Games Studies / Projects
31.08.2022 - 13.12.2022 (Week 1 - Week 16)
Lulu Luisa Linardi / 0349358 / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Games Studies
Projects
LECTURES
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| Fig 1.0: Thumbnail |
For your game:
1. Analyze the game
2. What do you feel to achieve this level
3. Rewards and achievements
4. Act of rebellion, making mistakes, and breaking rules is okay. You can do this better than them. In real life, you might not be able to do this and that, but in gameplay, you might be able to do that thing.
5. Multisensory (motivation, engaging, appealing, replayable, social)
– Do you feel motivated after playing?
– Do you still drawn into the game?
– Is it replayable? Would you wanna play the game again? Just be honest
– Experience is data
Iteration Design – Playable Modal
1. Design a prototype
2. Play test your prototype
3. Analyze what happened
4. Repeat the process
Playtesting
1. Don’t just rely on yourself, you might need others to play it and give feedback
2. Stop brainstorming and start prototyping
3. Embrace failure
4. Be critical
5. More experimental, more iteration
6. Keep it ugly
iterative Design vs Design Thinking
Design Thinking
*The user is the center of everything
1. Empathize
Trying to understand the user
2. Define
Trying to understand the user’s background
3. Ideate
Locking down a specific direction
4. Prototype
You can’t do prototyping without understanding the user
5. Test
Iterative Design
1. Design
2. Playtest
3. Analyze
– Note down what did you do it here
– Have a framework for your game structure
Prototype Development
1. Level 1 – Project 1
– Game proposal
– Iterative process
2. Level 2 – Project 2
– Game framework development
3. Level 3 – Final Project
INSTRUCTIONS
Week 2
We formed a group to do the game project. I joined a group with the 4 other members, all from BDCM. The group named Meeples consists of me, Audrey, Jolean, Kimberly, and Shaocheng. Here's the link to our group sites.
https://sites.google.com/view/meeple
Our group decided to work on a physical game. We thought that it will be more fun since the other groups are developing the digital game. Before starting the project, we all agreed to visit a board game cafe to explore more about board games. We played some different kinds of board games while researching.
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| Fig 2.1.1: Playing board games |
Week 3
We met again on campus with our own game idea. We shared our own idea with each other and decided to pick the two best ideas to consider. I actually gained an idea after playing the board game. It is similar yet different to the game we played, Geistesblitz and Big Two (usually known as Capsa Susun by Indonesian). But I did many modifications to it.
This is my game idea:
Each card will have 2 different objects. There are 4 objects in total, and each object has 4 different sizes. Each object has different point depending on its size. Players need at least one object in the card that has the same object as the one on the last card put on the table and the object needs to be bigger or the same size as that last card. If they don't own the card, they will have to pick one card from the card pile, and if the picked card still does not meet the criteria, their turn will be skipped. So, players have to compete with each other, and the one who finishes their card first will win.
At the end of our discussion, I got my idea being the most picked one, so I have to get the ugly prototype ready for the next week's playtest.
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| Fig 2.1.2: My game idea |
Week 4
With my ugly prototype, our group had a playtest with Dr. Charles and we got some feedback regarding the idea improvement. We also did the counting for the total cards needed for the game. That moment will be unforgettable because we were really struggling just to count the total cards. We even involved another group to help us.
This week we also have another game idea proposed by Audrey, which is a cooking game. She came with her ugly prototype ready and explained to us how the game works. And we also had a playtest for her game.
The main focus of her game is to cook the recipe with the ingredients we got. The game will need 4 to 5 players and 5 rounds in total. Each player's turn will have 2 actions available, the actions refer to something like buying the ingredients from the market or negotiating with other players to get the ingredients. The game will start with players given 15 coins, 3 recipe cards, and 5 ingredient cards. When receiving the ingredients cards and recipe card, we have to finish the cooking in order to earn coins. If the player doesn't own the ingredients card they need, they can either buy the ingredients card or negotiate with another player who owns that card in order to get that ingredient. They can also do a market switch since they can only buy ingredients according to the market put in front of them. However, the market switch requires payment, so the player has to pay to get their market switched. That will be counted as one action as well. The player with the most recipe being cooked and gaining the most coins will win the game.
