Concept
This is my very first game. And a board game at that.
In this game you go 1 on 1 to either save or destroy the world in a card game with zone control with tokens in a map.
Group project consisting of board game conceptualisation and implementation for the Game Design and Development Computer Science Master course 2021/22. In Depth Game Explanation and Design Process (DevDiary) found below.
For a quick demo watch the following video:
To play the game and download the rulebook use the following link: Itch.io Sick World Game Page
Overview and Game Loop
This is an asymmetric (in gameplay options and roles) Board Game
- 1 Defender trying to defend earth, 1 attacker trying to harm earth
- Choose 3 die values out of 3 possible roles to choose types of cards to use, different cards have different effects and can be used in different patterns
- Their effects are shown as tokens
- The goal of the attacker is to damage the map (earth) as much as possible and the defender to stop that from happening
- Tokens have levels and when they reach a certain level they become permanent
- The game ends one of two ways:
- By completing the objective card only the player knows at the start of the match
- Every 5 rounds check to see if one player has a specific amount of violet or black tokens (if not, the game continues, if both do, the same happens)
- If after all rounds the checkpoint for neither player is met or neither completed their objective card then the game ends in a draw
Core Items and Game Variants
To play the game, there are two board options, the 6x6 board (available to play right now in Tabletopia) in the normal version of the game, and the modified version (same board, but with an additional special card, which changes which dice values relate to each card).
Then there is the 10x10 board, for the advanced game version, which uses 10-sided die, rather than 6-sided, and takes longer, and always has the special cards.
Cards for the attacker and defender are different depending on the type of actions they do.
To play, roll 3 dice (which in total can allow for 3 re-rolls). From the combination of those three dice you must choose a house to use a card in. One example is rolling 4, 4, 2 (after the 3 optional re-rolls). The player can choose to play a card matching that of type 4 in either house 4x2 or 2x4. But he can also choose a card matching the roll of 2 in house 4x4. Each card has effects that can affect horizontals, verticals, diagonals or combinations of these in specific ways by changing the zones status as mentioned on the card. Zones start neutral and go back and forth between progress states as shown in the rulebook.
Step-by-Step Play Guide
If you want a detailed guide on how to play make sure to read the rulebook available here and check the Sick World Demo Presentation.
Development
This was developed over the course of a month, and included 2 playtests, with the first being a physical copy with printed cards and game items, which still exist with me! We looked at traditional games, and took on the challenge of making a quick game where unpredictability and luck could be overcome and balanced, but still being intriguing and not banal. Which I believe we did.
Conclusion
This was my first ever game that I had the opportunity to design and I truly enjoyed learning about the process and how to make a game more fun and less frustrating. One example I'll give that always stuck with me was, the dice. Initially we just had the dice being rolled and the results were what the player had to pick, which playtesters said led them to feeling frustrated. Simply changing this to allow for re-rolls and having the 3 die results being both the position on the board and the card to be played led to a way more interesting, complex and fun experience all around.