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.