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| Fig 2.2.1: Playtesting with Dr. Charles |
We had our playtest for both game ideas with Dr. Charles and he loves the cooking game! In the end, we decided to proceed with Audrey's cooking game. However, we have to create the storyline for the game and make it more impactful to the players and related to the real world.
Week 5
This week, we already improved the game with a fresher and more detailed idea plus combining it with the feedback given by Dr. Charles from the previous week. We also did another playtest with Dr. Charles and were told by him to start prototyping instead of keep brainstorming. At the end of our meeting, we discussed what theme should we adopt for our game since mere cooking is already too mainstream. Here are some of the theme ideas that we came up with:
– Science chemicals
– Makeup
– Robotic
– Cars
– Buildings
– Clothes
– Jewelry and mining
– Inventions
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| Fig 2.2.2: Playtesting with Dr. Charles |
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| Fig 2.2.3: Playtesting with Dr. Charles |
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| Fig 2.2.4: Playtesting with Dr. Charles |
Week 6
We decided to proceed with an invention theme for our board game. This week we also did another playtest with a more improved prototype and idea.
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| Fig 2.2.5: Playtesting the game |
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| Fig 2.2.6: Meeples' group timeline |
Week 7
Starting this week, there's no more physical class with all the students attending the class. We can have our own consultation time with Dr. Charles. We have to keep in mind that for each consultation session, we must be sure to have:
However, our group decided to use this week's time to complete the exercises given so we can focus more on the project in the upcoming weeks. The exercises can be found on our group's site by clicking here.
Evil Inventions
We started the work by creating the mood board as seen below.
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| Fig 2.3.1: Evil Invention's mood board |
• The Mad Professor (evil & crazy professor)
• The Nefarious Mr. E (an anti-hero)
• The Cunning Darla (evil child prodigy)
• The Brutal Mobster
• The Silent Hacker
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| Fig 2.3.2: Character design; left to right: The Mad Professor, The Nefarious Mr. E, The Cunning Darla, The Brutal Mobster, The Silent Hacker |
The rule book was done by Jolean.
Below is the packaging design done by me.
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| Fig 2.3.3: Top side of the game packaging cover |
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| Fig 2.3.4: Back side of the game packaging |
Final Outcome
We finally met again on Week 15 to propose our final prototype (unprinted) to Dr. Charles and explain briefly the final rule of our game. After getting approval from Dr. Charles, we (me, Audrey, Jolean, and Kimberly) went to the printing shop to print out our final prototype.
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| Fig 2.4.1: Invention cards |
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| Fig 2.4.2: Invention cards, rule book, & round indicator board |
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| Fig 2.4.3: Evil Invention Packaging |
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| Fig 2.4.4: Black market |
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| Fig 2.4.5: Tool cards & special tool cards |
Lastly, here's our game document for this game studies project.
FEEDBACK
Ugly Prototype
– What you experience when playing the game is data, analyze the playtest and write it down
– Let other people try our game
– Don't be afraid of failures
– The user is the center of the design process
– Keep the prototype 'ugly'
Final Prototype
– Love the design of the game
– Has a very high rate of replayability
– Great job on the game design and concept
Game Industry People
– The characters on the round board are unnecessary
– What is the narrative of the round board? why is it only 5 rounds?
– The font on the round board and invention cards is a bit difficult to read
– The demolish card and shield card should not be the same size as the tool cards, players will get confused and think it is only used in one part of the invention card instead of discarding the entire invention card
– The character cards are also unnecessary
– Should add different special abilities on each character that relates to the game so players can roleplay as villains easier
– Overall good design of the game, just need to add a little bit more
REFLECTIONS
This game project was really fun! I really enjoyed every process of game-making since the beginning. Special thanks to my beloved Meeples teammates Audrey, Jolean, Kimberly, and Shaocheng for being the best teammates throughout the semester. We have been going through many hardships during the whole process and finally came out with an amazing outcome. I'm nothing without these guys. I learnt that we will have a great outcome if our bonding for the team is great too. Not forget to mention Dr. Charles for always being there and giving us feedback to improve our game. These will be unforgettable memories for me. It's a wrap for Evil Inventions!