For this project, I chose to create a board game from scratch, this was for a variety of reasons. The first being the current popularity and expansion of the board game market. Board games are becoming a lot more common place, and a lot more popular, so I felt as though this was an interesting industry to try and break into. Statistics say that the industry is set to achieve a growth rate of 9.2% by 2030 (www.skyquestt.com, 2022). The second reason is I wanted to experiment with doing a variety of different design in an area I was familiar with. UI and UX design would be used when designing game mechanics and card designs, and branding would be used when marketing the game. Along with this, the project would use skills like creative thinking, problem solving, and time management.
To create a goal for the project, I decided to make the game for the board game society at Winchester University (WARGs) and communicated with them frequently across the course of the project, delivering presentations, communicating ideas, and showing them the progress of the game. By clicking the links below, you can see the process of which I was able to create the game or you can play the game in its current state by downloading the instructions and printing the assets provided. There is also a video which acts as guide to how the game is played if you are not familiar with board games.
This link acts as a handover document for any who wish to use the assets.
In order to properly put the time into this project it deserves, I decided to work on it across both semester one and two, using semester one to focus on creating game mechanics and a user flow, and semester two to design the cards, boards, and box and branding. This section of my website outlines the work I did in semester one towards creating a working game and testing it with a variety of people in order to improve the concept. This means that most of the designs used on this page are currently placeholders for when I work on the designs in semester two.
When creating ideas for society, it’s important to note that they are for the betterment of the society rather than the worse. By making a board game, I am aligning with Sustainable Development Goal 12 of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 (United Nations, 2015). By creating a physical board game over a digital one, which is common in the modern era, this reduces the amount of electronic consumption due to not having to use a computer. Though manufacturing a game does cause pollution, and packaging is often unable to be recycled, this is a one-time cost for a board game for many generations, rather than a constant cost to launch a video game. I will also be working on creating sustainable packaging in semester two that limits the amount of plastic used, and the amount of waste thrown away.
To manage my time across the project, I used Trello to create a to-do list as this best aligned with my work style. I was able to add to it as I went along and added more ideas around the scope of the project as I went along, and could adapt when ideas changed. Here you can see where I am currently with the project. Though there is a lot I have not yet started, by looking at the key it shows these are objectives I have delegated to semester two and are not integral to creating a playable game in its current state. Overall, the to-do list fit very well with my work style, and I am happy with the work I created using it and my time to do so. In future, I may take use of Trello’s feature to create deadlines as this may have worked well towards planning what I was going to present in specific meetings with my client.
By using a to-do list structure, I was best able to add certain tasks to the list as I continued to work on the project that I wouldn't have known about until reaching a specific stage in the project. For example, when I started the project. Board games can use a variety of different pieces in order to play, some have cards, some have tokens, some don’t even have boards, so I didn’t know what things I would need to write, and then in semester two, design. As such, I was able to add a task to my to-do list that involved me defining what pieces there would be, which I was only able to do after figuring out how the game would be played, which then lead me to be able to add these new tasks to the to-do list without messing up my time delegation too much.
Though I didn't complete every task delegated to semester one, they were each progressed at least slightly, and the ones I didn't finish can easily be finished in semester two. The reason I didn't complete the name and brand guidelines is that they are part of the branding section in semester two, so I didn't think too much about it, however I listed them as semester one because I wanted to have a strong idea for the branding and project name whilst I was making, and that is a success as I have a good placeholder name, and I have a strong image of what the branding and style is.
When doing user testing, I asked all participants if they enjoyed the game and whether they would play again. All reacted positively and said they enjoyed the game. I also collected some more specific feedback from a couple of participants, this was what they said:
“The relation between game phases works out really well. While the drafting rounds are longer, they can theoretically be sped up by revealing the shop cards and monopolising the market early. However, it balances out nicely as especially the trading and interactive side prepares you directly for the duelling phase. This phase then resolved rather quickly, as all resources one build up will now see their purposes.
The design of the magic schools and cards is very fun and comprehensive, the layout and purpose of each very clear.
The corruption aspect is interesting as it opens up new ways of resource management. It might also be worth seeing if there is an additional way to incorporate it into the duelling phase; but it already fulfils its purpose and fits in neatly with the internal structure and world of the game.
Overall, the game is just a lot of fun, provides interaction with the other players despite being competitive and is easy to pick up and explain to new players.”
“Coven chaos was so much better than I was expecting, the visuals are great to look at and easy to understand, the theming is well implemented and the actual game mechanics are well developed and distinguished from existing games, with a little more work on balancing the battle phase I could definitely see this game published, it's already better than a lot of what's out there.”
Though I was slightly disappointed with the speed at which I completed this project, I did later realise I was quite aspirational with my goals. Usually, it can take many years for a large team of people to create one game, however I have given myself less than a year to complete one on my own.
I do believe this section of the project is successful as not only are the clients happy with the outcome, but every single play-tester I asked said they really enjoyed it and would play the game again. I also really enjoyed the project. It allowed me to connect with people I wouldn’t usually talk to, as well as express myself on a project that I haven’t felt I’ve had the creativity to do yet.
I also look forward to continuing this project next semester. There are still have some areas of the gameplay I need to finalise, however it is better to improve the game and extend my personal deadline than say it’s finished when it isn’t.
Some things I wish I had done differently would be to have completed a prototype way earlier in the project to display and play with the client so that had a better idea of the project, however it was a big commitment to print all the cards, so I understand why I waited until I was confident I had a complete prototype. I also feel that I didn’t miss out on any play tests I could have done by starting the project earlier. In summary, I’m really proud of myself for all the work I’ve put into this project and seeing people enjoying playing what I created and having fun, and I'm really looking forward to continuing development next semester.
