Gameplay and Game Prototyping

GamePlay:

I was asked to play 5 games out of a list of over 10 in order to evaluate the experience and get ideas for creating my own game. My main focus was on the mechanics, the story line, and the game controls. Out of all the game types I played, I enjoyed the plat-former based games the most. These games have obstacles and allow the player to jump onto objects and evade enemies. 

The Games:

There is only one Level:

http://www.onemorelevel.com/game/there_is_only_one_level
     

This game was very entertaining. It has a little elephant character and the level design is simple and challenging at the same time. I will not spoil it but I could not beat the game without help.

Canabalt:

http://www.kongregate.com/games/AdamAtomic/canabalt

Canabalt gets harder and harder the longer you play. You run as far as you can in the level without dying.

Burn The Rope:

http://www.kongregate.com/games/mazapan/you-have-to-burn-the-rope

Burn The Rope requires you to use the level to beat the monster. Your weapons are useless so you have to improvise a way to destroy the Grinning Colossus.

Jurassic Heart:

http://hima.gptouch.com/games/jurassic_heart/

The graphics in this game are very cool. The game is about a dinosaur and a girl who have the chance to go on a date if win the game one of the ways that it can be won.

QWOP:

 http://www.foddy.net/Athletics.html

QWOP is a very difficult game and funny at the same time. You truly have to master the controls to get anywhere in this game. 

Drone Strike: The Board Game Rev. 1

Game Name: Drone Strike

Game Idea:

On an assignment to create a prototype board game in my game development class at San Jose State University (SJSU), I created a board game called 
Drone Strike. The game is inspired by modern technology and how drones can be used in combat situations. Drone Strike is a start-to-finish board game consisting of a 100 spaces. It uses a six-sided die and 33 chance cards.

Game Board:

Game Board 2nd Revision

Game Board 1st Revision

Game Cards:

Game Rules:

·      1) 2-4 Players

·      2) Ages 5 to End of Charge

·      3) (1) 6-Sided Die

·      4) 33 Cards (See card descriptions)

o  13 – Hostility Cards with Negative Outcomes.

o  19 – Intelligence Cards with Positive Outcomes.

o  1 - Special Card.

o  For the prototype, the cards are numbered and correlate to a sentence with that number.

·      5) Player Must Roll Greater Than 1 to Start a Mission.

·      6) The Person with the Highest Rolled Number Goes first.

·      7) If a Player is in an airspace that you will occupy as a result of a roll value. Move that Player 1 Space Back.

·      8) To WIN be the First to Get to the Finish (Space 100). 

·      9) When a player lands on a Mission Space (Marked in red) They Must Pick Up a Card and the Outcome.

·      10) If a player Lands on a Change of Flight Plan (Space Indicated by an arrow) they must follow the flight plan to the space indicated. (If someone is in the space follow rule 7)

·      11) Make sure the deck is shuffled and fair.

·      12) A player may draw another card if they land on mission space while going in the forward direction and it is there turn. Ex I roll a six and land on a Mission space and pull a card that says +2 . I would move +2 and if I landed on another mission space I would get to draw another card. Only works in the positive direction.

·      13) Negative moves do not allow drawing cards.

·      14) If a player lands on an empty space it is the next players turn.

·      15) When all the cards have been used a player will shuffle the deck and the cards can be used again.

Game Sessions:

The game was played around 10 times during the development. Each time the game was played I noticed a flaw. I started playing the game with a six-sided die that was numbered from 0-5. I noticed that the game play was longer than I wanted it to be so in the second game session I adjusted the die to a 12–sided die. The second game session was over to fast. I finally decided to use a regular 6-sided die 1-6 instead of 0-5 and found that the game play was optimized. Throughout the game I used a 33-card deck with a 50% chance of pulling a + or - effect. I noticed that when the game was played that the negative effect made the game last a lot longer so I decided to change some of the negative effects to positive effects. After I changed the card layout the game became a lot more fun and did not last forever.  One of the last changes that I made was to add spaces that allow a player to fly from different locations indicated on the map. With that addition and the change of the cards the game came together really well. I actually enjoy playing the game I designed and will work on it further in the next revision.

To Be Continued...