Monday, February 23, 2009

Challenge 5: Business Card

The design I took for his game was pretty simple. Imagine the memory game, only with a twist!

The game is called Memory X-Treme
Rules:
There are 32 cards in the deck, that is 16 matches.

If there are blank cards, players must write a a match on two cards on the plain white side. The deck starts out blank. Players who are writing things on cards MUST make sure that there is a match to that card. A match in this game can consist of anything, words, phrases, pictures, colors, use your imagination!

To play the game, shuffle all 32 cards together, and put them face down (Lined side) onto a table. Roll to decide who goes first, high roll wins. Play will continue clockwise around the table.

At the start of each players turn, that player rolls a six sided dice.

If you roll a 1 or 4: You must find 1 match to collect points.
If you roll a 2 or 5: You must find 2 matches to collect points.
If you roll a 3 or 6: You must find 3 matches to collect points.

If you roll a 6 for example, but can only match 2 sets, your turn is ended and those cards are turned face down where they were. You may flip over any 2 cards for your turn, if you roll a 2 or a 5, if the first 2 cards turned over are a match, you must pick another 2. If you roll a 3 or a 6, if the first 2 cards turned over are a match, you must pick another 2, and if those 2 are another match, you must pick another 2 to score points.

If a player needs to match more sets than there are cards on the table, that player must finish the game in order to get points. For example, if there are 4 cards left on the table, and a player rolls a 3, they must make 3 sets. That player may make only 2 sets in this case because the game will end.

If a match has been found, that player removes both cards from the table. Once there are no more cards on the table, the game is over! Each player scores 1 point for each card (not set!) that he/she has.

Challenge 4: Game Title

I managed to think of something over the weekend!

For the game title, I Have a Dream, I decided to go with a game in which you are asleep, and dreaming that a metamorphosis is taking your body over, only it isn't a dream! The goal is to get the DNA pieces to the end before the organism pieces get there.

Rules:
You are asleep and slowly having an organism re-write your DNA. You believe tat this is just a dream, but it is real!

The game is split into 2 groups, DNA, and Organisms. Up to 4 players can play, with 2 DNA and 2 Organism. There must always be at least 1 DNA player, and 1 Organism player.

Group 1 is Yellow and Red. DNA plays on Red, Organism plays on Yellow.
Group 2 is Blue and Green. DNA plays on Green, Organism plays on Blue.

Your pieces both start at the Orange and Teal spots with the arrow respectively. The Organism always goes first.

A turn is simple, you roll one 4 sided dice. he difference with this game is that you ma move up to that number, but can go less if you desire. Pieces may not 'hop' over another piece, or share the same spot except for the start. Your piece must follow their own color spaces, with Orange and Teal being both colors.

To win the game, the DNA piece must reach the end before the Organism piece does. You lose if the Organism gets to the end!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Challenge 4: Game Title

Right up front, I did not have enough time to come up with a game that fit this name. I am not sure if I was not in a creative state this past weekend, or if I just had a mind blank. When I first saw the word however, I Have a Dream, I thought of Marten Luther King Jr. and how to make a game about African American Awareness in America. The next thing I thought of was a game that I played on Kongregate.com called Dreams. In that game you just try and find the differences between two pictures. The next idea I thought about, came to me after watching a National Geographic show about Wormholes, Space, and Time Travel. This made me think of a more artistic approach to the game in which the game itself is perceived to be a dream. All of these ideas lead me nowhere however, although I believe that the African American Awareness in America game would be the one to go with. While not as enjoyable as other games, if it is done well people can have a good time and learn about what happens to other people.

Over the weekend I thought of the African American Awareness in America type of game because I think that while oppression is less noticeable now than in the early 1900s, it still exists and many people are not aware of it. This game would take a vast amount of research to complete however, as I would have to look up how African Americans were repressed, other than what most people know about, and what is still happening today. Making a game that would represent a dream on the other hand could be easier to accomplish. The game could consist of things such as a fantasy world that you dream of, or a SciFi, futuristic place.

While I don't have a game to present on Monday, I decided it would be best to publish the idea process and thought tracks that I had.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Testing for Air Toss

Test was a success!

Even though the game was almost impossible to win, the initial testing was great! I think I would need to add a diagram to the rules explaining how to make a simple paper airplane, even though I left it open for any kind. Some people don't know how to make a paper airplane and that would be confusing.

The positive feedback system I added to the game I think made it work all the better. Some players taunted others while they tried to throw. Without the crazy rules I added, such as throwing while hopping on one leg, I don't think the game would have been even close to as good as I thought it was.

A larger box might be a good idea, while I wanted the game to be hard, I did not want it to be impossible for players to win. While Kate did win the first testing, no one scored any points at all during the second phase. The front flap of the box could be cut off too, allowing a player who goes just over the top to still get a point because they "crash" into the back flap and fall into the box.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Challenge 3: Cardboard Box

Well, I was thinking of a game that could be made out of a cardboard box that wouldn't be a standard roll dice and move game. I wanted to make a game that would be challeneging, yet add humour for the opponents playing against each other. What I came up with was a game where you have a cardboard box placed 5 feet from the players. Each player takes turns throwing a paper airplane at the box trying to get it inside to score points. In the end, this game will get harder the more the players suck at it!

These are the rules I came up with!

Materials: 1 Cardboard box, and some paper.

To setup the game, you need to place the box face up, 5 feet away from the players. Each player takes turns throwing a paper airplane and trying to get it to land in the box. The airplanes can be of any design that the player chooses, but it must be small enough to fit into the box. You score 1 point each time you get your airplane into the box. If you miss getting the airplane into the box, your next turn must be taken at one additional foot from the box. For example, if you miss your first throw, on your second turn, you will stand 6 feet from the box instead of 5. Play will continue for 10 turns, at which point whoever has the highest score wins. In addition to moving one foot back each turn for a miss, that player must also follow these rules.

1 miss: 6 feet back, must use non dominant hand to throw. Example, if you are right handed, throw with your left hand.
2 misses: 7 feet back, must throw while hopping on one leg.
3 misses: 8 feet back, must close eyes to throw.
4 misses: 9 feet back, must throw while facing away from the box.
5-10 misses: 10 feet back, must throw while facing away from the box, and using the non dominant hand.