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Clearing the Table - Play-test #1

Specifically for my class group project, we play-tested ideas for game proposal.

Adam Kloc, Blogger

October 18, 2012

2 Min Read
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Harris, Mike, Adam Group~9

Of our discussed 3 ideas, only two had feasable ways to be play-tested in an analog space. Due to timing, and lack of budget, we only had access to dice Harris already owns and notebook paper.

We began with the Zombie Bowling concept, and crudely put together a card and dice game to simulate the mechanics. Certain rolls denoted specific "pins" hit as well as the possibility of gutter ball. The manner in which the rule-set was structured was inherently flawed. After several re-writes and botched new ideas, we determined that Zombie bowling would not work as presented. We intend to re-visit the idea later, pending some sort of revelation.

Admiting temporary defeat, we moved on to the espionage title. For the purpose of resourcefulness, we removed the shaply nature of the proposed sprites. To keep a place marker for units, we utilized extra dice. Creating a 10x10 grid we set out to create a dice roll based battleship-esque game. Unfortunately the rule-set devised was also flawed, but further playtesting will iron out the gameplay. The rough model we used did prove more successful than the zombie bowling.

Flawed rules for what caused the Zombie Bowling to fail:
-Dice roll too disparate - by-and-large prevented spares as is 
-lack of actual moving pieces and obstacles eliminated action
-Lack of action eliminated the rewarding nature of power-ups

Flaws in the Espionage that require Re-examination:
-Limitation of movement due to dice roll, direction allowed became a debate topic
-Creating an atmosphere of tactical movement proved difficult due to turn based gameplay
-Expound Assymetric gameplay to incorporate multiplayer in final design (if this is chosen as primary) 

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