Prototyping…

So today (13-10-15), after the lecture, we sat down as a group, this time I had an idea that I wanted to try out. Now this wasn’t a new idea, I could never really shake that image of players being mischievous kids pranking an old lady. But this time I thought about it in a way that could work as a game, I am yet to find out how wrong I could be, still:

We started out with one player being the old grumpy lady, while the others were the kids. In the first iteration the kids were to choose if they would be passive or risk doing a prank, you would win if you pulled off 3 pranks without getting the blame. The old lady would close her eyes, the kids would show if they pulled the prank or passive card to everyone else, then they put their cards on the table face down. The old lady would then open her eyes, shuffle the cards on the table and then flip them over, seeing how many pranks she had been exposed to. (This is where our problems began)

The old lady would now try to figure out which of the children that pulled the pranks, but unless you’re Hank Schrader, seeing who is lying just by looking into their eyes is too tricky, the old lady would need something else to help her. This is what we tried to figure out for the rest of the day (and it was a long day).

We tried things like events, alibies, proofs, numbers on the prank cards, and so on. Still we are yet to find something that works like we want it to, (it is quite frustrating).

I took great inspiration from the game “Bluffstop”, I don’t know if is played elsewhere by a different name, so I’ll just call it Bluffstop. Essentially in Bluffstop (played with a standard 52-card deck) you constantly need your cards to be over a growing number, when you played all your cards, you win. The thing is; you put you card face down each time it is your turn, so nobody can really know if you have the card you’re claiming that you have. If you play a card that was recently (presumably) played or say that you play a card that seems too absurd or lucky for you to have, another player can call your bluff. If you are bluffing, you have to pick up two cards and if you are not, the player who called it has to pick up two cards.

In Bluffstop you can take the existing cards on the table into account, helping you to see if your or your opponents move seems plausible. In our prototype, the old lady had nothing, so we needed to come up with a system that would help her in some way without giving away too much, adding risk and reward.

With this game we started with the aesthetics, then as we played (with quickly fought up mechanics) we explored the dynamics, trying to blame each other, forming teams much like in “Sissy fight” while seeming as innocent as we could. Even though the game was broken it was really fun, and we all could see the potential. We understand how the game will be played and why it will be fun, we just need to find that piece of the puzzle that makes it more playable. Tomorrow is the day to do that, since we need a playable prototype on Thursday, we’re really up sh*t creek if we don’t. (If you are not allowed to curse in these blogs, I guess I am properly f***ed…)

(See what I did there?)

But seriously do give me a heads up if that is the case.