Normally, playing cards are use for gambling. There are so many games that could be played using them such as Poker, Blackjack , Lucky 9 etc.. In order to create a game, one must know what a player or gamer really wants. Make it easy and it will turned out to be a crappy one, make it too difficult and no one might really enjoy it. Creating a game is really a difficult thing to do. One should know and consider many aspects related to it, from deciding the rules/mechanics down to player behavior. We were told to play games using playing cards and then create our own game. Set rules, mechanics and objectives. It may be based from the games we have played or create a new one. Another group must play our game.
With that said, we played three games namely Lucky 9, 123 pass , and the so called unggoy-unggoyan. So here are the things I have observed in playing. All of them have a short playtime and can be finished within five minutes. As for the rules/mechanics/objectives, they are easy to understand. Since these three are competitive games, there must be a loser and will receive some kind of punishment. We play each one of them several times to create our own game. At first, we cant even come up with a good idea. Trying to mix different game rules, an idea popped up. We called it "The Royal Game", similar to UNO and Solitaire. It is a strategic type of game. The rules/mechanics may not be that easy to understand but it will, eventually. The more cards you have, the more chances of winning. The winner is the one having the most number of cards. So, here's how to play the game. Cards will be divided among the player and the last card will be the starting count. Let's say the last card is 2 (regardless of its color or kind), player must follow that count (ace to 10). Face cards have unique power/abilities. Jack allows one to set again a starting count. Queen allows the player to one card from each player and set again a starting count. King claims all the cards that was placed on the table. A king may battle another king. A king is usable only once. And lastly, the joker will rendered a king useless and all the cards on the table will be useless as well, those cards will be eliminated from the game. If a player wants to skip a turn, each player will pick a card from him and put that out of the game. You lose if you dont have any cards in your hand.
As we play our game, it eventually become a boring one. The we game we created is somehow enjoyable at the start but as the game progresses, the enjoyment disappears. Enjoyment is always the deciding factor of a game.
So, creating a game is a really difficult thing to do. One must understand the different taste of players but still provide enjoyment to them. The number one rule of every game is to ENJOY it. Games are created to bring enjoyment to the people playing it.