Week 14: Competitive Play

In class, we are developing and turning board game ideas into reality. We were asked to choose an image from Dr. S's game store and develop game ideas. We initially had two games in mind, but we were instructed to attempt to create a more challenging game. Our game is based on ancient Greek astronomy.  The board consists of three rings that can be rotated. Players will rotate the rings in the observatory and map out constellations in their astronomer's journal.  Each player will map out constellations that equal different points. The person with the most constellation points wins. We were heavily inspired by Disney's Haunted Mansion game.  In "Unboxed: Board Game Experience and Design," Calleja says, "Unlike attention, involvement describes not only the degree of engagement with a game but also the quality of the resulting experiences. Once we start exploring the nature of involvement, we face a daunting variety of possible forms, depending on both the properties of the game and the disposition of the players involved." When designing our prototype for our board game, we had to plan out how each player would be involved. We had an idea of how we wanted the game to go. We needed to play out how the players would be involved. Would the game be too easy? Would each player get fair advantages and disadvantages? Designing a board game is interesting because you have to plan how the game will go before anyone plays it. We also have to think about every possible outcome. I'm excited to see how our game comes out. I have high hopes for it, and I know others do too. I just hope we can live up to the expectations, because if we do, then our game would be really solid.