Game Prototype

Production 2The Board Game Unit 4

Game Conceptualization Creating a simple

board game and game design document ________ the basics of game play. Include debugging possible problems with the rules and the play of the game.

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Background information:Game mechanics fit into several different categories,

used to help classify games. ____ is the segment set aside for a player to

complete certain actions before moving to the next section or player. The segments can repeat thus the term taking turns. Some games use the turn as a passage of time. Another type of turn, called the impulse-based turn, divides a turn into smaller segments or impulses. With impulses, players do some of their actions at one time, and then react to the current situation before moving on to the next impulse. In some games, not all turns are alike. A game for example, might have every third turn as a sleep turn where the player cannot fight and must rest.

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Background information: Turn-based game also known

as _______strategy (TBS). This type of game is separated into well-defined and visible parts, called turns or rounds. For example, when the game flow is concerned with the time element, turns represent units of time, like days, weeks, months, or years. The player in a turn-based game is usually allowed time to consider the results of a turn before taking actions. This period of planning and strategy usually leads to better solutions.

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Background information: Movement. Many games,

especially board games use the movement of a tokens or game pieces. How tokens are allowed to move, and when, is governed by game movement mechanics. These movement rules explain how and when a token can be moved to another area or square. Dice or some other randomizer may be used to determine the movements. Some games use boards with equally sizes spaces (squares, circles, or triangles) which are occupied by one or more game pieces.

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Background information: Action points. Action points

are used to control what players can do on their turns in the game. The actions may be controlled by allocating each player a certain number of “action points”. The player may use the points to perform various actions according to the game rules. The actions might include moving pieces, drawing cards, collecting money, etc. This type of mechanic is common in many German-style board games.

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Background information: Auction or bidding. Some

games allow a player to auction or bid on the right to perform particular actions. Auctions can be based on different forms of "payment". For example, the winning bidder may use some type of game element such as play money, turns, or points for these privileges. Payment does not usually occur at the beginning of the game, but is a contract that must be completed by the end of the game. Cards games such as Bridge, Hearts, and Spades are example of bidding games.

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Background information: Cards. Cards are used

in many games as a method of randomizing outcomes of play. The cards are mixed and placed down in the playing area. A player will select a card and perform some type of action or activity that is written on the card, the cards can also act as tokens or assets that a player can gather or collect.

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Background information: Capture. Some games require players to obtain as many

tokens as possible. The act of capturing a token can be accomplished in many ways. Moving a tokens into a space occupied by an opposing

player’s token (Trouble) Jumping a token over a space occupied by an opposing token

(Checkers). Challenging or attacking an opposing token. The outcome of

the challenge would be determined by the rules of the game. Surrounding an opponent’s token with one's own tokens in

some manner. Playing cards or other rules allowed by the games to capture

tokens. Captured tokens can be removed from the game, taken by

the capturing player, or can reenter the game at a later point.

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Background information: Catch-up One mechanism of

game play is to make the end of the game more difficult as a player is about the win the game. For example, a player must roll an exact number on a dice to land on a single ending space. This mechanism allows other players to catch up and remain interested in the game. Other games allow the player in the lead a faster chance of winning, such as in Monopoly, and thus ending the game sooner.

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Background information: Role-playing. Role-playing

games (RPG) require the player to act out the role of a fictional character. The RPGs games such as Dungeons & Dragons relied heavily on randomizers such as dice to determine the outcomes of role-playing actions. As games matured, the use of the standard "good role-playing “ helped determine if the player or action is successful.

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Background information: Tile-laying. Other games use game pieces

called tiles. Tiles are flat, rigid pieces of a regular shape. The tiles are usually laid down on a flat surface to form a pattern, shape, word, or other action determined by the rules of the game. Some tiles have patterns or symbols on their surfaces. Players arrange the tiles to form some sort of significant combinations. The tiles are usually drawn at random by the players. The tiles can be drawn right before placing them on the playing surface, or in groups to form a collection or hand of tiles from which the player can make later plays.

