Experimental Game Design

Artwork #2: Appropriate

Trending Now: Buddhism

by | Nov 12, 2024 |

Idea

Appropriation, more specifically cultural appropriation, has been a part of my many experiences throughout life. As a Vietnamese Buddhist woman, I’ve seen my ethnicity, race, and religion be appropriated by people thousands of times in person or through media. So, this assignment stood out to me and the idea for my art work came quicker than it would the last project.

The idea I came up with was the cultural appropriation and aestheticization of a religion, more specifically Buddhism. I had initially wanted to make a game about Asians, their fetishization, appropriation, and harmful stereotyping, but upon looking at my jade bracelet and pendant, two pieces of jewelry that is commonly bought simply for their aesthetics, I decided on Buddhism.

Buddhism is a non-theistic religion that teaches us how to reach enlightenment, a state where all desires, hatred, and ignorance is eliminated. It tells us that greed is the source of all suffering and has been passed down to many countries and cultures—India, Vietnam, China, Japan, Cambodia, Bhutan, and more.

However, in America, many people use objects that symbolize this religion and represent its teachings in ways that completely disregard any of its meaning. They use Buddhist objects for their own desires—For their desire to fit in, their desire for money, and their desire for beauty; materialism.

It’s a bit ironic isn’t it? To be quite frank, these people frustrate me. Due to their own willful ignorance and greed, they take symbols that are significant to millions of people and display it on their yard, sell cheap and fake Buddhist objects, or wear it on their body with no awareness of its significance.

So, I decided to make the game off of this; a sarcastic interpretation of the cultural appropriation of Buddhism. The game itself is the appropriation of Buddhism.

Inspiration

When creating this art work, I wasn’t completely sure on how I would implement the ideas and thoughts of Dadaism into my game. Compared to the previous art work, a score was something that already existed and I could simply take inspiration from Grapefruit by Yoko Ono. Of course it wasn’t easy, but at least there was already somewhat of a template for me to know how I should shape the score and its meaning. With Dadaism and this art work however, I needed to take inspiration from the movement to then make a game that was the epitome of Buddhist appropriation.

Nevertheless, I loved the anti-art and chaos that Dadaism exhibited. The movement displayed a defiance from artists and thinkers against societal norms and traditions, rejecting the brutality and political state of the world during World War I. What I was most inspired by Dadaism was the message that they sent. Their deliberate absurdity and satire in their art forms, showing freedom of expression, and developing so many other artistic movements such as my beloved surrealism was admirable and vitalizing. I wanted to make something similar; to mock the cultural appropriation of Buddhism and people’s ignorance.

Multiple art works from Dadaist artists inspired my game as well, most notably Marcel Duchamp. From his art work La Jaconde/L.H.O.O.Q. which mocked the famous painting The Mona Lisa and traditional art, to his structure, Fountain, which uses a urinal that is usually dirty, mundane, and never seen in art work. It’s satire and mocking, but it’s also beautiful and inspirational art. Another art work from a different artist stood out to me called A Victim of Society (Remember Uncle August, the Unhappy Inventor) by George Grosz. The art work was disturbing. It used mundane items, objects that wouldn’t be used in art for its “unaesthetic” properties, from the razor to the spark plug and machine parts. However, it somehow accurately shows a victim suffering from mental turmoil.

 

A Victim of Society ( Remember Uncle August, the Unhappy Inventor) by George Grosz.

Fountain by Marcel Duchamp

L.H.O.O.Q. or La Joconde by Marcel Duchamp

 

Furthermore, a game that had been stuck in my head since Celia presented it to me was the controversial table top game made by Brenda Romero in 2009 called Train. 

Layout of the controversial table top game by Brenda Romero (2009).

Players are tasked with loading what seems like a train with passengers and at the end of the game, they realize that they were loading passengers on the train towards concentration camps during the Holocaust. Despite its controversy for being too explicit or not accurately representing the experience of Holocaust victims, I felt like the game brought more awareness to the terrifying feeling and guilt of being an “ignorant bystander” and how much power Adolf Hitler had over Germany, to the point that many people did not realize how bad what they were doing was.

Front cover of The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal (1969).

I’m still not educated enough on the topic, but the title of a book I read a few years ago instantly entered my mind, The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal. This book discussed whether Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor, should forgive a dying SS soldier for his murders and atrocities on Jewish civilians. It writes about the history, morals, and conflicts of the soldier, but also recognizes the brutality and ignorance of soldiers. Many soldiers and people involved followed Adolf Hitler blindly. They knew something was wrong but wouldn’t do anything about it. They convince themselves that what they were doing were okay, labelling Jewish civilians as monsters. It was brainwash. This still doesn’t make what they did okay, but I believe Trains help bring awareness to that side of the Holocaust as well and the mental conflicts it had on bystanders and soldiers alike. The message and the way Trains conveyed it stood out to me and was a leading factor on how I developed this game.

Combining all these works created my game (and a little inspiration from capitalistic games like Monopoly). It has the satirical qualities of the Dadaism movement such as using karma as a currency, assigning monetary value to Buddhist objects, the upside down Buddha on the cards, and having to decorate a board with those Buddhist objects in order to gain favor and currency. Similar to Train, players are playing as the ignorant people that appropriate Buddhism, sitting uncomfortably as they realize what they’re doing and who they play as.

Playtests

So, the process of this game was long, with multiple iterations and playtests. In the middle of it, I also happened to get COVID so that was great. This game needed a lot of tweaks and feedback so with the amount of playtests I had, I think the game is starting to shape into a more fleshed out game. Here, I will detail a couple important points of each iteration and photos of the playtests.

ITERATION 1

For iteration 1, I did not have any of the cards nor pieces. I used pens and a wheel spinner to replace the die and cards. Evidently, it was a veryy slow process. We had to pass the laptop around, AND it was broken so its fan was so loud. It was a very comedic experience and we didn’t get past round 2 even two hours in. So, by the end of this iteration, I had to:

  • Make all physical cards
  • Grab an actual die
  • Have actual Buddhist objects

In the second playtest of this iteration, here are some more feedback from them:

  • The karma values of each object needed tweaks
  • The use of the die made the game unnecessarily longer
  • Fix the wording for cards to help players understand it better and make it more appropriating

Gameplay of the first playtest with friends.

