Game Studies (Project 1)

Samer Muhamed Usef / 0357036 / Bachelors of Computer Science (Hons)
Game Studies
Project 1: Table Top Game Proposal

(Week 1 - Week 5)

MODULE INFORMATION

WEEKLY PROJECT BRIEF AND TRACKER

Week 1 (Introduction to Game Studies)

For the start of this module, Miss Anis briefed everyone in class with the module information, weekly briefs & tracker and started the lecture on what game studies is about. After that, miss briefed us on the individual assignment called Exercise 1 where we were supposed to record ourselves talking on our favorite game from a designers and players perspective and after that, everyone was to form a group of 4-5 people for the group assessment aspect of this module which was to make a physical table top game

We had to ideate an concept of our table top game where everyone one of the members in my group gave their ideas for Game Equation, Playful experiences and Link to everyday life and our ideas were:

A) Game equation:

Example: Congkak + plants vs zombies + competitive 

1. Monopoly+home escape+ competitive? Challenge? (Michelle)

2. Cluedo + Goose Goose Duck + Excitement / challenge (Reenah)

3. Monopoly + mmorpg/arpg + competitive (Yusuf)

4. Guess Who + competitive (w power cards & additional rules) (Samer)

B) Playful experiences :

Focus from one aspect from the table

1. Challenge (Michelle)

2. Excitement (Reenah)

3. Fantasy (Yusuf)

4. Competition (Samer)

C) Link to everyday life:

1. Escape room (physical game) + home escape ( digital game) (Michelle)

2. Cluedo + Goose goose duck (kinda like AmongUs , detective story stuff) (Reenah)

3. DnD (Concept of fantasy characters) + Getting to some destination (Yusuf)

4. Communication + Keep talking and Nobody Explodes (Bomb Diffuse) (Samer)

I was very confident about my idea on Game Equation since it feels like a new and unique game concept compared the usual and common board games out there but due to unfortunately not looking at the rules properly, the board game needed to be 2 players+ and needed at least 30 minutes of play time therefore, my idea couldn't be used.

After discussing and looking through everyone's ideas, we all came to a conclusion that Reenah's idea seemed realistically more well thought out than any of ours, so we went with: Monopoly (Tabletop) + Home Escape (Digital Game) + Competitive/Challange as the Ideation.

Week 2

Fig 2.1 Initial Ideation

For the second week, After Miss Anis thought us about the Game principles, framework + playful experiences, we pitched our ideation to Miss which we had complied all of it inside Miro: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVMLHwduM=/ 

Fig 2.2 Ideation Feedback

Miss Anis seemed uncertain about our idea and told us rather, we could change up the playfield and objective of the game using a playfield related to it Eg: Prison Break themed and more which we had written down in Miro and rethought our ideate stage by considering Michelle's idea as well since this was also pitched to Miss and we were told to play these games and see which one seems better to us and we began preparing for coming weekend to try out these games which were similar to Monopoly, Cluedo, Prison Styled.

Week 3

The 3rd week was the play week where each group was supposed to go to a board game cafe to get a better idea of their table top game with games similar to theirs which was what our group did.

Boards and Brews

The first spot we headed to was called Boards and Brews which was located at Pjs 11. At this cafe, we were allowed to play any board of our choice if we purchased any item from the cafe for how long we wanted which seemed like a good concept to me as the cafe wasn't very pricy and was justifiable for the price ranges they put on. They had an adequate range of board games to choose from where we choose Cluedo from the many which we were looking for.

Fig 3.1 Board Games Selection

Fig 3.2 Group Photo

Fig 3.3 Board Game: Cluedo

A game centered on solving mysteries requires players to identify the perpetrator and the manner of the murder with location which are concealed inside an envelope.

To be completely honest, I had never played this game before, but after experiencing it and grasping its concepts with my group members, I had a great time and enjoyed the detective aspect of it, which made the game competitive. In my opinion, this is what makes a board game more enjoyable and replayable than any other playful experiences. 

Game Over Here

Next, we went to another cafe called Game Over Here which was a 5 minute walk from the other cafe and had a completely different concept from the first one where your allowed to play any board game per hour for 4RM per person and had a broader range of board games which was also categorized in terms of player range and difficulty of learning.

Fig 3.4 Board Game: 4 Suspects  (4人の容疑者)

Upon asking for suggestions from the worker there with games we were interested in, we were introduced to 4 Suspects, a Japanese card game, we had to determine which of the 4 suspects had killed the victim in the hot spring. As a mystery/detective game played with cards rather than a board, this game featured characteristics in common with Cluedo. Although it was somewhat more difficult to identify who the suspect was, the power cards and the token element did aid in us making an accusation easier.

