This semester was a rollercoaster of an experience. I never expected the Covid situation to develop as it has. I have truly confirmed how vital being able to physically talk with a teacher and meet my group partners face-to-face is to ensuring that problems don’t compound and destroy a project.

I have also had the opportunity to participate in a game jam. Where I was able to publish a game for the second time in my life (although first outside of work). It was an experience and a half to actually be part of the publishing process this time and to see my game on the store front. Overall the entire experience was a delight.

I have also had the opportunity to truly codify the MDA style of game analysis. While some of its principals ran counter intuitive to my internalized way of evaluating game design, through this class I have seen how it is useful to the industry in ways that my personal ethos would have failed. Furthermore, in exploring the textbook, Extra Credits vids, TED Talks, and various other readings and videos, I was able to have genuine intellectual discourse over the principles I have been admiring from afar for the past 5 years.

Then there is my final project, which although it is the third game i have published, it is the first that I have done solely on my own. I have had the idea of this game for a long time, but have always had the excuse of school work to give in to my fear of failure and delay its creation indefinitely. However, with the advent of Covid and the absolute disaster earlier in the semester, I needed to do something to prove to myself (if noone else) that I am serious about being a game designer and have what it takes to do it. So I made Advanced Rock Paper Scizzor. The feedback I got from demonstrating it was informative of my failings, if still reafirming in that I was able to get it done. The fact that I have gone back and made changes based on their feedback and still plan to improve this game after the semester ends is something I needed as a person and the thing I am gladest to have recieved from this class.

Thanks for reading this far. May you stay safe and healthy. A toast to surviving in the Lockdown.

toodles (*v*)/

AdvancedRPS is a puzzle game based off of the fundamentals of Rock Paper Scizzor and inspired by the 1v1 format for Pokemon battles on Smogon.

The 1v1 format is where each player selects a team of 3 Pokemon and after matching up with their opponent they get to see their opponents team before choosing the one pokemon that they will use to battle. This essentially booils down to an asymmetrical game of Rock Paper Scizzor.

However, due to the inherent randomness and certain Pokemon that are able to run alternative sets the player that made the better Pokemone choice could still end up loosing. Thus, AdvancedRPS seeks to provide a more tactical approach to an asymmetrical Rock Paper Scizzor game.

AdvancedRPS does this in several ways:

-first is that each of the twenty one options is exactly what it says and this removes the variance from hidden knowledge

-second is that each of the twenty one options ties only with itself (the way of telling whether an option [marked in light blue] is superior or inferior to another is by reading them from left to right [rock beats scizzor, scizzor beats paper, and paper beats rock]. If their left most word ties then proceed to the middle word. If both the first word and the middle word are tied then compare the right most words with each other [i.e. scizzor,rock,rock would beat paper,paper,paper but would lose to either rock,scizzor or to scizzor,rock,paper]). Thus enabling for a quicker turn over due to the lack of ties (since AdvancedRPS does not allow for the AI to pick an option that a player has already chosen and every other option either wins or loses)

-third is that due to the asymetry of there being nine paper,X,X options, seven scizzor,X,X options, and five rock,X,X options. Thus weighting certain options with asymetrical value and enabling a meta of picking and counter-picking

-fourth is that both the player and AI draft 3 options before entering the “battling phase” begins, which is were the player can show off their skill in prediction, as opposed to each player simply selecting one of the 21 options.

in the end the tl;dr is that AdvancedRPS is a serves as a relatively simple introduction to highly intellectual asymetrical Rock Paper Scizzor genre and is a fun game in its own right if you are interested in games about out metagaming your opponent.

The Jackbox.TV games all share the following key elements:

1. Only the host needs to own the game,

2. Both large and small groups of people can enjoy them, either in person or online

3. There are deliberately placed timers to ensure that the game progresses at a steady pace (they also ensure that if somebody drops out that the game continues)

4. Each of the phases is given enough time to allow for a modicum of skill to be displayed, but not so much as to bore those who are confused during their turn.