Some of the important rules and things players should remember.

The pieces of the game, from the cards as a wheel spinner and a die found online, to Buddhist figurines being pens, and the rest being made of paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ITERATION 2

In iteration 2, we have the actual pieces but I experimented and used a blank paper instead of actual interior design magazine pages. This brought upon more creativity and more fun when voting but didn’t send the message I wanted to send as much as it should.

Example 1 of Decoration Board

Example 2 of Decoration Board

Example 3 of Decoration Board

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of gameplay

 

Some notes:

  • Change the voting system: The voting system had many, many iterations over the several playtests of Iteration 2. Sometimes, it wasn’t anonymous enough so players would vote according to how the person voted them previously. Or, it was too anonymous and players were just voting however they wanted, giving everyone 0s.
  • Make a design board
  • Balance the values more

ITERATION 3

In the final iteration, the pieces were completed. I added my pendant and buddha bracelet in as objects as well. There were tweaks to the karma values, what each card did, and the player count. There were other tweaks as well, but I will only show the rules and gameplay to the final iteration. After the final playtest, here are what I’ve noted:

  • Use a different form of design board, such as a doll house OR make all the objects 2D. However, if I decide to make them all 2D, then it will take away from the message that I want to send about cultural appropriation of Buddhism.
  • Get a frame around the quotes
  • Design the game in a way where there’s less calculating? More doing.

Here are the pieces and photos of the final playtest.

Paintings

Figurines

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some event cards

Voting cards

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Playtest!!

A player looking through her action cards for her turn.

Passing out karma tokens.

A player decorating their design board.

Some of the figurines.

Voting phase after the first round.

 

Gameplay

So, there were lots of tweaks made to the gameplay, but this is what we ended with! If I want to add this to my portfolio, like I mentioned in the playtests section, I would make dollhouses the decoration board instead of the blank pieces of paper or magazine cut outs of interior design. This was the final iteration of the gameplay rules, pieces, and how to set it up!

GUIDE (3-4 Players)

Win Condition: Get all 23 Buddhist objects OR acquire 100 Karma tokens

Pieces

Karma Tokens: The monetary value in this game. Used to buy an object or win. Acquired through:

  • Selling objects
  • Owning objects
  • Events
  • Actions
  • Ranking of Design boards
BUDDHIST OBJECTS | KARMA TOKEN COST
FIGURINES (10) 3
QUOTES (7) 7
PAINTINGS (5) 10
PENDANT (1) 25

Karmaback & Karma Value: The value of karma tokens upon selling objects (Karma Value) and the amount of karma tokens Buddhist connoisseurs get back upon owning objects (Karmaback). 

Karmaback: There are specific amounts of karmaback certain owned objects get. After a “Buddhist”’s turn, the total karmaback for all objects owned by the “Buddhist” will be given to the “Buddhist”. 

Karma Value: Upon selling object(s), Buddhist connoisseurs get back the karma value of the object(s).

TABLE of VALUES

BUDDHIST OBJECTS | KARMABACK & KARMA VALUE
FIGURINES (10) 2
QUOTES (7) 5
PAINTINGS (5) 7
PENDANT (1) 10

Die: A singular 6-sided die to decide the order of the turns each round and to break tie breakers with the person landing the highest number winning the tie break.

Action Cards: Each Buddhist connoisseur will always have 3 action cards in their hand. Upon disposing or using an action card(s), grab more action card(s) until the Buddhist connoisseur has 3 in their hand. Used in order to gain an advantage against the other “Buddhists”.

Event Cards: Played after every round. Every “Buddhist” must act on the event card unless it addresses specific “Buddhists”. Discard the event card each time until they run out. Then shuffle all of them in again.

If Event Cards cannot be met by a minority of “Buddhists”, then they must pay a 10 karma token fee. If the fee cannot be met, they are now in debt and must pay off that debt.

If Event Cards cannot be met by a majority or half of the “Buddhists”, then they can pull a different event card and shuffle the other card back in. 

Design Board: Indoor and outdoor designs. Place objects on this board in specific, aesthetic ways in order to win other Buddhist connoisseurs favor and get first! Getting first in the rankings will give a “Buddhist” a boost in karma tokens.

Objects: Collect all objects to win. Can be sold, collected, bought, stolen, taken, etc.

Figurines (10)

Quotes (7)

Paintings (5)

Pendant (1)

Voting Cards: Point cards for Design Board. “Buddhists” will have numbers 1-3 with 3 being the highest points to be given and 1 being the lowest. If it’s only 3 players playing then the maximum points will be 2.

Action Cards:

QUANTITY| ACTION CARD
10 Steal any figurine from a Buddhist connoisseur 
10 Choose a “Buddhist” to skip their turn. Their next turn will be skipped.
10 Block any form of sabotage (Use any time)
5 Use this card to play an extra two cards (in your hand)
4 Collect tokens from a connoisseur of your choosing equal to the karmaback of all your objects 
2 Choose a Buddhist to lose karma tokens equal to the karmaback of all their objects combined 

Event Cards:

Auction Night! Players each auction up their most valuable object! The initial cost will be its karmaback. One object must be sold to move on.
Charity Event Every player must donate at least 2 karma tokens to prospect but poorest (aka brokest players) buddhist enthusiasts.
Magic Trick Everyone closes their eyes and chooses a number from 1 to the total amount of players. (EX: 2 players must choose a number 1-2 while closing their eyes). Display them with your fingers. If your number matches any other buddhist enthusiasts, trade all objects!
Natural Disaster Everyone loses their objects to the disaster… Your karma tokens are safe though!
Spin Master Quick! Spin 5 times and point at the pendant. First to touch it gets 15 karma tokens. Those who don’t spin lose 10 karma tokens.
Birthday It’s your relatives’ birthday! Each player must ‘gift’ their relative. Take an object and put it with the rest of the unowned items
Gamble Night Each player must bet at least one of their objects. Grab the die and bet on what it lands on. If a player is correct, they get the objects. If multiple get it correct, split/share evenly. If none get it correctly, lose all objects betted.
Art Showcase Show the object you love the most in your possession with a 20 second pitch. You will be awarded 10 karma tokens.
Insurance If any players are in debt, the debt is cleared and balances are back to 0.
BOGO For the player with the least amount of karma tokens, buy one get one free for figurines!

