Project 2- Board Game
CAGD 170- Intro to Video Game Design
Baking B*stards
Unit 2, Group 6
Playtest 2
Summary (updated)
Baking B*stards involves you and your friend... as two competitive chefs! You must gather the right ingredients and pass the final cooking session to get that recipe card before your opponent does!
The game consists of collecting cards, matching the cards with the ingredients provided by the recipe card, and competition between players, making it an educational cooking game suitable for competitors, collectors, and achievers.
The final board! It's much bigger.
Feedback Group 1
This particular group was able to understand the rule sheet more than the second group and therefore knew what cards to keep or discard, which cards are able to be shown, and how the “cooking session” benefits to the game.
The first group
Playtest 1
Summary
The game involves two chefs competing against each other to gain the title of "head chef"- they must do so by creating three types of desserts before the other chef does! Due to the informative cards and recipes that are set, and the title, this educational cooking game is meant for the 20-30 year old demographic.
Baking B*stards is set up and ready to be played!
Any Problems in the Playtesting?
Both my partner and I were nervous as players came to playtest our game. Luckily, the playtesters were very informative and polite with their criticism, and we quickly became comfortable with them.
The biggest issue they had with the game was the rule sheet. They informed us that the rule sheet was too long, and provided unnecessary and obvious information that they can understand themselves. For example, the rule sheet specifically informed the function of the pawns- "the players must move their pawn according to the number that the die displays".
Playing the game!
We have noted that the complexity and the length of the sheet irritated them- they wanted to play the game, not read two pages of the rules! They were forced to dwell on the rule sheet for a period of time just to understand the fundamentals of the game.
That experience alone led us to conclude that specifying the procedures does not make the game any easier to understand. In fact, it causes quite the opposite. As they informed us that it was too wordy and contained inaccurate information, my partner and I already started coming up with solutions. The problem can easily be fixed if it were condensed- that means eliminating all of the unnecessary information and only including the necessities. Making the sheet half a page to a full page is much easier for the eyes.
Each player was kind enough to give us
constructive criticism to further improve the game.
Aside from that, the players seemed to rather enjoy the game! My previous experience had led me to fear that the players would not be able to interact with the game, but that was not the case! One of their favorite elements on the game, as they have shown us, was the challenge. We could immediately recognize the excitement as they were at the risk of betting their most needed recipe cards stolen and they were pleased with the given opportunity to use their cards to create the dessert or leave it if they didn't feel it matched with their idea of it. One player was particularly fond of the randomness of ingredient cards.
Any Problems in the Development Process?
I am pleased to say that my partner and I interacted constantly as we scheduled a specific time and place, and we were consistent with our times and meetups.
All of our ideas crammed into one board!
We were able to organize our development process into specific segments.
For our first meetings, we wrote down all of our ideas onto a whiteboard. In this process, there was no room to reject ideas or even voice our concerns. That alone allowed us to see the game in varying perspectives.
A simple drawing of the layout of the board.
Despite meeting frequently and communicating well, there are concerns that I have. Schedules were set, but as I became busier with work and other classes, my progress ultimately slowed down. I would not say the same happened to my partner, but he was definitely affected by my poor time scheduling.
That can be fixed by rearranging our times and meetups. By doing that, we will be able to organize our work and distribute them much easier.
Baking B*stards
Unit 2, Group 6
Playtest 2
Summary (updated)
Baking B*stards involves you and your friend... as two competitive chefs! You must gather the right ingredients and pass the final cooking session to get that recipe card before your opponent does!
The game consists of collecting cards, matching the cards with the ingredients provided by the recipe card, and competition between players, making it an educational cooking game suitable for competitors, collectors, and achievers.
Feedback Group 1
This particular group was able to understand the rule sheet more than the second group and therefore knew what cards to keep or discard, which cards are able to be shown, and how the “cooking session” benefits to the game.
They have not addressed the issue directly, but my partner and I have definitely seen the results of not specifying the rules on our rule sheet. For one, they had a great issue when to go to the cooking session and even what to do in it. As soon as they learned to grasp the concept of the cooking session, they began to show concern when to NOT get into it, as, for example, they did not collect enough cards that the recipe card required. Both partner and I know that those factors should have been the FIRST factors that the players learned to give them a comfortable playing experience.