5. There are scheduled breaks such that no single player is ever constantly busy.

…

and then there is the critical dynamic of the game, which is the developing social meta. For example Drawful 2 is presumably a game about the skill of drawing and then having your fellow players grade how well your drawing emulated your prompt and vice versa. However, Drawful 2 builds upon the 5 core elements of all Jackbox.TV games by instead giving points based on three factors. The first is how many of your fellows you could convince to guess for either the real prompt or for their own fake prompt. The second is how many of your fellows or audience members you could get to like your prompt. The third is that a player is rewarded for guessing the corrrect prompt.

This allows for the development of the following strategies:

-draw something obvious yet completely different than the prompt (such that the guessers can deduce the only odd one out must be the genuine prompt)

-vote for the wrong prompt (to deny the artist points)

-draw a visually confusing prompt that is obvious when reading the prompt (so that the guesser’s prompts are hopefully nonsensical and thus it is obvious what the true prompt is)

-cast aspersions to certain prompts (so that you deny a competitor points)

-make a prompt such that the audience and players will give you likes

-say that one of the prompts is yours (either to throw people off from guessing it if you think that the prompt is genuine, or throw off a competitor as people would be less likely to give you points)

-play to a persona (so that your prompts get the audience likes)

…

those are the major mechanics and how the audience affected play

Super Columbine Massacre RPG!…

This game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, subjects the player to a very unique yet disgustingly familiar experience for those who have played RPGs.

It, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, utilizes most of the tried and true RPG mechanics, but deviates from them in the reliance upon historical knowledge rather than in game Juiciness to inform the player of where to go.

This cultivates the games dynamic of its meta narrative (Super Columbine Massacre RPG!’s meta narrative), the need to leave the game and its (Super Columbine Massacre RPG!’s) README.txt and search through historical sources or at least to find others that have. This game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, forced me to look up a walkthrough to progress. A walkthrough which, through its vagueness and obscurity, then forced me to search a playthrough on youtube. Only for me to then be confronted with videos of those who survived and/or lost loved ones in the real life event. An event which I was now seeking a guide to help me emulate.

This brings us to the game’s (Super Columbine Massacre RPG!’s) twin aesthetics of narrative and sensation, or rather the twisted gnarling things it, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, has contorted those design principles into. While I have and hopefully never will experience a personal tradgedy as great as those whose lives and those of their loved ones were lost in the actual shooting, this game (Super Columbine Massacre RPG!) forces me to consider how such perpetrators could appear and the havoc they could cause. It, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, shows me how teen angst and indemic issues of our society can cascade into an act of terror and bloodshed. It, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, asks me to not only experience what it would be like to be complicit, but to willing perpetrate that massacre myself. Rather than the MDA’s definition of the aesthetic “Narrative (games as drama): A story that drives the player to keep coming back” this was instead a vitriolic experience as though one were to scream a lullaby. I did not want to know more, I did not want to empathise with the characters, I did not want to see cryiing families distraught at the actions I had just mimicked moments ago in the game (Super Columbine Massacre RPG!)….

Furthermore, the following MDA aesthetic definition “Sensation (Game as sense-pleasure): Player enjoys memorable audio-visual effects” was twisted through subjcting the player to too loud music. Of a kind which the characters were listening to when they both plotted and eventually carried out the real life event. The player is also subjected clunks, heaves, slams, and gun cocking to give a visceral feeling of terrible weight to the actions they perpetrate. When the player kills kids there is a death wail. bile rose up in my throat on multiple occasions.

I ended my playthrough by killing off the characters in the parking lot as they were punched to death by a jock. I do not intend to play anymore of it (Super Columbine Massacre RPG!).