Setting Up

Each player will get:

5 karma tokens

1 Buddhist figurine

1 Design board

3 Action cards

Use a die to decide the order of turns. The “Buddhist” with the highest number rolled goes first, then the second highest, and so on.

Play

In a round:

  1. Each player takes a turn
  2. Rank Design Boards: Hand out the point cards to each “Buddhist”. After, add up all the points that each “Buddhist” gets and the highest amount of points is first. First place gets 5 karma tokens, all other players get 1 token.
  3. Use an Event Card

In a turn:

  1. Sell or buy object(s).
  2. Play an Action Card OR Discard an Action Card OR Do nothing.
  3. Grab Action Cards to have a total of 3 in your hand.
  4. Gain the karmaback from the objects you own.

 

Manga Monopoly

by | Oct 29, 2024 | ,

 

Manga Monopoly is a spin-off of Monopoly with the objective changed from attempting to gain as much capital and take as much from your competitors as you can to instead trying to create the best art with the resources you have available. It’s a game played with 3 – 4 people, who all go around a Monopoly Board, collecting manga panels as they go. Everytime everyone makes a full lap around the board, players use their manga panels to make collages, and then vote on which collage they think is best. People get different points based on whether they got 1st, 2nd, or 3rd which points increasing in the last round. The person with the most points in the last round wins.

 

 

Inspiration (In Class & Out)

 

The broad inspiration for this project was the desire to take something highly commercialized and contextualize it into something more creative and generative. Many DADA movements are concerned with the commercialization of art, and I think of few more obvious games to critique this with than monopoly, a game that in it’s earliest form started out as a critique of capitalism and is now one of the THE MOST commercialized games of all time (we have Breaking Bad Monopoly). So I thought that through appropriation I could shift the focus of the game away from wealth acquisition and thus bring it more in line with its original intent (I know a satire of that kind of wealth acquisition was originally part of the point but world conditions are such that that kind of satire isn’t effective because no one thinks its satire they think its normal). Additionally, I wanted to combine the playfulness often seen in earlier DADA works along with the more overt political messaging seen in later ones, and I believe this project accomplishes both of those goals well. Collages are an accessible form of art as all you need is basic motor skills and an eye for composition (whereas most often forms of art require those two things + way more) and I think they can channel childlike creativity well due to that. The political implications of a game where the purpose is to create from nothing instead of starting off as a millionaire and stealing (AHEM, “renting”) everything in sight feel rather obvious, but to elaborate, I wanted the art to foster collaboration and healthy competition rather than a desire to seek dominance. In this game, you need other players to like your art to win, and I believe making something people like requires on some level an ability to understand and reach out to people (I feel that with all artistic creation in general) and I hope the game inspires those feelings in people instead of making them want to selfishly own and hoard everything for themselves.

 

The desire to send this mix of political messaging and fostering of childlike playfulness through collage was additionally of course inspired by the Merz art of Hannover Dada, wherein much of the point was recontextualizing “useless” or “boring” objects (junk, everyday objects, found objects) into something else entirely with an entirely new meaning. That was the approach I took to the “materials” of monopoly and manga.


I chose manga panels because I wanted to create a pastiche of many different series and artists, but I also wanted them to be visually cohesive. Manga are all in black and white, and this allows for an easily achieved color palette (as every Mangaka works with the same exact one, unlike comic artists) while still allowing for great contrast in the collages themselves. Additionally, I have a manga wall at home which works for these same reasons, so the idea came naturally.

 

 

First Iteration 

 

At first, I was quite rushed, so my starting iteration was rough. Each of the squares where relabeled but with no visuals (just the series title) and I didn’t know what to do with the community chest and chance cards. Voting was simpler as well, with people just voting for their favorite and that getting one point. The in class playtest went well, as detailed below 

 

Pros

  • It was fun making collages 
  • It was fun looking at other peoples colalges 
  • Getting panels from series people knew made it more gratifying for them

Cons

  • Voting being simplified made the votes more boring and not work well with only 3 people
  • Many squares there was nothing to do, which slowed the game down 
  • Players wanted more interaction with eachother

 

Second Iteration 

 

For the second iteration, I added many visual elements and tried to address player feedback. The game was made more visually interesting by me taking the volume covers of manga and placing them over the monopoly board. That way, each series was recognizable at a glance. To address the problem of community chest spaces and chance spaces having nothing to do AND to address the issue of players wanting more inter player interaction, I added a new set of cards to the game that allowed players to steal, force trades, take more cards, and more. This allowed for more dynamism in the gameplay as the actions of players could affect other player strategies in real time. I changed the voting to allow for points to be allocated based on whether it was 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and allowed players to pick from the top 3 cards on the pile when choosing their card. Overall, this increase of player agency and visual facelift helped make the game more interesting and I am happy with the result.

 

Final Playlets Results

Despite having three people, the final playtest was very lucrative. I got to playtest with both a manga fan and a non-manga fan, and seeing them both enjoy and have different takes on the game was both validating and interesting.

The non-manga fan liked the game and took a storytelling approach to her collages, trying to craft funny or interesting mini narratives with her manga pages. This was aided by this player just happening to get a lot of manga pages. From her feedback, I definitely would implement an “Explain” part of the voting phase where each player is required to give some brief intro for their collage.