They informed us with how little they were able to interact in the game. They did not feel that they were able to make a choice that will benefit them and the outcome of the game. Despite my partner and I working on the ability for the player to choose which cards to keep or discard, it still did not heavily affect the outcome. To fix this, my partner and I plan to add more resources in the game.
They informed us with how little they were able to interact in the game. They did not feel that they were able to make a choice that will benefit them and the outcome of the game. Despite my partner and I working on the ability for the player to choose which cards to keep or discard, it still did not heavily affect the outcome. To fix this, my partner and I plan to add more resources in the game.
Feedback Group 2
Throughout the game, they were pleased with the interaction between players, but they have noticed very important elements that were missing.
That issue can be easily fixed, however, by adding all the information to the rule sheet. Keeping it one-paged is preferable for the player’s comfort, so we will do our part of eliminating unnecessary information and rewarding information.
The biggest issue that was addressed was that the rule sheet was too vague. Even though my partner and I have condensed the rule page and provided the necessary rules for the player’s comfort, very important information was not explained enough or not explained at all. Examples of this include failing to specify which cards can be seen by players and which ones can’t, what happens when the players go through the board but haven’t collected enough ingredient cards, what cards to keep or discard and when, and specifying the process of the “cooking session”.
The reason why the rule sheet being too vague was such an issue was because it did not allow the players to see the challenge in the game. For example, one player was completely confused when he was told to discard the cards that do not match with the recipe cards due the rule sheet not specifying it enough. Because of this, both players believed that there was no challenge in the game. They deemed the game as “a repetition of rolling the dice and moving your pawn”.
What I have noted from them was that they have informed me and my partner that they weren’t able to make any choices to further enhance their playing. To fix that issue, they have told us many useful tips and techniques. Examples include adding more resources than just the action and ingredients spaces- perhaps there could be “golden apple” spaces to provide bonus ingredients, allowing the players to CHOOSE which recipe card to take as their ingredients do not match with the provided card, and adding a “shopping center” and a set of currency to create a tradeoff.
Playtest 1
Summary
The game involves two chefs competing against each other to gain the title of "head chef"- they must do so by creating three types of desserts before the other chef does! Due to the informative cards and recipes that are set, and the title, this educational cooking game is meant for the 20-30 year old demographic.
Any Problems in the Playtesting?
Both my partner and I were nervous as players came to playtest our game. Luckily, the playtesters were very informative and polite with their criticism, and we quickly became comfortable with them.
The biggest issue they had with the game was the rule sheet. They informed us that the rule sheet was too long, and provided unnecessary and obvious information that they can understand themselves. For example, the rule sheet specifically informed the function of the pawns- "the players must move their pawn according to the number that the die displays".
We have noted that the complexity and the length of the sheet irritated them- they wanted to play the game, not read two pages of the rules! They were forced to dwell on the rule sheet for a period of time just to understand the fundamentals of the game.
That experience alone led us to conclude that specifying the procedures does not make the game any easier to understand. In fact, it causes quite the opposite. As they informed us that it was too wordy and contained inaccurate information, my partner and I already started coming up with solutions. The problem can easily be fixed if it were condensed- that means eliminating all of the unnecessary information and only including the necessities. Making the sheet half a page to a full page is much easier for the eyes.
constructive criticism to further improve the game.
Aside from that, the players seemed to rather enjoy the game! My previous experience had led me to fear that the players would not be able to interact with the game, but that was not the case! One of their favorite elements on the game, as they have shown us, was the challenge. We could immediately recognize the excitement as they were at the risk of betting their most needed recipe cards stolen and they were pleased with the given opportunity to use their cards to create the dessert or leave it if they didn't feel it matched with their idea of it. One player was particularly fond of the randomness of ingredient cards.
Any Problems in the Development Process?
I am pleased to say that my partner and I interacted constantly as we scheduled a specific time and place, and we were consistent with our times and meetups.
We were able to organize our development process into specific segments.
For our first meetings, we wrote down all of our ideas onto a whiteboard. In this process, there was no room to reject ideas or even voice our concerns. That alone allowed us to see the game in varying perspectives.
Despite meeting frequently and communicating well, there are concerns that I have. Schedules were set, but as I became busier with work and other classes, my progress ultimately slowed down. I would not say the same happened to my partner, but he was definitely affected by my poor time scheduling.
That can be fixed by rearranging our times and meetups. By doing that, we will be able to organize our work and distribute them much easier.
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