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Background information: Tile-laying. Tiles are usually used in two

distinct ways: The placing of the tile immediately affects

the outcome of the game. For example, the player is awarded points for spelling a word correctly.

The placing of tiles creates a board upon which other players can build and expand on. The game Tikal, for example, uses tiles to represent areas of jungle, through which archaeologists (represented by tokens) must move to score game points.

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Victory Condition MechanicsEvery player wants to win. How to win can change

from one game to another. These mechanics control how a player can win the game.

Goals. The goal is the necessary action to win the game. Most goals can be very specific to a game. An example is the checkmate of a king in chess.

Piece elimination. The player wins when they capture all or a given number of the opponents' playing pieces.

Puzzle guessing. The winning player solves or guesses the answer to some type of puzzle or riddle. Examples include Hangman and Zendo.

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Victory Condition Mechanics

Races. The winning player is the first player to reach a given finish line. Players may move tokens or game pieces in desired paths with given rules. Examples include Backgammon and Trouble.

Structure building. The winning player constructs game pieces into a predefined structure. The structure might be better than those of other players. The game could also work in reverse. The winning player is the player who keeps the structure in tack and prevents a collapse. Examples include Jinka and pickup sticks.

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Victory Condition Mechanics Territory control. The

winning player controls the most "territory" or spaces on the playing surface, or a specific piece of territory. Examples include war games, and Go.

Victory points. The wining player accumulates a predetermined number of points or play money. The winner can also be determined by obtaining the most points in a given time.

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The Board Game1. You are to produce an original

board game. You can work alone or in pairs depending on what your teacher determines fits best with your class.

2. Use the information from the background area to help you design your game. Listed below are some categories you can use for your game. Your teacher may want to assign a different category to each student to make sure all of the categories are chosen

The Board Game: Categories

Physical skill games. These games involve using some type of physical talent or dexterity in order to win the game. Examples include: marbles, tiddlywinks, operation, pick up sticks, Hungry Hungry Hippos, twister, Kerplunk, Jenga, rubrics cube, Blockhead, perfection, Simon, Villa Paletti, It may appear that some of these are not board games, but the game could be centered on a board in order to play.

Mental skill games. These games involve thinking and strategy along with a little luck. A player would need to answer questions, or use strategy in order to win an advantage in the game. Examples include: Trivial Pursuit, Clue, Scrabble, Battleship, Win lose or Draw, Crosstrack, Mastermind, BINGO, Othello, Coda, Pente

The Board Game: Categories

Maze game. This game would involve having the players transverse a maze on the board. The maze could involve mental abilities or luck to move through the maze. Examples include: Railway Rivals, Tracks to Telluride, Mouse Trap, GOOTMU, Drakon, Maze, Shuttles, Road Rally, Labyrinth, Goofy’s Mad Maze Game, Mindmaze, Snafu,

Simulation games. These games involve emulating a sports event, or other location or event.

The Board Game: Categories Social games. These games involve social

aspects within a group. Examples include: Charades, Six degrees of Separation, Who AM I, Apples to Apples, Pin The Tail on the Donkey, Monopoly, LIFE, PayDay, Yahtzee, Risk,

Race and luck game. Win by first person to remove all players from the board or win by acquiring the most attributes. Example Sorry, chutes and ladders, Buccaneer, Can’t Stop, Mancala,

Matching game Children’s board games. Educational games.

Board Game: Requirements Originally designed board drawn in a 2D

graphics package, printed in color, and glued on the board. The board can be several pieces of paper combined together for the total board. The Board needs to follow a chosen theme and be age appropriate.

Originally designed game pieces such as cards, money, tokens, or devices related to the game. These pieces can be produced in a 3D graphics package, printed in color, and glued on small pieces of foam board. Some pieces can be used from old games or purchased.

Board Game: Requirements A list of specific rules.

These are usually included on the box top of many board games. The rules of play should include specific steps on how to play the game, take turns, and ultimately win the game. This is in the form of an instruction booklet or flyer. This flyer should include graphics to help understand the rules of play.