The manga fan that played also enjoyed the game, and took a more impressionistic approach with their collaging, trying to make something visually appealing and leveraging text less. They suggested even more interaction, with players perhaps gaining physical tools like scissors, glue, or tape to further elevate their collages.

 

Playtest Collages

 

Rules

 

Cards

Quick Complex Chip Duel

by | Oct 25, 2024 |

Game Components

Quick Complex Chip Duel

The game was converted from Texas Hold ’em Poker, changing the game from the idea of Texas Hold ’em Poker to a points system. Inject more strategy and flexibility into the game, so that the game can not only retain the mental game and strategic thinking of Texas Hold ’em. It also increases the depth of direct interaction and decision-making between players, making the game more compact and varied to suit different types of players.

  • Chips: Six colors of chips: blue, red, black, white, yellow, and purple.
  • Playing Cards: Two decks of playing cards shuffled into one pile.

 

 

 

Chip Allocation

Each player receives the following number of chips:

  • Blue Chips: 2
  • Red Chips: 2
  • Black Chips: 2
  • White Chips: 1
  • Yellow Chips: 1
  • Purple Chips: 1

Game Setup

  1. Chip Allocation: Each player receives chips according to the above quantities.
  2. Card Preparation: Shuffle two decks of playing cards into one pile and place it in the center of the table.

Game Rules

Turn Sequence

  1. Draw Cards:
    • At the start of their turn, each player draws two cards from the pile.
    • Players can only hold a maximum of three cards in their hand. If a player draws more than three cards, they must immediately discard the excess cards.
  2. Use Chips:
    • Based on the drawn cards, players can choose to use chips. Each color of chip has a different effect:
      • Blue Chip: Gain 1 point.
      • Red Chip: Gain 2 points.
      • Black Chip: Reduce opponent’s score by 1 point.
      • White Chip: Protect yourself, negating one attack, steal, or extra draw from the opponent.
      • Yellow Chip: Draw two additional cards.
      • Purple Chip: Steal one card and one chip from the opponent’s hand/pool.
  3. Card Effects:
    • Hearts and Diamonds (Red Cards): Allow the use of red and yellow chips.
    • Spades and Clubs (Black Cards): Allow the use of black and blue chips.
    • Face Cards (J, Q, K): Allow the use of white and purple chips. Additionally, when playing a J, Q, or K, the player may also draw one additional chip from the chip pool.
    • Ace (A): Allows the player to choose any one chip effect to use, providing flexibility in strategy.
    • Joker: Allows the player to copy the last chip effect used by the opponent, adding an element of surprise and adaptability.
  4. Chip Replenishment Mechanism:
    • When a player uses an Ace or Joker card, they can replenish one used chip from the chip pool.
  5. Steal Mechanism (Purple Chip):
    • When using a purple chip, a player can randomly steal one card and one chip from the opponent. The opponent can choose to use a white chip to defend against the steal.
  6. Discard:
    • Used cards are placed in the discard pile.
  7. End of Turn:
    • The player ends their turn, and it is the opponent’s turn.

Special Rules

  • Defense Mechanism: Use a white chip to negate one attack, steal, or extra draw from the opponent.
  • Quick Mechanism: Each turn involves drawing two cards, increasing strategic choices.

Victory Conditions

  • The first player to reach or exceed 10 points wins.
  • If the card pile is exhausted and no player has reached the target score, the player with the higher score wins.

Chewy Game 🧸

by | Oct 25, 2024 |

Chewy game is a single player physical game made for both children and adults. This is a game that takes appropriation of Gummy Bears. Originally, I wanted to take advantage of the bouncy physical feature of the candies. Then I realized that Gummy Bears are linked to childhood memories for a lot of people. My friends told me that their parents would give them gummy bears as a reward for accomplishing goals. And they always appear when it was festival season and were giving out as a present… however, in my case, gummy bears are connected to the image of liquor and bar games. I used to love dipping the gummy bears in liquor bottles and took them out the next day. They will have a great taste and become 2 times bigger than before. I thought it would be interesting to take the form (of candy) and the mechanism of bar game (which are usually restricted to children) to make a game for children.

During playtesting, I got some playtester noted that this grab and throw mechanic is very similar to knucklebone game (jacks), a game that has multiple origins and is played worldwide. My cousin told me that my game remind him of Assyk, a traditional sport of Kazakh cultures, instead of gummy bears, they use real knucklebones of lambs.

Preparation:

a bag of gummy bears and take two of the same color’s (usually there will be 5 colors in a bag) and a plushie.

How to play:

  1. Scatter these 10 gummy bears on table (shuffle?)
  2. Throw the plushie up high (the higher the more time you got for picking the gummy bears.)
  3. Speed Grab one gummy bear at a time and catch the falling plushie (with one hand).
  4. Throw again and grab a pile of gummy bears (that should be 5 of them)
  5. If failed to catch the plushie, discard all of the bears you have and start over.

Goal(s):

  1. Because this is a game that takes practice to be good at, as you play longer you should be less hesitated and require less time to pick the gummy bears in correct colors.
  2. Try not to fail catching the plushie

2nd iteration: (another version)

I thought I would be great to have the player eat the gummy bears at some point of the gameplay. Since it is edible and I gave the volunteer playtesters gummy bears as a reward anyways.

My professor suggested that this game is really about restriction. Both in time and physically. It is hard to catch and grab by only one hand. So I kind of wanted to push the limit of the restrictions (balance).

To make it easier, I replaced the plushie with a small beanbag.

  1. Wash your hands & make sure the gummy bears are edible
  2. Same as the old rules 1-5.
  3. But this time, once you succeed one attempt to grab and catch, pass the gummy bear to your other hand.
  4. Focus on this hand and throw up the gummy bear, quickly flip your hand and catch it by the back of your hand.
  5. Balance and let it lying safely on the back of your hand while throwing up the beanbag using the other hand.
  6. Grab & catch your next target
  7. Congrats! This counts as a round and you can finally consume the gummy bear.
  8. Repeat until you got (eat) all 5 of the gummy bears of different colors.

