Structuring and Modifying the Mechanics

Blog 2 - Structuring and Modifying the Mechanics for "The One Percent"

Jon Lee

This week, the goal was to come up with the structure and core mechanics of the game. We first talked through the original gameplay as Bishoy originally envisioned. The game involved collecting parts to build a collectable item. The winner was chosen by rolling a die and utilizing a conversion chart to determine which player had the most points based on the die roll. As a team, we decided that this was far too complicated and was too dependent on chance.

Each of us made a multitude of suggestions on how to simplify the gameplay and more enjoyable during our roundtable discussion. Sun made a suggestion on how to add personality and character to the game by having Executive cards. These cards would have different CEO’s and celebrities that have unique abilities that can be used once or twice throughout the game. Originally, the “Parts to Go” deck included parts and and the collectable item on the same card. One suggestion I made was to split the deck into two and have the collectable cards laid out at the start of the game. This allows the players to see the bounty available to collect and adds more competition to see who can get the collectable first.

Because the theme is for players to feel like the rich and powerful, Bishoy suggested to keep the idea of money in the game to allow trading, buying, and selling of different parts. This way a player can strategically sell items and not collect anything at all to have the most value at the end. Another mechanic we decided to keep was “Initiate Chaos”, which gives a player an “attack” on a player or “discount” on a part. One thing we liked as a group was to make it funnier and add ridiculous items that celebrities would purchase, like a Golden Toilet.

In the end, we decided on having each of the player draw four “Parts to Go” cards, one “Initiate Chaos” card, one “Executive” card, and $1000 to start. Also, based on the number of players, a specific number of “Collectables” would be placed in the center of the table for everyone to see. Each turn would allow players to either trade or sell a part, trade parts in for a collectable, or use the initiate chaos card.

Week 1 Game Design - Choosing the Game

Living Like Floyd

By: Bishoy

As the leader of our game design group, I had the responsibility of choosing the card game that we would work on bringing to life this semester. To do so, I wanted to make sure that each team member had the opportunity to fully explain his game in order to make the best possible choice in the end. I chose to describe my game last because I wanted to give both my teammates the chance to go first. As we discussed each game, I asked each person to explain any parts that weren't completely clear to me. We also discussed any potential major problems with each game and tried to think if a certain problem could be easily solved.

To choose the best game, I considered some important parameters. I wanted our game to be original, fun to play and simple to understand. As we discussed Sun's game, I felt that this would be an interesting and fun game to play however, overall we realized that it would be a better fit for a board game rather than a card game and so we decided not to go with that game proposal. Next, we discussed Jon's game which consisted of cards with directors' names as well as actors' and actresses' names who would star in a potential movie. Although this game made use of a new unique theme, I felt that the design and the idea behind the mechanism of it were too similar to those of Apples to Apples. For that reason, I decided to go with my game proposal which, I along with Jon and Sun felt delivered a new, catchy game concept. Originally my game was titled, The 1%, however we felt that a name like Living Like Floyd would be much more interesting and appealing to players. When people hear the name Floyd, most think of Floyd Mayweather, the champion boxer. Besides boxing, Floyd is also known to showcase his numerous expensive gadgets, ranging from his private jet to his excessive jewelry collection. In Living Like Floyd, players will compete against each other to build these "rich accessories."

As a team, we began thinking about the mechanics of the game last week. Changing the name was the first step that we took in the process of making this game. We are communicating with each other now via Groupme and will continue to modify the game until we come to our final product.