we play games around here

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Blog Post #9 - Course Reflection

Forgive the lack of eloquence this time around (I am sick and half insane). I learned that it is super fun to collaborate with others on games! There are infinite directions you could take a project towards, but the coolest ideas seem to come from brainstorming with others. It reminds me of Carlo del Mundo’s advice that sometimes opposing views can lead to better results! While it takes more work, being challenged is important for progress. It was also a weird concept to learn that unlike board games, video games don’t have a set list of mechanics you can choose from, since almost anything can be considered a mechanic. I would say the material and the way it was presented was engaging, particularly games as narrative architecture, and the topic of ineffability in gaming. I really enjoyed learning about serious games as well, particularly those that feel like art installations like Train by Brenda Romero. While sometimes there wasn’t a direct connection, that is fine! It all has to do with the same media in the end, and there is a general thread connecting each topic to the next. 

I’m gonna be insufferable talking about games now because it’ll be hard not to bring up the DMA system of game analysis! I love having specific vocabulary to discuss media RAHHH!

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Blog Post #8 - Final Project

OFFBEAT! is a rhythm boss rush game in development about funky musical wizards! You play as an overworked wizard's apprentice who's had enough of their metalhead mentor's strict training sessions. Dodge the sound waves of his guitar riffs and counter attack to the beat to break out! We currently have a demo of the boss fight, give it a try:

OFFBEAT! by Paracosms, alec

a game about a musical wizard and his overworked apprentice

About Development

While this is intended to be a narrative based game, we decided to focus on the combat for now to nail it down as soon as possible. Additionally, we started out with a larger number of artists and writers, but as people left, we had to cut down content and focus on the essential parts! Working on a 3d game is a loooot of work, so in this case less is more. I’m planning to keep developing the game over Winter break, so you will learn more about The Apprentice and their journey soon enough!

This game truly nailed home how important it is to playtest as often as possible! In this case especially so since, rhythm games are tough to design because there is so much to juggle; You have to account for accessibility due to varying player skills while keeping the game challenging enough to be fun, you have to ensure the music is banger so it doesn’t feel too repetitive, and make the visuals enhance the sounds. We also added player movement, which needs to feel mega responsive and snappy to feel satisfying in a rhythm action game. 

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Blog #7 - Jack Box Games

We played some Jack Box games in class! I chose to play as the audience because I was exhausted that night and did not want to torture my last remaining brain cell (with the need to be funny? I’m neeever funny or silly whatsoever). I did get to vote on whoever was objectively the funniest though.

The first game was Bracketeering, which might have been my favorite due to a mechanic that kicks in mid game: re-contextualizing previous answers. Basically the answers serving as contestants in the competition fight in categories, which switch halfway through the bracket. "Best trait to write on your resume" may become "Sickest trick to pull off in bed", for example. One of the final ones was like. “Best animal to keep as a pet” or something, and the contestants were “Business majors” and “man,” which got one of the biggest laughs of the night.

A game we played afterwards, Doominate, had a similar mechanic where you were meant to make previous answers, that tried to be as foul as possible, more ‘holy’ or ‘nice’ by amending them. I think it was similarly fun, but the vibes were a bit off in terms of visuals. Bracketeering felt stronger in its simplicity and was faster to play with a large number of people.

Playing with an audience allows more people to participate, although indirectly in most games, and may add more pressure to appeal to the masses. It makes the experience more accessible to those who may not want to take an active role in play.

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Blog Post #6 - Unity Prototype

Welcome to your first shift at Bake It Bakery! Ensure customer satisfaction by quickly throwing croissants at incoming Karens, lest they make your life hell!

WASD to move

Spacebar or left click to Shoot (aims with character movement)

Credits

Programming and Color Design: Alec Animations, BG, Pixel Art: Cora

I worked on Bake It Till You Make It as the main programmer and supporting artist! I'm an Animation major who hadn't coded in 6 years, but had some basic C++ knowledge, so I took the L and balanced out the artist to programmer ratio. On the art side, I did the color development for the game as well as some character design iterations based on Cora's first sprite.

I made most of the changes outlined in the last blog post, but did not have the time to add a tutorial (programming takes time, especially if you're inexperienced like me since I have to watch tutorials and triple check code). If I were to continue developing the game, I would add the missing tutorial to ease the player into the gameplay, a retry button, and change the enemy movement to be more unpredictable! I think the game premise has potential, so it could be a candidate for a final project idea

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Blog Post #5 - First Playable

I was the programmer and designer for Bake It Till You Make It, a top down shooter where you play as a pastry shop employee who must fend off Karens by throwing croissants at them before they transform into demons and put a premature end to your shift.

Based on our playtest sessions, players found the concept and visuals charming. The mechanics were simple to understand, but the pacing felt too fast since the game starts right away without any tutorial. There were elements that weren't clear, like the stars on the top left being your 'lives', and the customers transforming into demons being an indication that you'd lose one of the stars if not shot down in time.

In terms of completeness, they thought it felt like a game, but it could be more fun. Keeping this in mind, I plan to add a short tutorial to introduce the mechanics, and add a score counter for each demon defeated. Quick changes for clarity would be to slow down the demon transforming animation so players have more of a warning, and adding sound and/or animation for losing stars. If I have time I'd like to change the enemy moving pattern to be more random, by making them either zigzag or attempt to dodge when the player throws pastries at them.

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Blog Post #4 - Video Game Lab

The first game that comes to mind from the game lab is Shapeshifter Biker, in which you are a motorcyclist dropped in a desert with pursuers that are OUT TO FUCKING GET YOU! You steer from left to right and choose how much to accelerate in order to collect animal power ups across the map, all while evading enemies and making them crash against boulders. I would say its main aesthetic is Discovery, similar to a game I played afterwards, Snakes on a Rope. Both games throw you into fray with little to no information, and you have to figure out what's happening on your own. In Shapeshifted Biker, you find collectibles which allow you to morph into animals with random effects, and must stay sharp in case a pursuer spawns in the direction you are headed to. In Snakes on a Rope, you are meeting with a 'snake queen' (they all look like worms on a string), which you soon find out you are engaged with. Even more surprising is that after meeting several 'snakes on a rope' NPCs, you find out you are the only human. The last game I played is Skull Mage, which caught my attention due to the cool and bright visuals, but I quickly realized it was a shooter. And me? I was on my measly sad trackpad. It was not enjoyable when skulls came flying in my every direction while I had the aim of a chronic alcoholic. When watching my partner play, I realized I got a bit frustrated since they hadn't noticed a mechanic which led them to lose relatively quickly.

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Blog Post #3 - Prototyping

RANDOM BULLSHIT GO! is a game in which 2 players compete to fulfill random objectives with their hands of playing cards. They can choose to draw or discard a card, and spin a wheel with effects that may help or hinder their goals.

The main mechanics are contracts and hand management.

Session 1 Log

The original idea had a similar mechanic of completing tasks, but there was little decision making. I scrapped most of its theming to focus on the mechanical side of it because it felt a bit bland, but RANDOM BULLSHIT GO! ended up being a mish mash of cool ideas without a consistent theme. I kinda like it that way though, and could push it to be more chaotic.

Changes: Added the wheel of fate, scrapped most of the theming to start from mechanics rather than story. Switched to playing cards due to the tedious nature of creating a deck of resource cards from scratch.

Session 2 Log

Clarified some rules, like when on your turn you can complete an objective. Buffed PEEK to allow a long look at the opponent's deck instead of a quick glimpse. Added more objective cards that reward having a lower number of cards in your hand. Buffed the point value of Straight Flush due to its difficulty.

Session 3 Log

The game went well, and there was little to no confusion about the rule set. The main points to improve were more objective card variety, adding a counter for the amount of times abilities are being used, and replacing PEEK with a different effect due to it having little impact on gameplay. The playtester mentioned the game reminded them of Balatro and Flux, so I'll check them out!

I definitely think I should lean more into CHAOS by emphasizing mechanics that include risk and reward and giving players more opportunities to hinder opponents. Finding a theme would also be beneficial for cohesion, but it's fun to have RANDOM BULLSHIT, so another direction could be to make it borderline nonsensical.

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Blog Post #2 - Machi Koro

When choosing a board game to play for my Game Studies class, I tend to gravitate towards whichever box has the cutest cover art. In this occasion, it ended up being Machi Koro (the style reminds me of Katamari Damacy!). I gathered two other people, and we went in entirely blind, oblivious to what awaited us: a lot of confusion and an obscene amount of dice rolling. While reading the premise and rules, we thought it sounded similar to Monopoly. You play as a mayor building different structures for your city, but only with cards, coins, and two six-sided dice. The objective is to be the first mayor to construct all four major landmarks (Train Station, Shopping Mall, Amusement Park & Radio Tower) by earning money with resource cards, which trigger different effects based on dice roll results. For example, the card wheat field makes it so every time someone rolls a 1, you gain 1 coin.

