Final Class + Preparation for Final class

The preparation for the final class consisted of meeting with the group on two separate occasions. On the first occasion we talked about any changes we would make to the game structurally and on the design. After much discussion we did not change much structurally, but we did finalize how many the design on each cards and the pictures we would use for the cards. We also put the final designs of the cards on a USB which we would use to print our cards. On the second occasion that we met, we brought the USB to staples and had them print out the exact amount of cards that we needed with the designs and the card stock paper that we purchases. After picking the cards up we put them in the game sleeves that we purchased. We also created the rule book, box, and reference cards for the game.

In the final class, we brought our finished game and played multiple times. After the first game we had to change the rules slightly. Because of the difficulty of having four cards of the same exact kind in your hand at once, we decided to change the amount to three cards in order for the Angel of Death character card to be used. After we did this in the next game, we realized that that would not be the right thing to do because it would give too much power to that card and could completely change players' strategies for the game because it kills a cured patient and allows you to keep that patient as well. Another problem occurred in the second game as well. One of the play testers suggested that the game was too based on luck and that it was too difficult to cure a patient. Because of this we decided to only have to match cards two and five and allowed all the four cards (doctor cards) to be played with any symptoms. This change made the game run much more smoothly as well as more fun and interactive for the players. In addition, the way that character cards were chosen and rotated also was a nice change to the game because it allowed no one player to choose a certain character card more than once in a row and balanced out the power amongst those character cards.

Over the weekend my group met up to complete the game. The first thing that we did was to re-create all the cards in order to make the bigger. We used a template that we found online to assist us in making all the cards the same size. Last week we had many suggestions on how to improve our game. One of the suggestions was to have more body and more pain medication cards. For this reason, we increased the amount of body and pain medication cards that we used. Another suggestion stated that we create reference cards for all the players. We took this into consideration as well and created four reference cards. After we were done creating the cards we had to go get them printed on cardstock paper and insert them into the game sleeves. This took longer than expected. Once that was done we made sure we had the right amount of cards used and cut the game sleeves so that they would be individual cards. After that we created the rule book and the box for the game. After all this was done our game was finally completed.

medic

After adding the character cards to minimize the amount of luck and add more strategy to the game, we decided to play the game in class. Initially, the game ran very smoothly and the basic structure seemed flawless. But, after playing the game multiple times we encountered another problem. Because we only had four character cards, players tended to pick the same character cards over and over again which made it unfair for the player who picked first. The whole period we discussed how to solve this dilemma. After endless discussion, we finally decided to each brainstorm ideas at home and discuss them when we meet during the week.

When we met during the week we each came with different ideas on how to fix the problem. After discussing our ideas we decided that we first should add more character cards. Adding more character cards would add more strategy to the game as well as help our problem of people selecting the same cards over and over again. After doing that, we tested our game with members of my fraternity, and we still encountered the same problem. So after collaborating again, we decided that to go along with the extra character cards, we would have to change the order in which the players choose the character cards, in order to insure that the same player does not select the same card simultaneously. 

Creating Cards

The main problem with our game was that it was based too much on luck of the draw.  In order to give the players more of a choice, we decided to add character cards.  The main problem with adding the character cards was that we had to make sure that one character was not too powerful.  We created a card called the angel of death which allows the player to kill another players patient.  This card may seem extremely powerful, however, when this specialty is used, one must discard their entire hand and lose that turn.  Another problem arose when we were deciding what to make the Nun's specialty.  Again, we did not want to make her too powerful. This debate went on for at least an hour, but we finally concluded that when a player chooses the Nun, they are allowed to discard up to two cards instead of the usual one card.  The character cards gave the game balance and gave the players more of a choice.

Once we came to an agreement on the specialties of the different characters, we had to decide how many of each card would be needed.  This was actually very difficult and will most likely be a work-in-progress.  After we have played the game several times and after seeing how other people interpret and play the game, we will be able to have a better judgement of how many of each card will be needed.  Finally, we created each of the cards and cut them all out. Next class we will have a better understanding of how our game works and revise it to make it perfect and fun.

MEDIC

At the end of first class we were still debating what game to use. Right before we left we decided to combine Medic and Conquer Quest into one game. However, after much thought we decided to scratch that combination and stick with Medic. Medic is fun exciting game that can be played with four players as opposed to two players in Conquer Quest. However, upon receiving the comments of the game, we soon realized that the game had too much luck and chance involved, and we had to correct this in a unique fashion.

What we did to fix this fault, we decided to add extra cards that change the game dramatically, decreasing chance and improving our game as a whole. We created new cards in which we are still deciding which one goes with the game the most fluidly but we can see the game becoming a success. Soon we will be creating a prototype game and see how the game plays out. From this we can modify or change certain aspect to make the game better.

Card game Proposals

Last Wednesday each member of our game design group had to create a proposal for a card game what had a theme and mechanics. Once we had our proposals, we each went around the group discussing our proposal in order to determine whose card game proposal would be the one we would create. Each member presented their proposal for about 10 minutes. However, when it came time to decide which proposal to pick we had a bit of a dilemma. One proposal was a military type card game. This idea seemed like the perfect card game for us to make however, the game appeared to only be a two player game. When discussing how other players could play everyone began to get a bit confused.

This problem that arose became a conversation that continued on for about 10 minutes or so. Each person had their own input as to how to make this game work or how to incorporate their own card game proposals. We were the last group to come to our decision however, the decision we made solved our problems. We decided to use the military card game idea while incorporating part of another group members card game idea. Thus, the game would become a game that many players could play and not be restricted to only two players.