CAGD 170: Project 3

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Assignment: Project 3 - Create a board game (Fewer Constraints)

Frigid Ascent

        For the final project of CAGD 170, I was assigned to "Group 4" This group consisted of me and one other individual. This partner was much more independent but we were still able to work competently and diligently to produce quality material. The instructions for this project were similar to the last one where we had to make a board game that had two players and could not have a traditional game board. The difference between Project 2 and this one was that we now had the freedom to choose the premise and contents of the game. In Project 2 we were assigned a space theme and an audience age of 6-12. Without those restrictions, we were able to create a truly unique game of traversing a mountainside whilst dodging attacks from a territorial Yeti.

The Game

        

       The game is called "Frigid Ascent" The setting is there is a fearless climber who is dead set on scaling the formidable Mount Yeren which is home to an elusive yet territorial Yeti. The elusive Yeti will try their best to thwart all attempts that the climber makes during their attempt to scale the mountain. One player will be the fearless climber dodging obstacles while the other player will be the territorial Yeti that is carrying out those said obstacles.

The Audience 

        Frigid Ascent is intended for all ages as all the elements are easy enough for a child to comprehend. This game appeals especially to competitive and joker types who want to best others or play for fun making the game more social than competitive. Some comparable games to Frigid Ascent would be Battleship, Sub-Search, and Torpedo Run these all consist of a grid-based player board. Battleship however does not have obstacles that players need to avoid, Sub-Search consists of a multiple-leveled board, and Torpedo Run has players shooting their opponent's ships as fast as possible for a winner to be deemed. Problem-solving and strategy are key to winning in Frigid Ascent. On Project 2 this section was heavily restricted but now we were able to incorporate everyone with this game by making the premise simple for a child yet engaging enough for adults to play.

The Materials 

        

        This is an example of a player board with some materials attached for demonstration purposes. My role in this project was to be the lead designer so I ensured the visuals represented what was written on the rule sheet. Each item was labeled and very recognizable that way it would remove any confusion. The rows and columns are labeled by number and letter but they are also labeled themselves as many might get confused about which is which. The Yellow and Red rows illustrate that those are either the winning row or the losing row.

The Journey

        This game was the brainchild of my partner so he took charge as the project manager. As for me, I took the role of game designer. My partner focused on the technical aspects of the game making sure all the elements made sense and operated normally as a basic game before we added anything elaborate. I translated his words into some basic pieces that would just be for demonstration just to make sure it flowed correctly as it mattered more that the game functioned correctly than the game looking pretty initially but flowing terribly. After our initial testing, the game functioned as we thought it would but we found the gameplay to be quite stale and boring. We decided to spice this up by adding some cards for the Yeti to pull if they consistently kept missing the climber to give them a chance. This in turn created too much power on the Yeti so we introduced a new mechanic which was ledges which would stop obstacles from falling onto the climber if they were below it and also would stop them from falling too far down the mountain.

 - Obstacle

- Climber aid

        After we made those additions the game was much more engaging and interesting for us during playtesting however those additions did cause some problems when others played the game. Many were confused with the setup of the board and how the game played out in certain situations. We addressed this by explicitly stating that you are to set up the board first with the obstacles and ledges then the climber chooses their place along the E row silently. This solved the problem at the start but many were still having problems with movement mechanics of whether they were allowed to move in a certain way or not. To address this we included many examples to show how movement would work on the climber's end. An attentive play tester was very critical of how the obstacles were aligned in a way that trapped the climber from ever getting near the summit. My partner and I took this under consideration and decided to add the ability to break obstacles but it would use a turn on the climber's end and the obstacles could not be placed next to each other. Those improvements made it so the climber was able to not get fully trapped and eventually reach the summit. Clarification became a constant for us during this project, the rule sheet was very long so we aimed to reduce the word count by simplifying words or just replacing them with a simple image that would do the same job.

Examples of clarification for card definition

        To negate any possible confusion on visuals I used careful consideration to make sure each piece was easily recognizable and if it wasn't I labeled them all individually. After a few iterations, it became apparent some confusion was due to how barebones some of the pieces were with them just being demonstration pieces. I rectified this by spending a good deal of time making sure each piece of graphically enhanced whilst still retaining the same purpose it had originally. The method that I used to help rework the visuals emphasized usability, functionality, and aesthetics to remove any confusion.

1st Board

2nd Board

Final Board

Early Card Design

Final Card Design

        These are all examples of my design iteration process throughout development. The basic board was when we just needed a basis to playtest the initial design on. The one below with the yellow and red rows was made to provide clarification as to where you won or lost. The last board is the final iteration with design cues to resemble an icy mountainside to make you feel more immersed in the gameplay. Below those two are different iterations of a card used by the Yeti. The one with a bright blue background seemed like a good idea at the time but it clashed heavily with the white rule sheet background so it didn't work. The bottom one is the final iteration with a nice darker blue for a border and an off-white to resemble snowfall. It also has labeling and more overall premium look to it. Each iteration I learned more and more about practical design by minimizing any confusion to ensure a good play session.

The Result 

        After all the iterations "Group 4" was able to present a tangible game called Frgid Ascent which fulfilled all the requirements asked of us and furthermore. Each time we were given feedback we adjusted the game to remove these flaws to ensure a fun, balanced game. In its final state, the rule sheet is more clear and concise than it has ever been, due to the arduous amount of work my partner and I have put in. This project taught me the importance of feedback which is key to constant improvements that ensure ease of play and clarity.