Unit 2 - ePortfolio Post 4

 

Unit 2 - ePortfolio Post 4

Blog Written by Konner Rooney, from Group 7

A picture showing the board of game my partner Jorge made for our game for this unit, Space-Ed!

Unit 2 Games That I Playtested

    During our most recent week of the Video Game Design class, we were tasked with playtesting other groups' games from this unit. In total, I playtested four games. They were...

• The Hungry Queen. Amongst an eight by eight grid, players collect "crumbs" scattered across the board with the goal of collecting more than their opponent. 
• Abyssal Depths. Players take the role of divers trying to escape from a colossal squid. Victory is determined based on first categorizing who lived and who died. Those who live automatically beat those who died, and the two groups are then ranked based on who made it to the surface first. (Example: 1st = Made it to the surface second, survived. 2nd = Made it to the surface fourth, survived. 3rd = Made it to the surface first, died. 4th = made it to the surface third, died.)
• N/A. Taking place in a fantasy setting where everything is made out of marshmallows, players must slay the marshmallow dragon to win the game, and bring peace to the kingdom!
• Speedy Food War. This fast food-themed rhythm game gives players the task of trying to place seven of their symbols on the board. Said symbols are gained by winning rounds of the in-game card game against their opponent, in which players keep placing cards down until they can't play a card isn't the same number as the previous card played. For example, if the last card played was a two, and a player doesn't have any non-two cards left in their deck, they lose the round, and their opponent gets to place a symbol on the board. 

Formal Analysis

    For my formal analysis of one of the games we playtested, I decided to examine Abyssal Depths. The premise stood out to me, and I found the way its document was formatted to be quite charming. 

• Players: The game is designed for 2 to 4 players.
• Objectives: The primary objective is to be the first player to reach the surface, without being caught, killed and eaten by the colossal squid. Additionally, they have to manage the oxygen levels within their respective oxygen tanks. If they run out, they will also die. If your character dies, you can still continue to play and reach the surface as a ghost. However, any character that reaches the surface whilst still alive will automatically rank higher than you. Ghosts also have a new set of cards to use. 
• Procedures: Players start in their respective lanes, 150 meters from the surface. The squid starts at 200 meters. At the beginning of the game, each player draws five cards from the living deck. To determine the player order, players hold their breath in real life. Whoever does it longest gets to go first. The squid moves last in a round after all players' turns that round have passed, and its' movement affects all of the lanes it passes. 
• Rules: Players draw cards from their respective pile (based on if their character is dead or alive) each round. Every time a player moves, they lose one liter of oxygen from their tank. A round ends when all of the characters and the squid have used up all of their turns. The squids' procedure functions differently than the divers, having it's movement be based on the number of rounds that have passed, plus two.
• Resources: The primary resource of the game is the cards. Players draw and play the cards every turn. The cards can help the player that uses it, hinder the progress of other players, or both.
• Conflict: The main conflict of the game comes from players trying to escape to the surface, and avoid falling behind and getting caught by the squid. Getting caught by the squid makes the player a ghost, making it impossible for them to objectively rank higher than any other player who lives. This mindset, along with the actions taken by players and the squid in the game, causes this conflict to rise in intensity.
• Boundaries: The game is bounded by the lanes of each player, as they try to swim to the top of their lanes, which leads to the surface. Players start a bit higher along their lanes at 150 meters below the surface, while the squid starts at 200 meters.
• Outcome: The outcome of the game comes from how the players are ranked. As mentioned previously before my formal analysis, all players that make it to the surface alive outrank those who are killed and turned into ghosts before they can make it to the surface. From there, the rankings are sorted by the order the players reach the surface.