FlappyBirdCage

by | Oct 24, 2024 | ,

Flappy Bird is a mobile game that was once popular around the world. The game’s mechanism is very simple, players only need to tap the screen to keep the bird flying smoothly over the pipes. The game has no ending, the number of pipes the player crosses is the score, and there is a global score leaderboard to reflect your level.

Despite also spending hours getting high scores, I’m not too fond of this game because it made me feel very pointless. In a way, you waste a lot of time by going after a nebulous high score, as if you’re stuck in a pipe jungle all that time. I made a sarcastic appropriation in response to this point, my choice at first was to ditch the gameplay and just use two pipes to represent the infinite level, the player can press space to maintain flying but it just loops indefinitely in this game, even if it touches a pipe nothing happens, it just goes down and spawn from the top pipe.

Second Iteration

I took into account the fact that my initial game was too simple as an appropriation. I would like to add more playability, irony, and metaphorical symbols. I stuffed the pipes all over the scene, and I slightly calculated the player’s up-and-down range and the pipe’s distance so that after passing through the second set of pipes the player suddenly realized they couldn’t traverse the third one no matter what. This would make them think about how to escape this situation. During the playtest, everything happened exactly as I expected, the tester was confused after passing the second section, but after trying to change their mindset, it became clear that the only way is up. I was heartened when everyone found the ending interesting during the class presentation. Flappy Bird itself is a game that lacks relevance. Bird is symbolized here by anyone who is bound by the prison of thought. Thinking differently is sometimes more important than trying to break through that impossible crack.

 

Poker for Kids

by | Oct 23, 2024 | ,

Materials:

  1. Two Decks of Uno Cards
    1. Keep the first one normal and take all action cards out of the second deck
      1. The first deck will from here on out be the “normal” deck
      2. The second deck will be the “family” deck
  2. Friends
  3. Poker Chips (If gambling, not recommended)

 

Rules:

  1. Played from 2-8 Players
  2. Know the rules of Texas Holdem, the only difference is the uno cards have action
  3. Take all skip cards out of the normal deck they have no value in this game
  4. The game begins like normal Texas Holdem, whoever the dealer is, will deal two cards to everyone from the normal deck
  5. After looking at there cards players may have a few options
    1. If they have a +2 they play it and draw two cards from the family deck
    2. If they have a +4 they play it and draw four cards from the deck
      1. It can then be kept and used as a wild (see below)
    3. If they have a reverse they may choose to switch hands with one other player after everyone has played their action cards
    4. If they have a wild, they may draw one card and keep the wild
      1. The wild card can now be played in conjunction with any card in order to change its color to whatever the player would like
      2. It can only be used on the cards in their hand
    5. If they have none of these cards they may keep their hand and play as normal
    6. Any cards action cards discarded should go into a discard pile specifically for the normal deck
  6. PLAYERS MAY HAVE NO MORE THAN 5 CARDS AT A TIME
    1. If a player ends up with 6 or more cards they must discard a card of their choosing into a discard pile for the deck that they got it from
  7. Then the first round of betting occurs
  8. From here on out the hand is played exactly like omaha poker except with 5 cards instead of 4

 

Artist Statement

 

When I debuted this game idea in class I said I chose it because poker is one of my favorite games and by all means this is true, but I also wanted to make something complicated. The game I made is fun by all means but there is no real reason to play it. People do not typically play a game like poker for the sake of enjoyment but usually because they enjoy the thrill of winning money. If you take the monetary aspect out of it the game itself is not fun because each hand loses all value. People do not want to play a game that takes poker and makes it more complicated because there is no point to that while betting. That is why when I played with my friends we tried playing with and without betting. While we thought the action card aspect made the game unnecessarily complicated while gambling, when playing without money we actually enjoyed it more than we would traditional poker. You see when playing poker without money there is no real skill involved because there is no way to keep score, however when playing with the uno cards, there is skill depending on your use of action cards to make hands and deciding what cards to keep and which to drop. I will say while it is better than classic poker without gambling in general we all enjoyed classic poker with gambling more. 

I did think it was interesting to combine two things that would not typically go together. Poker is typically seen as a game for adults. In most states including Massachusetts you have to be 21 to even step foot inside of a casino. Uno however, while being enjoyed by people of all ages, is typically regarded and marketed as a kids game. Putting the two juxtaposing games together felt like something Dada might do. Similar to taking the Mona Lisa and drawing a mustache on it, I took a serious game like poker and added a color and a childish aspect to it. 

This game involved rounds and rounds of play testing and I do not think it is possible to make it better than either of the originals however it is enjoyable nonetheless, so why I failed I do not regret the idea.

Rules of War: A Chess Appropriation

by | Oct 22, 2024 |

The Initial Inspirations

Chess is one of my favourite games. With a simple set of rules, you get an intellectually enriching, and often emotionally exhilarating experience.

In the readings that we did, the art pieces that popped out to me are the ones that are based on Chess. “White Chess” is an art piece that came to mind. It is the same game of Chess, except that all the colours of the pieces are White. One might say that the game was not really changed, merely how it looks. Still, unless you can play Chess blindfolded, there will come a point where it becomes very difficult to differentiate between your pieces and your opponent’s pieces. With the same game of Chess, it speaks volumes on the meaning of war that we never really considered–what does it mean for us to be on different sides, fighting against each other? Especially when it becomes difficult to differentiate between us and them?

Still, White Chess is not merely the same as two sides being the same color. The entire game takes advantage of the intellectual and emotional aspects of Chess, thereby adding a multiplier to the underlying message.

There are other examples of Chess being sampled. For instance, various artists, including Duchamp, made Chess pieces with particular styles. In all of these instances, these appropriations of Chess took advantage of the very nature of Chess to emphasize on a different underlying message.

The same way that the simple rules of Chess allow for emergent gameplay behavior, appropriating Chess also allows for corresponding emergent messages.

