Week 5

This week was the last week we had before our final project was due. This class was vital because we had the chance to play each other's games and give advice about flaws in the game. This let us see if our game was easy to pick up and if it would have high replay value. After other classmates tested our game we saw some issues that needed to be fixed. Some of these issues was the lack of using the medicine and food cards. We decided the week before that we would provide an extra 5 and 6 in each player's movement cards. Players were not using the food cards which made us realize that there was too many movement cards. It gave the food cards more value and more strategy. Also the medicine cards were not being used enough and they weren't a major component in the game. To fix this we decided to lower the amount of life tokens. By doing so players had to pay more attention to use their medicine cards and use them at the right time. This also would make the game more fun because it would allow players to go after one another more. Lastly we decided to make the requirements for the items less. The games were taking too long and repetitive. So instead of picking up 6 items each player would only have to pick up 1 of each item and a 4th of the players choice. This play testing really helped our game develop into a more strategic game.

Week 4

Last week in class we had the opportunity to play the game amongst ourselves to see where our game stood in terms of the development process. After playing the game for a little while we realized that we had multiple kinks to work out. There was not enough functionality. The first problems we ran into were the number of weapons every player was allowed to hold. Originally, we were starting off with two weapons each, and adding the weapons as they were picked up in the armory. We had to decide whether or not to discard the weapon card used during a “fight” with another player or zombie. We decided that it was most fair to discard the card used during a fight because of the possibility of a player having 3-point weapons and never losing. Once a player used both their weapons cards, they had to draw two new ones to use.

To be fair, players could not pick up a two resources in one area without going to another area first. For example, a player could not pick up two weapons, then go get two food items, and then go get two medical items. Players have to alternate items to add more variety and chaos. We decided that instead of having to use all the movement cards before resetting, you could get down to one movement card and then start over.

We realized that the game was sub-par in completeness; we were taking way to long to finish the game so we decided to speed it up by adding modifications to the cards and the board game itself. We added a shortcut path to make it easy to get from one section to another and we also scratched the shelter section. We made the sections 5x5 boxes, and added more movement cards to the player’s hands for more quicker gameplay.

Week 3

This week we played The Hunger Games Board Game. This game, like Settlers of Catan, gave us new insight on different style board games and new mechanics. After playing, we got down to work on some of our game ideas. We decided that dice wouldnt be used as a measure of movement. Instead, each player will have 6 movement cards, each one have a number 1-6. Each player will have the choice of which movement card to use on their turn; however, once a movement card is used, it cannot be used again until all 6 movement cards have been used once. We also came up with an idea that each player will have a health meter. Losing fights to other players and/or zombies would deplete the health bar. Players will get extra points at the end of their game for still having health points left. Lastly, we talked about more action cards that we could use in our game.

For this week of class, we played another round of the settler of Catan. This time, every players were familiar with the game since it was our second time playing the game. It was clear for every one of us where to put our settlement to almost monopoly certain resources.
For the group discussion, we basically worked on figuring out about the movement in the game. We were not trying to use dice for the movement since it will depend on the lucks of the players. Thus, we came up with movement cards (1 through 6). Each player will have 6 movement cards that will have certain number. When using the movement card, only one can  be used at a time unless specified by the action card. Also, the player cannot use the same card twice until he/she cycles through every movement card.
For our out-class work, we basically planning on to come up with action cards and the rough sketch of the board. Action cards will most likely to enhance the movement in each turn and the sketch will provide better understanding of the game.

Week 1

This week we all gave our game proposals and the game prison walkers was chosen. This game is about escaping a prison filled with zombies and in order to escape enough weapons and food must be obtained. In the time we had after we received our groups we started to discuss an issue of the game that was brought up earlier in class. The issue was that the game cannot rely too much on dice. We could not figure out exactly how to create a different mechanism other than dice but as we get together and talk about the game we will hopefully figure a way to come up with a more intricate method.