E.Sittler's Blog

esittler — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:11:51 +0000

Over the weekend I’ve completed my prototype and hoping to play test it through out the week. By the end of the week, I hope to have worked out all the kinks and anything that may be “broken” or confusing. Over the upcoming weekend, I’m planning to use my play test results, and begin with the production on my final board and pieces.

esittler — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 17:48:23 +0000

These past two weeks have been very interesting as far as my design process goes. When designing, I can be very impatient and almost force ideas. What is interesting about this, is that usually it starts with a flood of ideas that turn out to be unsatisfactory, and then the whole game is scrapped. I tend to get extremely angry and it’s usually within that period when my real ideas flow. I’ve been determined to create a game with solid mechanics and something fun for both a child and parent to play together. Not a game where the parent is trying to compete with the child but actually facilitating or protecting the child throughout game play. This will hopefully allow the child a fun play experience, and the at the least, a bearable experience for an adult.

Another goal I am attempting to meet, is to expand the number of non-digital games that I’ve played, and hopefully to expand my design skills. We recently played Carcassone in class, which I have not played in a couple of years. It is a game of simplicity but also of strategy. From a design perspective, its interesting to see how a solid idea meshed with giving the player a sense of freedom (with tile placement) can create a fun and competitive game.
One thing I must admit to, is being a neglectful in respect to full research towards my target market. I made assumptions regarding children and their skills, without actually researching the topic properly. I’ve researched and played games geared towards children, but I didn’t check actual elementary school curriculum. My assumptions were in relation to skill sets that a first grader has, particularly language arts. This is an amateur and stupid move as a designer, and forces me to double check my research, design process and the work I have done. But this is hopefully one of those mistakes that you only make once.

Upon trashing my prototype yet again today, I actually feel that I’m making progress towards a much more solid idea. I found a much more suitable board idea, and switched up some mechanics relating to board movement.I hope to have a working prototype by next class.

Ten Week Schedule for Studio One

esittler — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Week One: Project Ideas/Pitch – decided on non-digital game design

Week Two: Market Research, Play various casual and children’s games for research/ideas, Decide on mechanics

Week Three: Visit elementary school and speak with kids about board games, Use research to get a concrete idea on my final board game

Week Four: Have mechanics layed out, as well as a theme. Begin prototyping and play testing the idea.

Week Five: Begin developing game into production quality. Possible re-visit to school, to play test. Work out any problems.

Week Six: Begin board production, and piece production.

Week Seven: Continue, possibly finish making/purchasing pieces as well as the board

Week Eight: Create box and finalize rule sheets.

Week Nine: Finished product.

Week Ten: Final play experience, and critique from peers and possibly children.

esittler — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:52:41 +0000

Howdy

esittler — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:04:25 +0000

This is the first post of many, documenting research and a variety of other information regarding my studio one project. Random bits of information regarding my narrative class or maybe just pertaining to game design, will surely be thrown into the mix as well.

Upon entering the Interactive Design/Game Development dept. at S.C.A.D, I was predominately interested in game art (modeling in particular), as well as flash web design. Although I’m still intrigued and enjoy 3d modeling and the occasional flash personal project, I believe I’ve found a proper place amongst game design. Granted, I might not have played every video game out on the shelves, and the list of board games under my belt is still small (but growing), I still feel as though I have a strong understanding for game design. Upon reading articles from Greg Costikyan and Theory of Fun by Raph Koster, as well as a variety of articles scattered online and in blogs, my grasp on game design is slowly growing stronger and in a way unpolluted. As I’m learning to be a creative game designer, I’m also allowing myself to expand the games I am playing in both the digital and non-digital genres. This has led me to begin brainstorming for a children’s board game for my studio one course, which will be both portfolio worthy, but also a challenge both as a student and a designer. Games for children, in my opinion, prove to be much more difficult to design than your average board game for teens and adults. You have so many more things to consider in your design process when the target audience is a young age, and I hope this project will expand my creative abilities, as well as sharpen my design skills for future non-digital games.

I purchased a children’s game over the weekend, that is based off of the popular children’s book writer/artist Eric Carle. The game is called “The Very Hungry Caterpillar Game,” and I actually recall reading the book version to my sister when she was young. This particular game is 2 to 4 players, and for ages 3 and up. But what truly forced me to snatch up this game is a box on the back cover that reads:

What Makes A Great Game?
At University Games, we use five simple principles
to make great games for kids:
1. Kids Want to play right away. Our games are easy to learn. Start playing within 5 mins.
2. Kids hate to wait. Our games keep players involved even when it’s not their turn.
3. Kids love a challenge. Our games are different ever time you play.
4. Kids want to win. Our games combine luck and skill, so that every player has a chance to win.
5. Parents want education activities for their kids. Our games make learning fun.

Immediately after reading this, I realized I had just found a template and set goals that my board game needs to meet. On one hand, I understand that this is a difficult challenge but on the other, I know that with the proper mechanics and a fun story, my game can meet this same criteria.

“Dread Pirate” is another game I purchased via a store in Virginia, that arrived by mail today. It involves 2 to 4 players, and ages 8+. This pirate treasure hunting game, has a similar theme that I was hoping to shoot for (treasure hunting) but mine is not pirate themed and aimed at a younger audience. Hopefully I’ll be able to play this game here soon, I’m interested in the mechanics used and the aesthetic(s) that result from game play.