Thus, I wanted to do appropriate Chess in a way that delivers an underlying message that isn’t present in the base game. The message I wanted to send across in my art piece is the cyclic nature of war. Chess is a game that has a clear end goal–checkmating the king. Once that’s done, the game is officially over. However, most wars in real-life are never that simple. They often last for several generations until no one really knows how the war began, only that they have to win it.

In the same anti-war spirit of several Dada art pieces, such as White Chess, I would like a Chess game that discuss the gruesome part of war that never ends, and to make players, what does it all mean?

Version 1

In the very first version, I wanted to remove all possible win conditions from the Chess game. Firstly, I had kings removed from the board. I had a feeling that this will make the game far less engaging, as a lot of dynamics of Chess rely on playing around the kings on the board. Secondly, I added a rule that whenever a piece gets eaten, you can have it respawned on one of its starting positions. A respawning piece may land on a Chess piece that is already there, in which case that Chess piece gets eaten and you can respawn that too.

The results of the first playtest showed that the game does communicate the message of war happening across several generations until the point where the original configuration of the board has become lost through noise and tiome. After playing for a while, both players agree that the game has become meaningless. They are just playing it for the sake of playing the game.

Although this does meet my goal, I also feel that I don’t want the message to be delivered because the players feel bored. I want players to feel engaged by the art piece, both intellectually and emotionally. This cannot happen if there are almost no consequence to the player’s actions.

Version 2

In order to add consequence to the player’s actions, I have decided to modify the rules so that whenever you respawn a piece, you have to wait have to make two moves before you can respawn another piece. The reason for this is so that the game is still endless, but there are brief moments players can feel that they got the upper-hand, as in real-life war. Still, unless the player is a professional, they will likely be unable to capture all of the pieces.

Furthermore, I have put the kings back on the board. This was a tough decision to make. The problem with removing the kings from the board is that too much has been taken away from the game of chess. Chess strategies revolve around the king, and so, without the king, chess strategies are inherently meaningless. Much of the beauty of the game is lost without the kings.

The playtest of the game showed that this version of the game is much more intellectually and emotionally engaging, and still communicates the cyclic nature of war. However, I believe there is still room for improvement. There is a lot of cognitive energy needed to keep track of how many moves you need to make before you can respawn again. What makes chess elegant is that all cognitive energy is spent on how the pieces interact, and not anything extraneous. Another observation I made is that the game is best when both sides have lost quite a number of pieces, and are trying to hold it out until they can get their respawns. I felt like the game should exist in this state more.

Final Version

For the final version of the game, I have modified the rules such that whenever you lose 6 pieces, you can bring 4 of them back. This removes the distraction of having to keep track how many moves you need to make before you can respawn again, while keeping the spicy part of the game where both sides have lost a few pieces.

When we showcased the game in class, one player managed to checkmate the other player, and both players lost 5 pieces. Thus, the respawn mechanic was not triggered. In an ironic twist, they just played a regular game of Chess. In an effort to make the game more intellectually and emotionally engaging, I have weakened the part of the game responsible for discussing the cyclic nature of war.

Post Mortem

The Chess’ checkmate rule and my message on the cyclic nature of war are inherently contradictory. A possible idea for how this game could be changed is changing checkmate such that it doesn’t end the game. For example, whenever you are checkmated, the another piece is promoted to the king, and the king simply becomes the piece that was promoted.

Diez: Uno Flipped on its Head!

by | Oct 22, 2024 | ,

Materials needed:

  • Uno cards (of course)

Basic Rules:

  • Each player starts with zero cards
  • For each round, one player takes their turn as the drawer and places two cards from the shuffled deck on the table.
  • The first player to touch a card gets to keep it in their hand
  • Any card that is not picked is added face-up to the discard pile
  • After the turn is over, the next player in the rotation takes their turn and draws the next two card

Duplicate Cards:

  • If a player gets a card with a number they already have, then they have to choose to give up at most 3 cards and add them face-up into the discard pile.
  • If a player gets a card with a number and the same color they already have, then they have to give up all of their cards and add them face-up into the discard pile.

Special Cards:

  • Reverse Card – If the player gets a reverse card, they can switch hands with a player of choice
  • Skip Card – If the player gets a skip card, then they can’t pick a card the next turn
  • Draw Card – If the player gets a draw 4 or a draw 2 card, they can choose to pick 2 cards or 4 cards for free respectively from the shuffled deck or do nothing  
  • Wild Card – If the player gets a wild card, they can pick one card of a chosen color from a chosen player

Win Condition: The first player to get the number cards 0-9 wins

Special Rules:

  • If two Special cards are in effect, then the player who’s turn to draw comes first plays their special card first.
  • One player can only grab one card during a round
  • If you use a draw card and get another draw card, you can choose to draw more cards based on the type of draw card drawn on top of the cards already being drawn
  • If you use a draw card and get a reverse, you can choose to use the reverse after you have drawn all of your cards.
  • If you use a draw card and get a skip, then you can no longer continue drawing cards. Additionally, you will not be able to pick a card next round
  • If you use a draw card and get a wild, you can choose to use the wild after you have drawn all of your cards
  • If the game runs out of cards in the shuffled deck, take the cards from the discard pile and flip them over to make in the new shuffled deck

Playtest Notes:

  • Playtest #1:
    • Problem – The player who drew the card for the round had too much of an advantage, as they could immediately go from drawing to picking a card. 
    • Solution – The drawer for the round now draws 2 cards instead of one, allowing for everyone to have a chance picking a card and increasing the choices available for players
  • Playtest #2:
    • Problem: The discard pile was made with cards being face down, potentially allowing for a player to cheat by lying about what cards they put down
    • Solution: The discard pile is now specifically face-up so that other players know what cards a player is putting down.
  • Pictures:

   

Inspiration:

Takako Saito’s chess series inspired me, and how it changed small elements of chess to completely change the meaning of the game. I wanted to achieve this same effect with one of my favorite childhood games: Uno. Additionally, I was also inspired by the Dada movement, as I wanted to challenge what a Uno type of game could be just like how the movement challenged what art could be. While my game and the original are completely different, they both revolve around the same core idea of managing the cards in your hand and using luck to your advantage in a way that is simple enough so that all ages can understand the flow of the game. I really wanted to emphasize this in my game’s design, so I made sure to achieve a good balance between skill and luck.

CountrySide: A Dada Game with Maps

by | Oct 21, 2024 |

Originally starting off as a silly idea with zombies and paper maps, my game project CountrySide developed into a fun experience that brought a smile to every playtester that encountered it. CountrySide is a tabletop role-playing resource management game where you play the role of a leader of a farming nation, rejuvenating the leveled wasteland by growing crops and fending off hordes of zombies as they swarm the landscape.

The front view of the CountrySide game box. An illustration is on the front of the box, of two people, one with a pitchfork and the other with a machete. A horde of zombies is approaching them from the left. To the right is a tree and a stash of supplies.

In the final version, almost every game piece is made from recycled or reused materials, evoking the scavenger-survivor atmosphere of using only recycled scraps at your disposal to create things. For example, the game mat is made from the remains of a package delivery box, the rules are handwritten onto a piece of a cereal box, and the game spinner is made from cardboard, a paperclip, and a brass fastener.

A map of Boston with different city blocks colored in with pen. Popsicle sticks, pens, and a deck of cards are laid out along the side of the map.

But what led me to the creative decisions I took when making this?

Research

After reading into the 1900s Dada art movement while I was developing this game, a few key points stood out to me. First, the Dada movement as a whole embodied a spirit of rebellion, activism, and endless creativity. The movement began in Zurich, and the Dada works created there evoked playfulness and childlike wonder. Second, when the movement reached Berlin, it took on a more political approach. Many works were critical of the nationalistic fervor at the time and their own country’s values. To them, art was a means of expressing their opinions in a way much more universal than words could. Finally, Dada seeks to take ordinary objects and inscribe within them new meaning. For example, “Le Cadeau” is a work from 1921 Paris that turns an iron into a menacing tool with spikes. This simple modification to a household object transforms the meaning of it from something not associated with danger, to deadly weapon.

How does this connect to my game?

Design Decisions: Playfulness & Childlike Wonder

Making all the game components out of objects you would find around the house was on purpose. This not only amplifies the atmosphere of apocalyptic hodgepodge creations, but serves to evoke the experiences of childhood, where kids would make games or creations out of cardboard boxes and enjoy it like any other board game. The pieces are meant to be simple enough to be replicated in a minute, allowing it to be played by kids, teens, or adults who have little time for setup and just want to get the game started for everyone to join in.

All the game pieces of CountrySide laid out on a table. They are made of cardboard, twine, and other recycled materials.

Design Decisions: Criticism of Values

When playing games, it is easy to get immersed in the world or mechanics but not think about the underlying values that games propagate. Many popular games on the market, both digital and physical, involve some form of competition, war, or theft. Many people find these games fun- including myself. I play and enjoy first-person shooter games, because of the fast-paced action and the feeling of triumph when you try your best against a rival team and win. However, I wanted my game to be something different. I wanted my game to be exciting, but teach the values of self-reliance, cooperation, and empathy.

A map of Boston with different city blocks colored in with pen. Popsicle sticks, pens, and a deck of cards are laid out along the side of the map.

Since the players can only win if everyone wins, and everyone loses if just one player loses, it forces the players to think as a collective unit. Everyone is focused on keeping themselves stable, but still being quick to offer help to another player.

In the game, land is seen as something to rejuvenate, care for, and protect, not something to conquer from another player or to buy and trade mindlessly like a commodity. This is in opposition to games like Risk that glorify land as a commodity to be taken from someone by force.

Finally, the game fosters empathy because each playthrough can put you in the shoes of another player. In one round you might be the food surplus distributor, and in another round you might be getting overrun with zombies and struggling to feed your nation. Since your starting position is determined by your luck at the beginning, it makes players think empathetically about others. I want the player to think like, “I’m doing well in this round, but the player across from me is struggling. I remember struggling like that last round.”

Design Decisions: Inscribing New Meaning

This one is more philosophical than concrete in terms of my design, but I think that it is interesting to see found objects take on a new meaning. I like seeing the shift in meaning from a paper city map, used to inform tourists, to becoming a representation for a post-apocalyptic city that you and your companions are fighting to bring life to. I like seeing popsicle sticks, a remnant of a food item, being used as a token to represent food itself. Inspired by the Dada movement, CountrySide seeks to shape the meaning of common objects and give them new life within this new fantasy world.

Gameplay

In a global zombie apocalypse, every city has been destroyed and leveled to just the streets. In the midst of chaos, several people have decided to form nations of survivors to cultivate the land, protect each other, and create civilization anew.

Each person represents the leader of their own survivor nation run by farmers and protectors.

Game Objective

  • To win, every person must acquire 15 Plots of Land, and not have a single Zombie in their nation.
  • If one player loses, everyone loses.
    • If you go into Food debt, your nation enters Food Shortage. Put a scrap of paper that says “Food Shortage” next to your game pieces. If you enter Food Shortage again while currently in a Food Shortage, you lose.
    • If every Plot of Land, including your Town Hall, is occupied by Zombies, you lose.

