Day 10 - Game Day

Last class we were instructed to each bring in a game to play. So for the entire class we got to play games. This all seemed quite silly of course and I questioned, "what learning experience am I really supposed to get out of this?" I wasn't going to argue though because I love playing games. I tend to have a very competitive mindset. I got to play 2 games. The first was catchphrase. In this game, you're split up into teams and within each team they are supposed to guess what is on the card by having their teammate describe it without saying the actual word. The game is also timed and is a slight spin-off of hot potato because whoever has the device in their hand when the buzzer goes off loses that turn and not get to move ahead whole the opposing team does.

It was funny, because originally we didn't understand the complete rules of the game so if wasn't nearly as engaging. We didn't realize the hot potato portion until after half way in we decided to google the official rules. My team lost, but not by much. After considering what it took to design this game, I see now that the physical appearance is very simple and I actually think it could be improved on. The concept, however, is fantastic. It's a very exciting guessing game that becomes quite humorous because the human brain spits out nonsense when put under pressure w/time.

The second game I played was Trouble and I love this game. The objective of Trouble is to get all 4 of your pegs into the home spot by pressing the rolling device to move your pieces, while avoiding opponents. Rolling a 1 or a 6 gets you out of start and 6 allows you to also roll again. If an opposing player lands on your position they kick you out and then brings you back to start. I was much farther ahead in the beginning of the game, so the other three wanted to gang up on me and stop from winning so at least one OC them had s chance. At the end, the game became closer, but regardless, I still won!(pats self in back and does happy dance)

When considering the design of this game, the idea is great. It brings out a huge competitiveness in a player and requires them to strategize their priorities. The physical design is functional. There are 4 different colors which represent the different players and there is a bubble type device that which you press on to roll the dice. This is partly smart because dice are easy to lose, but if it is enclosed in such a structure that possibility is virtually obsolete.

I think we were given this assignment because by thinking about the design of a game, it causes us to consider what makes it a success and what can be improved on. This is beneficial for the design world because when creating something new, all aspects should be tended to. Not only the idea, but the layout, pieces, visual appearance, etc. are all important components. This can be applied not only in game design, but others as well.