.

Anders’s reflection: http://schoolwaffle.tumblr.com/post/65287103713/week-43/

This week we met with Marcus to discuss what could be done about the game. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we had created a game where interacting with other players kinda causes you to lose. This is of course the opposite of what we wanted, so we knew we had to make some drastic changes.

Marcus thought it needed to be more complex and came with some different suggestions for changes. One thing we talked about was adding a “sonar” item that would allow the player to have room cards in their hand.

However, we decided to completely revamp the game instead. We went back to the aesthetic goals and redesigned the game with them in mind.
Each player now has 2 characters to control. The exploration system still exists in its original form, and the players use it to move their characters around the map, collecting resources from 4 different resource zones.
Yes, the game now has 4 types of resources – A, B, C and D. To win, a player must use them to build 3 “victory structures”. These can be built on designated tiles using the two different resources specified on the tile. There are AB tiles, CB tiles and so on.
Each character can carry 2 resources at a time, as well as a stick of dynamite for blocking and clearing paths.

We took away the ability to destroy other people’s buildings, and instead introduced trading as a means to interact with others. If two characters are on the same tile, they may freely trade resources with each other. You can trade between your own characters as well.
We also introduced something we call the “trade resource” to further encourage trading. It’s a resource that, when traded, can be swapped for an A, B, C or D resource. A trade resource is awarded when the player builds a victory structure.

There’s also an event system now. After each player’s turn an event card is drawn. Most of the time nothing happens, but sometimes the player will find a resource or stick of dynamite – or get robbed of one of their resources. This isn’t a huge part of the game, but it makes it more interesting.

We all agree that the game is way better now. We think we’ve fixed the player interaction problem – it seems more beneficial now. Changing the winning condition so that you get there by spending resources rather than saving them was a good idea. Also, blocking/clearing paths doesn’t use up the very same resources you need to win.

This revamp of the game was actually thanks to a heated argument that broke out between two group members, which caused one of them make the suggestion to go back and start over, to which we all agreed. We then started brainstorming with the original aesthetic goals in mind, until we came up with what we have now.

On a side note – we have a theme for the game now! It’s set in a cave, and the players represent 4 dwarf clans settling an age-old dispute over who gets to sit on the throne. Whichever clan can build 3 monuments from the 4 types of gems first wins. The 2 characters you control are the king and queen of each clan.