Following some criticism and returns during our last presentation last week, Jacky decided to come up with a card back that communicated something instead of random lines. The original design was mistaken as communicating something when in fact it was simply just a few lines.
Playtesters believed that cards had to align (when faced down) connecting between both lines to create a path. This was unintentional, but we decided to roll with it and came up with a different card backing design that helped with the game’s layout, as well as understanding how players could move across the board.
Now each card as a symbol to dissociate between BOONS (in blue) and CHALLENGES (in red.) Boons also have a wind like symbol, whilst the challenges have a clashing symbol, which will allow players to apprehend and anticipate their trajectory through the maze/labyrinth.
Finally each card was styled to resemble a room, using stone walls as their borders, and they all have a path that shows how players might move around the board, that is to say towards any other adjacent card to the card currently stood upon. This design will avoid confusion when setting up and traversing the game board.
We also began drafting more cohesive rules, and changed the set up to have something quicker.
* 5 cards are drawn from the deck and placed between both character cards.
* 3 cards are then drawn from the deck by both players again, and placed adjacent to this original lane.
* 2 cards are then drawn and placed into the player’s hand, these cards can then be used on the player’s respective turns to switch out with one card on the board, or placed adjacent to another card.
Reflections on the Design Process so far:
I had previous made a card game during my Bachelor’s course, called Stranded Space, which was a single player card game with a randomised path, like this one. Though far more mechanical than the current game, the design process was mostly the same.
- Conceptualise
- Rough playtest
- Asset Making
- Clarify rules
- Internal Playtesting (between both members of the group)
- External Playtesting (between outsiders or with 1 member of the group)
- Reiterate according to experience recorded
One major issue of playtesting this game is that due to travel restrictions we could only experience the parts of the game that require less physical interaction. Two solutions then come to mind, either we can focus the challenges onto something more accessible and less constraining, for example: the Wraiths card challenges both players to get on the ground (“play dead”). The quickest on the ground wins.
Or we can playtest with others during the holidays to get a proper grip at how the game might play when physicality is involved, which is the final plan. We’re approaching the final development blog, so I’ll have something larger at the ready seeing as this was merely a quick update on card backs and the explanation of their design.