Project 1 – Board Game

History

(Wikipedia, 2010)

   A board game is a game with a board as a base. The board is usually marked (with regular shapes, such as squares) to which pieces are moved. The objective of a board game usually represents, to some degree, real life situations, such as a battle. This can be somewhat abstract like chess, where there is no specific theme or back story, or it can be specific and have an in depth story, such as Dungeons and Dragons.

   Board games have an extensive history in popular culture. The game 'Senet' is the oldest known board game in the world, originating from as early as the Pre-dynastic era, up to 5500 years ago, and is still available for purchase today. The original rules of the game are unknown, although board game historians such as Timothy Kendall and R.C. Bell have proposed rules to fit the game. Senet did in fact hold quite a substantial philosophical significance in ancient Egypt. The game became an abstract symbol of the 'journey of the dead' in Egypt, as the luck elements in the game coincided with their belief in determinism, making it hold quite a cultural significance to the ancient Egyptians. It is even depicted on the Egyptian Queen Nefertari's tomb.

(Wikipedia, 2010)

   The game chess also has a long history. The form we know today was derived in the 15^th century from the Indian game 'Shatranj'. Chess is an internationally recognised strategy board game, which requires intense concentration and a massive amount of forward planning, despite the fact that the rules are relatively simple.
 

Our Project

   We were placed in teams to complete the challenge of creating a board game. Using our research of board game history, we began to brainstorm ideas for a basic concept. We felt this was important to do first, as it allowed us to come up with ideas which weren't too heavily influenced by trying out other games, and we could sort out problems with it after testing other games. We also decided that our target audience would have an age range of 10+, as we aimed to have a game which is simple, but does involve a degree of strategy that is probably beyond that of young children. And we decided to set it in a medieval fantasy genre, allowing for a bit of story and art work. Our initial idea on the game mechanics involved three main points:-

   -The first main point was board creation, or area movement. This is where the players would place a path-card/path-cards on the board to create a path for themselves, or sabotage each others paths. This would form an element of strategy, and help create some replay value as the 'map' would never be the same for two matches.

   -The second main point was a selection of characters. We felt that it would add a connection between the character and player, and possibly an aspect of nostalgia, such as with the 'Monopoly' pieces (I was always the top hat). This could add the the excitement of playing the game.

   -The third main point was a dice. We chose to use a dice to decide movement, as it would add chance to the equation. This could help stop any single player from always winning, and make it difficult to foresee a winner from an early stage, helping maintain an enjoyable yet competitive environment for the duration of the game.

   As our ideas progressed, we looked into other games with similar styles and ideas to give us an idea of what makes a game successful in both game-play and replay value, and also in marketing. We visited toy shops to see what sort of board games, with similar aspects to ours, were already on the market. We visited several shops, including “Kerrison Toys” as it has a massive variety of board games on display. One game, which seems to have similar game-play aspects and a medieval theme, is 'Warrior Knights'. This was however, far more complex, as it involves warfare, diplomacy, politics and economics. We found that, although having a game with many in depth levels and mechanics (including wagering and auctioning), such as 'Warrior Knights', could be an interesting game with a vast amount of choice, we are making a board game as a four week project, and need to be realistic to create a game to a good quality in that time. Also, the thought of a game that can last four hours and has a massive list of rules to follow, can be daunting. We would rather make a game that can be easily picked up and played, and should last a relatively short period of time (between 20 minutes and an hour).

   Another board game we had inspiration from was 'Dungeons and Dragons'. It has a list of playable characters, represented by character cards, which have their own art work and set of abilities, and has extensive lore. It also has many sequels, or expansions. Having a game that is open to expansion at a later date seemed to us to be a good idea, as they can take user feedback into account and therefore be improved to be more user friendly. It also creates an opportunity to make the most of the market.

   The final product of our design process was a finished prototype, with simple rules. Briefly; the game has 2-4 players (a choice of 'The Mage', 'The Warrior', 'The Archer', or 'The Thief', all with unique abilities), the board has 49 squares (1 is the 'Victory Square' or the goal, 4 are blockers, and 44 are free to place path-tiles on), and each path-tile has a path on it. To win the game, the player needs to get 'the key' and enter the 'Victory square', which only has 1 entry point. To begin the game, each player rolls the die, and the player with the highest roll wins the key, and has the first turn. Players can choose to place a path-tile at the start of their turn, and when they reach the edge of the path tile they are on. If players roll a 6, they pick up a chance card (containing some good cards, such as “rotate any path-tile”, or bad, like “go back to start”). Players can take the key off of another player by winning against them in battle. Battle happens when 2 players meet on the same square. The player who moved to attack makes the first move, and rolls to attack. The other player then rolls to defend, and if their roll is higher than the other players roll they have successfully defended, and can roll to attack. This process continues until there is a victor. The loser goes back to their start location, and if he/she had the key, it is given to the victor.

   Once we were confident with the game, the next stage of development for me was to work out the dimensions of the boards and tiles, and make it all up in full scale. While other team members were working on character design, box art, poster art and a refined rulebook, I designed a piece of background art for the board, designed the layout of the path tiles, and designed the figures.

   I created the board background on 'Photoshop' (right). My idea was to have a background picture of a forest path, from within the forest, looking out. This allows for a picture which has gradual fade from a bright centre (where the 'Victory Square' would be), to dark edges (where the players start). This represents the journey from danger to safety, or dark to light. This was designed to be a simple picture, as it is merely representative, and will be covered almost completely towards the end of a game anyway. I then drew a grid on the picture, in the shape of the board, to finalize it ready for printing. 
 

   I used 'Photoshop' to create the path-tiles as well (left). I first created a template picture of a forest from above (with no directional shadows to prevent disillusion, as they would be facing different directions which would scatter the direction of light). I used this template to create all the path-tiles. This help ensure that the colours matched so none of the tiles would look out of place if connected on the board.

   I made the figures out of oven-hardening modelling clay, and painted them. First with an undercoat of black, and a dry brushed green-grey colour, to create a marble effect. I did this because I wanted the pieces to look aged and weathered. The models were intended to be abstract and representative of the characters, so I based the models on chess pawns, and added items and outfits that seemed fitting with each character. The Mage has a hooded cloak and staff, the Archer has a bow and quiver of arrows, the Warrior has a Spartan style helmet and kite shield, and the Thief has a tricorn hat and cloak. This makes the figures easily recognisable to their character class, and individual enough for players to have favourites.

Refferences:

Dungeons and Dragons, (1974:08) game, designed by Gygax and Anderson
Monopoly, (1924) board game, Elizabeth Magie
Warrior Knights (2006) board game, designed by Carver, Clequin, Faidulti and Konieczca

Online:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senet

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2399/senet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess