Graduate Project

Level design meets Boardgames

An important piece of criticism from my midterm examination was the confusing use of my terminology.

I sticked with level design too much, when the mechanics I defined really had nothing to do with level design anymore. So, I now call my mechanics: design mechanics for board games.

The definition is still the same. It is still: Every form of optional interaction which influences other players. To further clarify everything you should best read my paper cleverly called: Design mechanics for Board games, which is nearly finished!

I have decided to change my approach on my thesis. My initial plan was to come up with a set of level design board game mechanics (Level design in board games) and use existing video game level design models (Level design for board games) to validate these mechanics. In particular the Key considerations for Level design model from the book: The Computer Game Design Course: Principles, Practices and Techniques for the aspiring game designer 1

After my pre- mockup exam I started doubting this approach. Mainly because I was not able to defend myself properly against critical questions. I started thinking and decided I do not need to validate my level design board game mechanics in the way I intended. My repertoire analysis as well as practical examples and me having them applied on my own board game as well should be enough of a validation on itself . So I’m dropping the key considerations validation part for now. Perhaps it has some use for me in another stage of my research.

As for the research on my level design board game mechanics. These are the ones I’m currently working on:

-          Obstructing/blocking

-          Guiding

-          Avoiding

-          Expanding

-          Dividing

-          Investing

-          Terrain Editing

-          Hub Looping

-          Narrative Routing

-          Trap Placing

-          Baith Routing

-          Risk Routing

-          Trial and Error

-          Push Routing

-          Following

I am now busy trying to define these mechanics further, finding good practical examples of them and adapting them whenever necessary.

1. Thompson, J., 2007. The Computer Game Design Course: Principles, Practices and Techniques for the aspiring game designer. High Holborn, London: Thames & Hudson LTD.

Just a short and quick update to notify that I’m currently busy preparing for my mock exam and writing my thesis.  There have been no significant updates or improvements regarding my board game other then some game components that have arrived which will make my life easier. I will soon post my progress on my thesis.

Last week I did a first play through with some of my friends. My main objective was not to see if they liked it, but rather finding out if my board game so far is playable at all and what the most important next steps are. It has been a valuable play through for me. These are some of the most important outcomes and fixes.

Design Problems:

Board layout was confusing due to missing arrows.

Board routes where confusing due to vague lines.

Gameplay was half functional due to missing components therefor confusing as well

Objective took too long to accomplish

Solutions:

Created new prototype board layout – Added Arrows.

Created new prototype board layout – Added thick black lines.

Ordered several game tokens to make the game more clear.

Slightly revised the rules.

Most of these changes are only for the prototype, as things such as arrows, lines and tokens will change accordingly with the theme it will have.

Last monday on April 5th I attended another board game convention. This time Zuiderspel in Eindhoven.

Its been an interesting event for me. I had a different focus then last conventions. Instead of playing different board games I searched for interesting stuff for my research as well as some prototype materials. There was a stand from a foundation called Stichting Spelauteurs Nederland (Foundation for Game Designers Netherlands) which had some interesting stuff for sale for me, such as blank playing cards, dices and so forth.

I also saw this interesting board game which I think is worth mentioning here:

P.U. The Guessing Game of Smells

The board itself is very simple, game of goose alike. But the the game play is a very interesting and unique approach in my opinion. It involves tasting and smelling stuff and guessing accordingly what flavor or smell it is. Few examples are Cherry or Coconut flavors or Bacon smells.

As usual if you wish to download all these pictures go to the Documentation and Downloads page.

One of the problems I encountered in the current design of my board game is that it is not fair to switch turns clockwise or anything alike. This because the goal of the board game is to alter the path of your secret opponent. Therefor there is a need to randomize the order in which players take turn to keep this fair. First I thought about a bidding system, as this would bring a tactical element with it because players can have an influence in the order. However this would also mean another variable, money of some sort with which to bid. And for now I do not wish to over-complicate the game by adding variables for every problem I encounter. Therefor I have added this dice to the game.

The dice is thrown at the start of the game and after each round when all four players have taken their turns. The dice is thrown in the center of the board by the last player who took his or her turn. The direction in which the arrow points is the new starting player, and the four numbers represent  the turn order. Clockwise, counterclockwise or chosen by the starting player in the case of the question marks. When there is no arrow in the middle but a 1 or a 4 this means that either the first or the last player of the last round is now the starting player.

Level design for board games, what does that even mean? Level design is hard enough to describe as it is. Is it dressing a level accordingly to a certain theme? Is it scripting events that provide the needed versatility within existing gameplay? Or is it (unnoticeably) guiding the player to not get lost within the frame of a game.

Truth is. It is all of the above and much more. As Edward Byrne said: “Level design is really a composite role, bringing together several disciplines: Art, design, and engineering.¹” And, “Gameplay needs a vessel in which to exist¹” This is level design.

This is what I will be focusing on when analyzing certain board games. Level design as a way to translate the rules of board games to players. To achieve this I will be using several existing level design models and apply them on board games when applicable. I will then see if there are any overlaps and differences.

My research question on this is as follows: How can general level design models be used in the design process of a board game?

Furthermore it’s important to notice that I will be making a difference between level design for board games, which is mentioned above. And level design in board games.

So what do I mean with level design in board games?

Level design in board games is when the player is able to influence the board (layout) as a mechanic, therefore altering the game accordingly.

My research question for this part is: What different ways are there to apply level design within board games as a game mechanic?

This part of my thesis will mainly focus on analyzing existing games. With this repertoire analysis I hope to come up with a set of categories of board games that describes ways to use level design as a game mechanic.

^1. Byrne, E., (2005, p. 4,7) Game Level Design. Hingham, MA: Charles River Media Inc.

Even though its far from finished, or even fun. The first playable prototype is finished, and I hereby wanted to share it.

I will not try to explain the rules of it yet. this has no use at this point, as it will (drastically) change over time anyway. For now, my next stept will be to first test it out myself and revise it. And when I think its starting to make sense and fun I’ll start playing with a test audience. Ill keep you posted!

Last Saturday was the Ducosim game convention. An event mainly focussing on boardgames but also on war and trading card games.

Though not as big as Noorderspel a few weeks ago, it was a very usefull and fun day. Together with my girlfriend I played quite a few boardgames (See Pictures), spoke with several boardgame Designers and saw some interesting things.

Yesterday I started paper prototyping a rough idea I’ve been having. For now I mainly focussed on the shapes I am going to use. In my repertoire analysis I found out that hexagon is the most often used shape in the kind of boardgame I want to make. Which did not surprise me.

This however immediately makes it less interesting for me to be using that Hexagon shape. Obviously when I would have a clear sense of where to head and a Hexagon shaped board or hexagon shaped tiles would have worked best with that particular idea, I would have given it a second thought. But now, since the whole gameplay still needs to be designed anyway, I decided to start working with something fresh. Something I haven’t seen in any boardgame so far.

Let’s hope I am right about this. I will perform some more in depth repertoire analysis on this later, but the shape I now want to use is Octagon. In my current idea I will not only use the octagon shaped tiles, but also the squares that fill the empty spaces in between these tiles. The main mechanic from this idea will derive from these shapes.