Number of Players: 2 Players
Game Bits: 2 dice, 2 tokens per player
Time it took to play: 10 - 20 minutes (with 2 pieces each)
Object of the Game: Get your pieces to the end space.
Rules:
During our first lecture, while we were making a race to the end board game as a class, I was drawing out my own idea for a race to the end board game inspired by the board game Sorry! which is a cross and circle race to the end board game, where the first player to get all their pieces to the end wins. When I played Sorry!(with the maximum of 4 players) I found it enjoyable at first but due to the number of pieces and the size of the board, it became increasingly boring as I played through. I thought the mechanic of sending a player back to the start was a good feature in the game, as well as the fact that the player had to pick up a specific number to get their piece out of the start space to begin moving around the board. The players would move by rolling a die.
The first thing I did was make the board much smaller than Sorry! in terms of number of spaces. I made the board 10x11, with spaces on the outside of the board, and 9-space lane in the middle of the board. The outer lanes are split such that the white pieces must stay on white spaces, and they grey ones must stay on grey spaces, with the middle lane having shared spaces. Both players travel clockwise, and must land perfectly on the end-space to take that piece off the board, otherwise they continue and loop around the board once more. Sorry! also influenced the idea of a player requiring a specific number to take a piece off of their start space and into the lanes, and so I added a rule that requires a player to roll a multiple of two to enter the game.
The next thing I wanted to do was create some sort of mechanic to send the player back to their start space. I happened to be playing Portal 2 and was considering using footage from the game for another blog I was writing for my Computer Animation course. While I was playing I ran into some turrets, which only shot at me when they could see me. This inspired my idea of a line of sight, where if pieces occupy the same lane, they must battle and the loser gets sent back to their start point. They would battle by each rolling the die.
With these simple rules, I began testing with my roommate to determine how long it would take to play through one round of my game.
The first round we played with one piece each. It was rare that our pieces find themselves in each other's line of sight, and the game was finishing within five minutes, but felt like it was dragging on much longer. This was when I added the line of sight lane; a lane that you could not travel across, but if players were inline on that lane, right in front of the end-space, they'd battle. This increased the number of battles, but it was still not enough. I decided to add another die to the game and we battled (we each took a die and rolled at the same time) more often, but the game was too fast paced for just one piece. I added one more piece for each player, and that's when the game became much more interesting. There were many more battles, and the game went on longer, but it didn't feel as though it was a chore to play anymore. We then tried playing with three pieces each, but the game went on too long and became boring again, so I decided to stick with two pieces, although the game can technically be played with any number of pieces. As a bit of a twist, I added the bridge spot which automatically takes that piece to the end spot. I found that it was very rare that a player land on that spot, and when they did it changed the dynamic because it catapults them either to be on par with or ahead of their opponent.
The last major rule I created was concerning a line of sight battle and the end-space. At first we played so that if the player landed on the end-space that piece would be removed from the board immediately, even if it was in its line of sight. But I retracted that decision and made it so that if a player lands on the line of sight spot, and is in their opponents line of sight, they must first battle and if they win they can take that piece off the board.
What I Learned:
Designing a game that is unique and fun is very challenging, but creating opportunities for meaningful decisions is even more challenging. I found myself having trouble finding a way to give players options. Most of the race to the end games I've played have very few meaningful decisions except going in through one lane versus another. In my quest to find a race to the end game with some options I looked for other race to the end games and discovered that some games that are considered race to the end games, such as The Game of Life*, are not race to the end games because their win condition is not based on the first player to the end wins, but rather on who has the highest score (whether it be represented by points or money). I think the reason I had trouble creating on opportunity for players was because I had already made my game when I started thinking about how I could add something for players to make decisions.
All in all, I had a lot of fun designing my game and learned a lot about the process of creating a game. I can't wait for the next one.
*http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/663/gamecareerguidecoms_game_design_.php
Game Bits: 2 dice, 2 tokens per player
Time it took to play: 10 - 20 minutes (with 2 pieces each)
Object of the Game: Get your pieces to the end space.
