Week 5 - Harry Bhatt

During the course of last week we have made some minor adjustments to our game outside the class in order for it to be ready for the in class testing. During the class session on Wednesday everyone was playing different groups games in order to see how the game works outside of the group members. When we started we quickly realized that people the play testers are struggling with what they have to do each turn or what they can do each turn. So we had to make them some reference cards, which tells the players how many things they can do each turn. Another problem that came up was the paths were too long for the players to actually build and complete their quest. As a solution to that we made all our paths smaller. Another problem that came with the paths was that the players were unable to identify which path is for what god and there were very few paths leading to the mount Olympus the center of the game. To solve this problem a suggestion was made by professor Parks that we should make more paths going from the island to the center of the game and also we should color code the paths with the color of the card that is related to the god.

After making this changes we again meet outside to play test the game and played with the new rules. The play test showed that the changes worked and the problem that the players were facing were solved. At the end we found out that the game works on a perfect mechanics but it just runs little bit too long, as our play test lasted about one hour and twenty minutes. For which we are still thinking about changing the number of resources a player gets to during each turn. Than we just decide keep it the same at this time and than change it later with if the timing continues to be too long.

Week 4- Harry Bhatt

This week we stared with play testing the game prototype. This was the first time we actually played our game. As of last week we divided up the work each member of the group had two or three things that they were assigned to do. When we started the class we started by setting up our board and following some of the rules that we had established before and decided that some changes were needed right from the start. Like the first thing we decide that had to be changed was to have more resource islands as all the players start from already occupying an island. Another suggestion that was made to this problem by professor Parks was that instead of claiming the island for one person we should just claim the paths leading to the island so more than more paths can help more than one player to get the resources of the island and once all the path are taken their will interaction between the player to trade cards and communicate with each other.

Another problem that we had was that we had too many moving pieces on the board. In the original prototype during our first try there were four moving parts on the board: the resources, the players symbol for claiming the island, the players character itself and also the player symbol for claiming the paths. Towards the end after a suggestion from professor we went down to two pieces: the players’ icon and the symbol to claim a path. Overall it was a progressive day and at the end we decided to meet again before the spring break to finalize some of the minor details and make the board. Also to decide the number of paths and cards which were necessary to be printed. It looks like overall we are moving in a good speed and in a well-directed path.

-Harry Bhatt

Week 3

I was honestly nervous about how successful we would be at reaching a consensus on the mechanics of the game. During the previous weeks we were having trouble developing techniques and creating rules that would allow players to move around the board without rolling the dice. Luckily, after brainstorming a lot more we managed to develop a game that handled this issue. We basically worked off of each others ideas, one member would say something and someone else would branch off of that idea or begin a counter argument. By using this method we were able to overcome any potential issues that we would not have noticed without everyone's perspectives.

After a long discussion we figured out the layout of the board. Basically, It has Mt. Olympus in the center of the board. which is the destination each player is trying to reach in order to end the game. Mt. Olympus is surrounded by two concentric circles of separated  islands. At the beginning of each game the players are supposed to randomly assign resources to each of these islands so that no player can have a pre-determined strategy for future games. These individual resource islands are connected by pathways with icons that display symbols relating to certain gods. The players are to place their piece onto a resource island of their choice, only on an island located in the outermost ring.

There are two decks of cards for players to choose from. Pathway cards allow players to connect one resource island to another and quest cards allow players to reach their destination of Mt. Olympus. Each player is randomly given a set of five pathway cards and gets to choose one card from the deck of quest cards. For every turn they have the option of collecting more path cards or building a path or moving their piece to another resource island. By building multiple pathways players are given access to multiple resources which help complete quests. We had difficulty figuring out how we wanted the point system to work for these quest cards. After careful deliberation we decided to create quest cards that had a Gold, Silver and Bronze level available for the players to choose from. These three levels require a different combination of resources, gold being the most difficult to complete and bronze being simpler to complete. Regardless of which route the player chooses they will receive an equipment card. A combination of these equipment cards will help them reach their ultimate goal of Mt. Olympus. The player to reach the destination first not only ends the game but also receives bonus points.

We are still trying to figure out a better point system in which players receive rewards for completing certain quests and penalties for players who do not complete their quests. We also have to figure out how we want to design the pieces of each player and the chips that will be used to allocate resources to the pre-drawn islands. This game has a lot of potential and we are hoping that the play-test does not result in disappointment.  

Week 2

In Wednesday’s class we started to discuss the mechanics of the board game. Initially, Hai Anh was telling the rest of the group her idea of the game and how she pictured the board to be set up. What she had imagined was having a board like Settlers of Catan and the players would have to build roads from one place in ancient Greece to another. But we all agreed that this made the game too much like Settlers and it wasn’t as creative since the ideas were borrowed from another game. We came up with questions that needed to be answered in order to make the game work. The questions were: What are the moving mechanics? How do we get materials? How do we envision our board? From there we all started throwing around ideas about how we could change up the game and the mechanics of the game. But every time someone came up with an idea we would always find something wrong with it. When we couldn’t think of any board ideas we found a map of ancient mythical Greece, and we based our board on that picture. There are islands and each person starts off on one island. Each person gets a mission card and you have to complete your card and travel to Olympus to win the game. Harry and I think Olympus should be in the center of the board but there are problems with it being in the center. Pinal said we should have to build bridges to different islands. In order to build a bridge, we used the idea from Ticket to ride; you have to collect cards of a certain symbol. Each symbol represents a God, and when you collect a certain amount of cards you “call upon a God” and they build a path for you to travel to the island. Now we have an idea for a board and we are slowly working on solidifying the mechanics.

Week 1 - Hai Anh Nguyen

This week we got assigned new group members to create a new board game. I'm very excited to work with my new group members. They all seem to be very cooperative and easy to work with. The basic structure of the board game will be similar to that of Settlers of Catan. The theme will revolve around figures within Greek mythology. I picked this theme because it is very broad, which will enable us to create a complex and fun game. The numerous amount of figures of Greek mythology will leave room for a rich storyline. This way, it'll help the potential players to be more immerse into the game. The game will most likely resemble that of an adventure board game because the players are suppose to build up their characters and get the most victory points.

As of now, I only have the basic structure in mind. There are still alot of flaws within the game that our group will have to discuss and figure out together. If we are able to this successfully, I think this game will be great. Next class will be when we first discuss new ideas that can be incorporated into the game. I am excited to see what my new group members have to say regarding the game.