For a historical perspective this (Super Columbine Massacre RPG!) was more effective than a thousand films or books about a subject. While I am a pretty emotional person and easily moved to tears or other emotions, I have a strong stomache and can never recall being so revolted by either medium (books or film) to risk gagging. Super Columbine Massacre RPG! provoked such a response….

However I will caution future teachers who might use this game as a learning aide to first play the ad to your students or those to whom you seek to educate. To speak with them and monitor their emotional state. For I fear in the hands of those with malintent this game, Super Columbine Massacre RPG!, could be used as propaganda. To stoke flames of impotent teenage rage into something disasterous rather than character building. To blind the eyes it was meant to open.

The game “This is the Only Level” and the game “A Dance of Fire and Ice” are two separate approaches to portraying the MDA: Aesthetic of Challenge through iteration. “This is the Only Level” chooses to focus on a single level layout and contextual clues to tutorialize the player and smooth out the difficulty curve as it changes the fundamental mechanics with every stage. “A Dance of Fire and Ice” instead chooses to rely upon a few explicitly tutorialized mechanics and instead changes the layout of the stages to a carefully curated set so as to introduce and maitain a balanced dificulty curve. Both of these games are able to foster an appreciation for their challenge by using iteration to lay down a solid foundation for them to build upon. Had “This is the Only Level” changed the level with each stage, then there would have been too many things vying for the player’s attention and it would discourage the players rather than challenge them. This is also true for “A Dance of Fire and Ice” where had it swapped out its spiral mechanic for a WASD control scheme or something more esoteric, on a per level basis, then it would have been too confusing and frustrating for the players to appreciate the challenge presented to them.

For “Jurassic Heart” I both watched my partner (Nicole) play the game and was watched by my partner. While I was watching my partner play the game I was not only observing the game, but also how she interacted with the game. As this is a Dating Sim type game there is an inherent Role Play aspect to the game, and thus I found myself constructing a narative of what type of playthrough she was conducting. When her Playthrough then shortly ended in the “Terrible End” it was surprising, but not unexpected. During my playthrough I save scummed the heck out of it and chose different options entirely than my partner. While there had been vicarious joy through waatching my partner play, in the end it was not my character that was dating a T-rex in my partners playthrough; however, with my playthrough it was no longer predominantly following the MDA: Aesthetic of Discovery and instead had switched over to the MDA: Aesthetic of Challenge. This is due to it being me who is both ultimately and directly responsible for the outcome of the game, rather than a backseat driver or audience member who is bound by the whims of the person actually playing as when I was observing.

Game name: The Small Plot

5 by 5 board

Deck of 52

2 players

Many token both blue and red

Players choose turn order (youngest goes first if an agreement can not be reached)

Players take turns drawing a “secret card”

Each player puts their “secret card” in their “secret card zone”

(reminder: after a round players switch who goes first and second)

Begin round:

1. Both Players draw 5
2. Players alternate air dropping their card to an empty slot of the grid

(A player may give a hint to what suit the card they just played is) 

3. They then alternate playing cards adjacent (horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally) to a card already on board

(A player may give a hint to what suit the card they just played is) 

4. Repeat step 3 until hand is empty

(if they were unable to then both players lose)

5. Players alternate Air dropping a token on top of a card 

(if they fail to find a space to do so they lose the game)

6. If there are an equal number of tokens on the board then the player can choose to either end the round or proceed to step 7
7. They then alternate placing tokens adjacent to tokens of their own color (horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally) already on a board and on top of a card 

(unless there are no legal moves)

8. Go to step 6

Players then collect the all cards with their token on them face down these cards are then put in their facedown score pile

Players switch who goes first and second and start the round again until there are no more cards remaining in the deck

If the players have not LOST and the deck is empty proceed to scoring

Both players reveal their “secret card”

Determine if a player switches:

Club and club: whoever has the higher club switches to spade

Club and diamond: whoever has the higher card value switches (club to spade or diamond to 

heart) if they are equal value then diamond switches to heart

Club and heart: good

Club and spade:good

Diamond and Diamond: whoever has the higher diamond switches to hearts

Diamond and heart: good

Diamond and spade: good

Heart and heart: whoever has the higher heart switches to diamond

Heart and spade: whoever has the higher card value switches (heart to diamond or spade to 

club) if they are equal value then heart switches to diamond

Count up score

If you are:

Club: +1 for each Club and -1 for each diamond

Diamond: +1 for each diamond and -1 for each club

Heart: heart +1 for each and -1 for each spade

Spade: spade +1 for each and -1 for each heart

If score is 0 or less that player loses

1 or greater that player wins

If both players win they may perform a victory dance (optional)

---

rules at start of day

rules after the first day:

5 by 5

Deck of 52

2 players

Many token both blue and red

Players choose turn order (youngest goes first if an agreement can not be reached)

Players choose color (red or black)

Begin round:

1)Both Players draw 5

2)Players alternate air dropping their card to an empty slot of the grid

(A player may give a hint to what suit the card they just played is) 

3)They then alternate playing cards adjacent (horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally) to a card already on board

(A player may give a hint to what suit the card they just played is) 

4)Repeat step 3 until hand is empty

5)Players alternate Air dropping a token on top of a card (not a choice)

6)They then alternate placing tokens adjacent to tokens of their own color (horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally) already on a board and on top of a card 

(unless there are no legal moves)

7)A player may repeat step 6 or end their turn (at which the other player can choose to continue)

Players then flip over all cards with tokens on them and collect any of them that are of their color and had their token on them and discarding any that had their token but were of the opponent’s color

Players switch who goes first and second and start the round again until there are 2 cards remaining in the deck

Go through another round, but each player draws one card instead of 5

Count up score

+1 point for each card of your color with a heart symbol (i.e. hearts for red and spades for black)

-1 point for the others (i.e. diamonds for red and clubs for black)

If your score is strictly greater than 0 you win otherwise you lose

---

rules that were tried during family and friends play time:

5by5 → 4 by 4

At the start instead of picking a color each player draws one card without showing the other player that card is now their suit (worth + 1) with the other suit of the same color being worth -2

And cards of the other color being worth 0 (you no longer put cards in the discard)

In a round:

If there is ever not enough room to play a card then both players lose

If a player cannot play another token and the other player has more tokens than them on the board both players lose

If the other player has more tokens than you on the board you do not have the option to stop playing tokens

When playing a token you can ask for the other player to either keep playing or to stop

Collect instead of revealing

At the end reveal your secret suit and count your score if you got 0 or less you lose 1 or more and you win

---

Conclusion:

this game utilizes Hidden Victory Points, Communication Limits, and Semi-Cooperative Game game mechanics to enforce the desired game experience.

The game was designed as a compromise between my desire to build a board out cards and tokens and my team members desire for a betrayal game. Thus it was determined that the players should be able to (in an ideal world) work together and both win; however, the game is designed to incentivise betrayal (Semi-Cooperative Game) through risking a changed objective (Hidden Victory Points) and limited communication (Communication Limits).

Different board and hand sizes were attempted, but anything less than 5 took too long to play and anything less than a 5 by 5 when the players were dropping 10 cards total every turn was too little (after some testing I was unable to justify grid shapes more complicated than a square and risk losing player comprehension and retention of the rules).

If I were to actually produce the game I would replace the tokens and cards with color blind appropriate versions (was not a major problem, but it is plausible that color blind people would struggle and perhaps miss count during the scoring portion of the game).

The most interesting portion of the game is when players are unable to clear out the board and start to forget which cards have which hints about them and thereby need to take a risk with there tokens so as to clear room for the next round.

