Race Game without Dice Prototype (Collaboration w/ Jia Liang Cai)
Aims
- To give players the freedom to choose how much they want to move their piece by, along with consequences to prevent players exaggerating
- Implement an element of strategy for when players compete against one another
- To balance the number of moves made my players and the length of the race, ensuring the game is not drawn-out nor short-lived
Development Process
- Contemplate and explore different ideas to replace dice found in typical board games
- Upon considering different themes, we agreed to base the prototype on Formula 1
- Determine game mechanics: shortest and fastest routes, how players choose to move their player piece
- Outline a consequential tyre health system, finetuning this with playtesting
- Design board and player pieces: finding 3D models online in order to 3D print a set of blue and red pieces
Feedback
- Players preferred having a single track between corners rather than two separate paths, keeping corners separate, introducing a slip stream feature; inspired by Flamme Rouge
- Players advised that instead of each player taking turns to move, a count of three allows both players to reveal their desired move at the same time, making movement competitive and random
- Players preferred using physical pieces to represent movement rather than using fingers when counting down from three
- Various tweaks to the health system advised by play testers allowed for smoother game flow
- When play testing, one lap around the track felt too short, so an increase to two laps per game seems beneficial for enjoyment
Reflection
Player feedback has greatly benefited this prototype, for example, the introduction of slip stream causes players to think before they move, considering where their opponent is on the board, emphasising the desired element of strategy from my own personal objectives. Clear instructions, in text form, would allow easier understanding of game rules and mechanics for players, rather than verbally explaining to play testers.