Rules:
- Player 1 puts his tokens on the player 1 start space, and player 2 puts his tokens on the player 2 start space
- Player 1 rolls the dice first
- To get a token off the start space, the player must roll a multiple of 2 (the sum of both dice must be a multiple of two)
- Only one piece can be moved per turn
- Both players move clockwise but must stay on spaces that contain their colors; the middle lane is shared
- If a player lands on the space beside a bridge, that player's token proceeds to the end space
- If opposing players' tokens are in the same lane, or line of sight, each player takes a die and rolls; the player with the lower die roll must return that token to their start space. The player who loses does NOT lose their turn if they were next.
- For a player to get their piece out, they must land exactly on the end space and take that piece off the board. If a player lands on the end space and they find themselves in the same lane as their opponent, they must still role a die each to see who returns to their respective start spaces
During our first lecture, while we were making a race to the end board game as a class, I was drawing out my own idea for a race to the end board game inspired by the board game Sorry! which is a cross and circle race to the end board game, where the first player to get all their pieces to the end wins. When I played Sorry!(with the maximum of 4 players) I found it enjoyable at first but due to the number of pieces and the size of the board, it became increasingly boring as I played through. I thought the mechanic of sending a player back to the start was a good feature in the game, as well as the fact that the player had to pick up a specific number to get their piece out of the start space to begin moving around the board. The players would move by rolling a die.
The first thing I did was make the board much smaller than Sorry! in terms of number of spaces. I made the board 10x11, with spaces on the outside of the board, and 9-space lane in the middle of the board. The outer lanes are split such that the white pieces must stay on white spaces, and they grey ones must stay on grey spaces, with the middle lane having shared spaces. Both players travel clockwise, and must land perfectly on the end-space to take that piece off the board, otherwise they continue and loop around the board once more. Sorry! also influenced the idea of a player requiring a specific number to take a piece off of their start space and into the lanes, and so I added a rule that requires a player to roll a multiple of two to enter the game.
The next thing I wanted to do was create some sort of mechanic to send the player back to their start space. I happened to be playing Portal 2 and was considering using footage from the game for another blog I was writing for my Computer Animation course. While I was playing I ran into some turrets, which only shot at me when they could see me. This inspired my idea of a line of sight, where if pieces occupy the same lane, they must battle and the loser gets sent back to their start point. They would battle by each rolling the die.
With these simple rules, I began testing with my roommate to determine how long it would take to play through one round of my game.
The first round we played with one piece each. It was rare that our pieces find themselves in each other's line of sight, and the game was finishing within five minutes, but felt like it was dragging on much longer. This was when I added the line of sight lane; a lane that you could not travel across, but if players were inline on that lane, right in front of the end-space, they'd battle. This increased the number of battles, but it was still not enough. I decided to add another die to the game and we battled (we each took a die and rolled at the same time) more often, but the game was too fast paced for just one piece. I added one more piece for each player, and that's when the game became much more interesting. There were many more battles, and the game went on longer, but it didn't feel as though it was a chore to play anymore. We then tried playing with three pieces each, but the game went on too long and became boring again, so I decided to stick with two pieces, although the game can technically be played with any number of pieces. As a bit of a twist, I added the bridge spot which automatically takes that piece to the end spot. I found that it was very rare that a player land on that spot, and when they did it changed the dynamic because it catapults them either to be on par with or ahead of their opponent.
The last major rule I created was concerning a line of sight battle and the end-space. At first we played so that if the player landed on the end-space that piece would be removed from the board immediately, even if it was in its line of sight. But I retracted that decision and made it so that if a player lands on the line of sight spot, and is in their opponents line of sight, they must first battle and if they win they can take that piece off the board.
What I Learned:
Designing a game that is unique and fun is very challenging, but creating opportunities for meaningful decisions is even more challenging. I found myself having trouble finding a way to give players options. Most of the race to the end games I've played have very few meaningful decisions except going in through one lane versus another. In my quest to find a race to the end game with some options I looked for other race to the end games and discovered that some games that are considered race to the end games, such as The Game of Life*, are not race to the end games because their win condition is not based on the first player to the end wins, but rather on who has the highest score (whether it be represented by points or money). I think the reason I had trouble creating on opportunity for players was because I had already made my game when I started thinking about how I could add something for players to make decisions.
All in all, I had a lot of fun designing my game and learned a lot about the process of creating a game. I can't wait for the next one.
*http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/663/gamecareerguidecoms_game_design_.php
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