• 

Dominion is a game about resource management. There are 3 main types of resources victory cards, money cards, and action cards. Victory cards do nothing during the course of play but are the only way to score points and actually win. Money cards are used to purchase cards and more valuable cards are worth more money. Action cards allow a player to do more than just buy one card a turn (whether that be digging through your deck for more money, getting additional buys, harming your opponent, or many other wonderful and terifying things). The resource management side of the game is that you only look at 5 cards a turn and cannot use the cards in your discard pile until you finish out your deck.

G:
draw 5
A:
draw 5

Game starts.

G:
play 3 copper (2 estates)
buys woodcutter
discards hand and draws 5
A:
play 3 copper (2 estates)
buys village
discards hand and draws 5
G:
play 4 copper (1 estates)
buys smithy
discards hand, shuffles discard to recreate deck, and draws 5
A:
play 4 copper (1 estates)
buys smithy
discards hand, shuffles discard to recreate deck, and draws 5

We have now both finished our first purchasing session and are restocking our decks with the cards we selected. Neither player has had the all copper hand so this should be a slow start

G:
play 1 woodcutter 2 copper (1 estates 1 smithy)
buys 2 cellars
discards hand and draws 5
A:
play 4 copper (1 estates)
buys workshop
discards hand and draws 5
G:
play 3 copper (2 estates)
buys woodcutter
discards hand and draws 5
A:
play 3 copper 1 smithy [draw 2 shuffle in discard draw 1](2 estate 1 village 1 workshop)
buys cellar
discards hand and draws 5
G:
3 copper(2 estates)
buys woodcutter
discards hand and draws 5
A:
4 copper (1 estate)
buys militia
discards hand and draws 5
G:
2 copper 1 cellar woodcutter (1 estate?)
buys moat and cellar
discards hand and draws 5
A:
3 copper 1 workshop [gets moat] (1 estate)
buys woodcutter
discards hand, shuffles, and draws 5
G:
2 copper 1 wood cutter (2 other cards)
buys workshop
discards hand and draws 5
A:
2 copper 1 wood cutter (1 workshop 1 moat)
buys copper and {1 other}
discards hand, shuffles, and draws 5
G:
2 copper 1 woodcutter (2 other)
buys remodel and copper
discards hand and draws 5
A:
3 copper 1 village 1 smithy cellar [discards 3] militia [G discards 2] (1 estate)
buys market
discard hand, shuffles, draw 5

It was at this point that allie starts to establish herself as the dominant player as i have no defence in my deck against attacks and will be forced to contend with a limited hand size whenever she plays a militia. In addition to the restriction on my ability to make plays (due to a limited hand size), the size of my deck also meant that the one defensive card, the moat, would not appear often enough to make the turns spent stocking my deck with it a valid value proposition.

G:
cellar [discard copper] 3 copper moat [draw 2] (other card)
buys estate
discard hand, shuffle, draw 5
A:
4 copper 1 market [draw] 1 village [draw] 1 militia [G discard 2]
buys 1 moat 1 mine
discards hand and draws 5
G:
1 copper 1 workshop [buys silver] (1 other)
buy nothing
discards hand draws 5
A:
4 copper 1 smithy [draw 3] (1 militia 1 moat 1 other card)
buys silver
discards hand draws 5
G:
3 copper 1 wood cutter (1 smithy)
buys duchy and copper
discards hand draws 5
A:
1 workshop [buys silver] (2 estates and 2 others)
buys nothing
discard hand, shuffle, draw 5
G:
1 copper 1 cellar [discard 1 draw 1] 1 remodel [trash estate buy remodel] (estate)
buys nothing
discards hand draws 5
A:
mine [trashes copper buys silver] (1 militia 1 estate 1 other)
buys nothing
discards hand draws 5
G:
3 copper woodcutter (estate)
buys duchy
discards, shuffles, draw 5

Game ended due to time. Although I had more victory points from estates and duchies, the conditions to end the game, purchasing all the provinces (none have been purchased so far) or completely puying out 3 seperate card types (the most purchased cards were not even halfway empty), were a long way off so it is unclear who would have actually won.

test

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.