Session Report

Format: Player first initial + dice roll result (i.e. A1), money earned or stolen, any moves. Blank spaces means no action was taken. Commentary is in italics. Players: A, D, L.

L5, earned 1 coin, bought cafe for 2 coin <- the cafe makes it so when a player rolls a 3, they must give you one coin. D1, all plus 1 coin, constructed train station for 4 <- the train station allows you to choose between rolling 1 or two dice, normally you can only roll one. We found out this isn't as good early game! A6, constructed train station for 4 L3, stole a coin ... D3, earned 1 coin A3, L stole 1 coin,  L3, earned 1 coin, bought convenience store D3, bought cafe, L earned coin <- Four 3's in a row? The cafe streak has caused a recession... ... L1, bought forest <- This is where we realized there were more card options oops. For a good chunk of the game nothing happened because we only had cards that activated for dice rolls 1, 2, 3 and 5. D6, bought wheat A2, bought wheat <- We realized wheat field is super meta early game, since it only costs 1 coin and has good profit margins, so each player stocked up on wheat. L2, bought ranch D2, l earned coin, bought forest A3, L & D stole a coin, <- A is being robbed left and right. Will they take it lying down? L6, bought furniture factory <- This one never activated because we almost exclusively rolled 1d6 rather than 2d6 D2, a d l earn coin A1, all earn 1 bought ranch l5 , l d earn coin, bought ranch D2, all earned 2 A3, ld earn 1, bought cafe L3 , a stole 2, d earn 1, bought cafe D2, all earn 2, construct mall a1 , a d earn 3, l earn 1, bought cafe <- A has invested into three cafes... Are they tired of playing nice? L4, earn 3, construct mall D6, bought fruit & vegetable market A1 , AD earn 3, L earn 1, bought tv station L2, L earn 3, d earn 1, A earn 2, bought wheat D3, A stole 3, l stole 2, bought ranch <- A's investment into the cafe was highly lucrative! Robbery tastes so sweet A3, d stole 1, L stole 2, bought stadium L3, d stole 1, a stole 3, bought wheat field D5 , d earn 1, L earn 1 A3, d stole 1, L stole 2, earned 1, bought wheat field L1, L earn 3, A earn 4, D earn 3, bought forest D1, D earn 3, L earn 3, A earn 4, bought stadium A4, bought forest L5, earn 2, A earn 1,  D6, stole 2 from A and L, bought cheese factory <-D's investment into the stadium paid off! If they roll a 6, they get two coins from all players. Ended prematurely due to time constraint. Tie between D and L: two landmarks built.

Since we hadn’t realized there were multiple types of each card color at first, I only got the appeal of the game halfway through. There seem to be many possible strategies! For example, you can invest in multiple of the low-cost, low-reward cards first to stretch how far your starting budget gets you (wheat field supremacy), or invest into high dice roll cards and then always roll with two dice. I was dumb and bought the train station because I impulsively mirrored what the previous player had done (it sounded cool at the time LOL), even though it left me with A BIG FAT ZERO MONEYZ and stalled the game for a while.

However, it can be quite repetitive in the beginning, especially if you go in without a clear strategy, or end up running out of money early (which is exactly what happened). If I were to play again, I would ensure every player has read the effects of most of the cards before starting in order to incentivize strategizing from the very beginning.

Game Design & Mechanics

Player interaction isn’t as incentivized as Monopoly, since ‘stealing’ from others isn’t a direct action, but rather something that happens due to chance. Thus, you aren’t incentivized to make deals with other players. It feels like a much more individualistic game in that aspect, which isn’t as appealing to me. I’ve also found that the most energetic reactions were tied to effects which had negative impacts on other players, since that was one of the only forms of direct player interaction. It would be cool to find ways to increase interactivity, like a version where you must work in groups to decide the best path forward, or being able to trade/buy cards from other players at any point, which would also add another level of complexity and more freedom of play.

The design aspect that stood out the most to me is scalability! It was interesting to tie income-earning effects to different dice roll results. Having the ability to decide between rolling one die, or both dice makes it important to choose between focusing on low-roll cards or high-roll cards; If you invest mostly in high-roll cards and then always roll both dice, you are lowering the potential earnings of those who are low-roll focused, since the probability of activating their cards will go down from 1/6th, to 1/12th on your turns. The same thing applies to those who only roll one die, but the earning potential seems to have a lower ceiling. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed playing it once we understood the gameplay loop. However, when grabbing a board game, I would personally much rather play one with more social interaction, or find a different playstyle that could spice up the neighborhood of Machi Koro. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the replies or reblogs!