A Proposal Document

The Proposal Document A good proposal should contain the

following A Cover Letter A Game Overview The Game Treatment A Competitive Analysis A Design Document Team Introduction A Budget and Schedule A Game Demo

The Cover LetterProbably the most important thing you will

write will be the cover letter. This document will most likely be the first and possibly the only one read before the demo is played. It has to tell the “publisher” (instructor) everything about you, your team, and your proposed game.

1 page with introduction, a body and a conclusion, usually about four solid paragraphs that sum up the entire game proposal.

The Cover Letter The main points:

You have a great game idea (marketable) and that you are able to make that idea a reality.

Brief summary of the proposal and hot selling points such as a cutting edge technology, license, or top name talent.

Sell your team! The reader of this letter will notice bad formatting, spelling errors, and how well your thoughts are organized, among other details that will speak of the letters’ author.

The Cover Letter Consider your audience

and state why you would want to be published by this particular publisher.

Conclude your letter with a request for action. Don’t just say thanks and goodbye, ask the reader to follow up or better yet, tell them you will be following up.

The Game OverviewThe game overview should contain the basic

data about your game. This generally includes the following:

Game Title: Be sure to indicate that your game's name is a "working title", as this means that you are aware that the title may change. You should have a title that speaks to the publishers and connotes the essence of your game.

Category or Genre: Place your game into an accepted game genre (A race game or a strategy game)

The Game Overview Development Stage: You need to indicate to the publisher

what stage your game is at.  Work in Progress: You have an idea. You may have a

little something done, maybe some art and a little code. Alpha: The game is running to some degree at this stage.

UI or board design is defined, the general layout of the game is set, and the look and feel are achieved. You should be able to demonstrate the game play and the look and feel.

Interim Beta or Second Alpha: Some bugs & errors are found and fixed. The game is running, playable and mostly done. Some tweaking is taking place and initial beta testing is starting. This is the stage publishers want when they look at it in a proposal.

Final Beta: All features are functional and complete. The game has been tested by the development team and all of the bugs found during that testing have been corrected.

The Game TreatmentThe game treatment is your

primary selling tool which quickly orients the publisher to your game. Include the following:

Genre, platform, story and USP’s "Unique selling points" (USPs). 

USP’s are the aspects that differentiate your game from the competition, offer game play value, and ultimately make consumers want to buy the product.

Proofread and edit by as many qualified people as possible.

Competitive AnalysisThe competitive analysis illustrates to the publisher

how you stack up against your competition.  It must explain why your title will outsell the competition.

Create a Table: List functions and features down the X axis, with your game and its competitors across the Y axis, checking off the features that each game has. You can also list other competitive differentiators here too, such as licenses, technology, development costs -- anything that will make your title perform better in the retail channel.

The competitive analysis should contain at least 2 products and at least 2 features. You need to include your real competition. Basically compare your game to the competition in paragraph form.

The Design DocumentThe design document is a long,

in-depth document that shows the publisher your game in detail with sketches. For this game just include the sketches. The drawings should be to scale and neatly done you should include at least the following:

A sketch of the board design and layout (Corel Draw document)

The design of any special game elements (money, tokens, etc.)

Rules of the game – clearly written and illustrated.

Team IntroductionConvincing the publisher

that you are a good risk is critical, so it's imperative that you build your credibility as a developer. Your "team introduction" (or "team bios") section lets you convey your experience via resumes, portfolios, and press clippings.

Budget and ScheduleThe budget and schedule

are the amount of time and money it will take to make the game. Use Microsoft Excel to prepare spreadsheets to clearly set deadlines for the production of your game. For the purposes of this class, your spreadsheet must clearly show the plan of work and how each team member is responsible for a part of the project.

The Game Demo This is the game board itself. For the purpose of this class, you

must get everything else approved BEFORE producing your game demo or final product.

Your final product submission should contain a working model of your game. Use Corel Draw or a 2D drawing package for your graphics. Paste on a board. Make sure to include written instructions.

Optional: Also include a box with graphics to house your game.

The end