Game Pieces

  • Paper city map: Each city block represents a Plot of Land.
  • (Recommended) Flat pieces of cardboard to put under the map
  • d10 Die / 1-10 Spinner
  • d6 Die / 1-6 Spinner
  • A lot of tokens to represent Food
  • A handful of tokens to represent Guardians
  • A lot of pushpins / thumbtacks to represent Zombies
  • A handful of coins
  • Colorful pens or pencils, unique to each player

Game Setup

  1. Every player must pick a Plot of Land on the map. Draw a small circle around it. This is your Town Hall.
  2. Select a Plot of Land adjacent to your Town Hall. Color it in with your pen. Then do this again 4 more times, so you should have a total of 5 Plots of Land colored in.
    1. Do all the plots have to be touching the Town Hall? No. Your plots can be adjacent to each other, but not necessarily have to touch the Town Hall. If you wanted to make a nation that is one long strip of land you could.
    2. Can the plots of land skip over water features like a river? If there is a bridge or some feature that allows crossing, then yes. If there isn’t, then no. If it is unclear, you can draw a bridge and then connect it to your nation.
  3. Each player must collect 10 Food tokens.
  4. Each player must collect 1 Guardian token.
  5. Spin the 1-10 spinner or roll the d10 die to see who gets the highest number. Break any ties by rolling or spinning again. The highest number goes first. The turn direction is clockwise.

Turns

On your turn, perform these 4 actions:

  1. Situation Roll
  2. Production Count
  3. Consumption Roll
  4. Zombie Infection

SITUATION ROLL: Spin the 1-10 spinner or roll the d10 die. Perform the action that corresponds to the number.

  • 1-4: You get 1 more Plot of Land.
  • 5-6: Random Event. Check the Random Event table below, then roll or spin again.
  • 7-10: Add a new Zombie to a land on your nation.

PRODUCTION COUNT: You will flip coins for food production. Count how many Plots of Land you have that do NOT have Zombies on them. Do not count your Town Hall either. Flip that number of coins. Every coin that lands on “heads” means +1 Food token to you. // If you are currently in Food Shortage, flipping at least ONE “heads” means you are no longer in Food Shortage.

CONSUMPTION ROLL: Roll the d6 or spin the 1-6 spinner. Subtract that many Food tokens from your nation. // If you reach negative food, then clear out all your Food tokens. You are now in a Food Shortage.

ZOMBIE INFECTION: If you do not have any Zombies on your land, ignore this step. If you do, for every Zombie you have on your nation, flip a coin. For every coin that lands on “tails”, add one more Zombie onto your nation.

  • Do I have to flip a coin for this Zombie?
    • If it was added on a previous turn, YES.
    • If it was added on this current turn (your Situation Roll), NO.
    • If you just now flipped a coin for Zombie Infection and added this new zombie, NO.

Out of Turn

Outside of your turn, at any time, you can share Food and Guardians with other players. You are also allowed to discard 1 Guardian in exchange for destroying 1 Zombie at any point. There is no limit to how many Guardians you can use or how much Food or Guardians you can share.

Random Event

If you get a Random Event on your turn, roll the d10 or spin the 1-10 spinner again. See the effects of the event.

  1. Get +1 Free Guardian
  2. Get +2 Free Guardians
  3. Everyone gets +1 Free Food
  4. Pick any nation (including yourself) and they will magically gain +2 Food.
  5. Get +2 Free Plots of Land
  6. Add a new Zombie to your nation
  7. Add two new Zombies to your nation
  8. One of your lands becomes unusable for the rest of the game. Cross it out.
  9. Lose 2 Food.
  10. Everyone loses 1 Food.

A map of Boston with different city blocks colored in with pen. Popsicle sticks, pens, and name tags made of recycled cardstock are laid out along the side of the map.

Images by Bastión Toledo-Altamirano
Game design by Bastión Toledo-Altamirano
A huge thanks to all 6+ of the people who playtested this 🙂

Not Your Pictionary

by | Oct 20, 2024 |

Final Game Instructions (2 Players):

Get Random Words:

  • Open up on this computer https://wheelofnames.com/ to pick your words (words should already be there)
  • Give both players 10-15 seconds to scan the list of possible objects before starting.

Roles:

  • Choose one player to be the Director and the other to be the Builder (switch roles each round).

Gameplay:

  • The Director randomly spins the wheel of names and writes down the object without showing it to the Builder.
  • The Director gives instructions on how to build the object in Minecraft, but they can’t say what the object is.
    • Example: The Director can say “Build a tall wall with stone blocks” or “fill in that hole with water” but not “Build a house” or “Make a pond.”
  • The Director can make 1-2 clarifications per instruction to specify how to perform the action if the builder is not performing the action as the Director envisioned.
    • Example: “Build a wall horizontally instead of vertically”
    • This does not mean you can add more actions to your instruction. For example you cannot say “Break the floor and replace it with stone”
  • The Builder follows the instructions and guesses what they are building while they construct it, however, they are limited to 3 guesses for every instruction the Director gives.

Scoring:

  • Count how many instructions the Director gives.
  • The goal is to guess the object with the fewest instructions possible.

Switch & Repeat:

  • After the round, discard the object and pick a new one.
  • Switch roles and repeat the process.

End of the Game:

  • The lowest amount of instructions given is your teams high score, go brag about it or something

Playtest #1 Notes:

On my first playtest, my two roommates swiftly resolved the game because initially Players created the prompt cards and thus they could easily guess what the generated words are after a very few amount of instructions as they had a hand in creating them. 

Playtest #2 Notes:

The second playtest went better as I changed the rules to allow for a randomly generated prompt that the director got through a website. However, as the game progressed it became clear that the Builder often misinterpreted the directions in unexpected ways and guessed wildly complex objects, leading to the game dragging on for a while. The players were also annoyed by the lack of a mouse, forcing them to play on a trackpad which is difficult in its own right. From this playtest I realized the following changes were necessary.

  1. The director should be allowed to give instructions as a Clause, not to many clarifying questions.
  2. Let both players have 10 seconds to scan the list before starting to reduce rounds taken and wildness of guesses.
  3. The game should be played with a mouse.

 

Summary:

My work was inspired by how much Minecraft has been appropriated and turned into different games by many fans of the game. I was also inspired by pictionary, which in itself is a game that takes objects and appropriates them into an artist’s interpretation. I also wanted to take some inspiration from the Dada movements by twisting this version of Pictionary, ensuring the artist in charge of drawing is not the one in control of the direction they’re given leading to the game that was made.