Week 2: Take Off

I missed class 2 weeks ago, so when I came to class this past week things were moving pretty quickly. I met all my group members and the base of the game was already created. I came into the group hitting the ground running.

We already established that one core mechanic of the game involved drawing 2 of the 3 resource cards every turn to either move their totem or purchase a tile. This week in class, we came up with a few more core mechanics. These new additions include drawing 3 resource cards instead of 2 after the 5th round, and in order to buy a time, one must need the correct amount of resources stated on the tile.

Other things we figured out was the layout of the boar. We came to the conclusion that the board layout should be 7x7, so 49 total squares on the board. After a couple play tests, we'll know for sure if we should add or take out another row and column. Some of the resources we will use in the game are wood, food, and coal which are your everyday essential supplies to survive. Players can only buy one tile at a time and the value of the tile can go from being 1 point (easiest) to 5 points (hardest). Each tile will have a point value and will have the corresponding amount of resources needed to obtain it. An idea we were toying around with is when a player owns 3 tiles that are all next to each other, they get a bonus but this idea is only a possibility and we still haven't discussed what the bonus may or may not be.

We also talked about the dynamics of the game. The game will start when the players randomly placed the valued tiles around the board. The corners are each given one black tile that has no value and 3 tiles around it with a value point of 1. Each player will start off on the black corner spot and with one food card. When the first player goes, they draw 2 resource cards and are dependent on the map around them. Players have to strategize which cards to draw depending on the tiles around them and what resources it needs to be bought. The game ends when either each tile is owned by a player or when there are no more moves a player can make to move or buy a tile. At the end, the players count up their tiles and the player with the most points wins.

This is just the beginning our process, but so far we think we have a solid game. We still want to include some sort of battle/player interaction mechanic like maybe attacking a tile and conquering it? With more play tests and our first prototype due this week in class, we will figure it out soon.