Fig 3.1 Board Game: Unlocked!

Unlocked, an escape room card game with an app feature that improved the escape room experience, came to our attention. The experience the game gave me was poor and difficult to solve, which made me lose motivation to continue moving forward within the time restriction that was set for us. The game was not even remotely related to the other 2 in any way. I would say that for a first time game, the replayability wouldn't be as often as Cluedo or Monopoly, but after you get the feel of it, you would be playing it frequently, therefore I crossed it off the list of possibilities for our board game ideas, plus the application side of it seemed difficult to produce as well. 

After trying 3 different games which aligned to our interests, I felt like I was leaning toward a detective-based competitive game, which offers you the most playful experience (in my experience), and Cluedo and 4 Suspects gave me that sensation out of all the board games we played including the ones everyone had prior knowledge of.

Later on, we held an online meeting and discussed rough aspects of how our game is going to be (how 2 play, rules, storyline tools) and split the board design and character design in terms of two ppl (Myself + Yusuf - Board Design) from this weeks online discussion to be prepared for the upcoming week and talk about the power cards during class.

Week 4

Fig 4.1 Rough Board Sketch

For this week, me and Yusuf presented our idea with our group mates showing a rough sketch of the board design with key aspects within the board highlighted as Symbols and description of these symbols above the board which was done using Figma.

Fig 4.2 Feedback for Board Game

With our ideas, Reenah and Michelle asked on their characters (Ducks) if they would be a viable fit for the board and Miss counseled it was a unrealistic concept as the story took place in a resort so she suggested making specific characters related to each room and ethnicity being Malaysian which we stook to and for the board, and rules of the game, we were given the feedback as shown in Fig 4.2.

Then we proceed to talk on the power as planned from the last meeting and came up with these results:

-1 Bluff card (Lie when asked on a suspected card) Tokens - 2

-2 Shuffle card (Shuffle the Boards Rooms) Tokens - 5

-3 Imposter card  (See a card from each players deck as per the users choice - categories?) Token -4

-4 Suspect Twice card (Be able to suspect twice from other players) Token - 2

-5 Sabotage Card (Lock a Room for 2-3 turns) Token - 3

-6 Switch Card (Switch 1 card at random with another player from the users’ choice) Token - 3

-7 Reveal Card (Only one item will be shown to everyone; this is additional from anyone) Token - 3

-8 Freeze Card (Skip one player’s turn) Token - 3

-9 Reverse Card (Reverse the direction of play, like the uno reverse card) Token - 3

After the class, we kept a online meeting where we finalized changes we needed regarding our game with their finalized versions to present for the proposal next week with the major finalized works being:

Materials and Items:

1. Board 

2. Room platform - 10

3. Character tokens - 6

4. Tools tokens - 6

5. Cards

- characters - 6

- Tools - 6 

- Lost card - 1

- Room - 10

- Power Cards - 10

6. Coin Tokens

7. Paper checkmate x 50 pieces

8. Empty envelope for the case file

9. Dice (2)

10. Pencils

11. Eraser

Tools:

1. UV Flashlight

2. Pen

3. Broom

4. Lock Pick

5. Crowbar

6. Stethoscope/ Borescope

Fig 4.3 Character Design

Character Roles:

1. Receptionist 

2. Bellboy 

3. Housekeeping  

4. Security officer 

5. Resort Manager

6. Lifeguard 

Map Design:

Fig 4.4 Resort Map

Week 5

5th week was the Proposal Presentation Day, where we had discussed prior and decided each of us would do a part from content present in the slides with the recordings also done by each individual and compiled all together by Michelle to then be posted. 

Upon the submission of our Presentation Proposal, We divided ours tasks for the making the board and its pieces ourselves using paper for the upcoming week which was the Pre-Alpha game mock up. The task was distributed as follows:

REFLECTION

The Game Studies tabletop game project involved ideation, playtesting, and refinement. We initially explored unique concepts but settled on a competitive Monopoly and Home Escape fusion. Playtesting at cafes led us to change our ideation to detective-based games like Cluedo and 4 Suspects due to the playful experiences gained from it. Week 4 included feedback on our resort-themed game and from that, power cards were devised. Week 5 showcased our progress in the Proposal Presentation, and we focused on the Pre-Alpha game mock-up during that week as well. The e-portfolio reflects our collaborative journey and the evolution of our game from a concept to ready made proposal! 

I'm hoping things will go smoothly from here on yet I'm scared how and what our final table top game would look like but I'm ready to steps to that direction along with my groups mate Reenah, Michelle & Yusuf whom I can all rely on.