Games Studies - Project: Tabletop Game
Ahmed Yaman Ibrahim (0341119)
Games StudiesProject: Tabletop Game
PROJECT: TABLETOP GAME
A link to the full game design document is available here:
Our project was to develop a tabletop game using Tabletop Simulator; we were given free rein on what kind of game to develop as long as it was playable as an actual tabletop-style game. We were split into groups with group names; my teammates were Tengku and Carter and, on a whim, we decided to name our group Mushroom.
After bouncing a few ideas off each other, we developed a general plan for the game based on Tengku's initial idea, found below:
Version 1 (11/4/2021)
The original idea for Condottieri was a 2-player strategy game where the main objective was to take down the opponent’s army of units. It was set on a hexagonal board with key positions that would provide a tactical advantage to the player who captures them.
Players would place their regiments at the far ends of the board, with the center being the key capture point. Each regiment would be provided with a set number of points that would be distributed amongst the unit statistics by the player, to customize the regiment to their specifications. Maintaining these units throughout gameplay would incur a cost to ensure the game was balanced. Unit movements would be dictated by a deck of cards that allow the units to either Move, Defend or Attack. The composition of the deck would be up to the player, based on a total card limit.
The game would be divided into 3 main phases after units have been positioned on the map:
Movement phase
- Players would take turns moving their troops around
Combat phase
- Both sides would engage in combat for around 5 turns where players would make use of their cards to dictate how the combat would take place.
Rest phase
- Both sides will retire (representing night time during warfare) where players can bribe the opponent’s regiment units to join their side.
This process is repeated until one side is defeated.
This was the initial idea for the first version of Condottieri. Based on this, we created a prototype version on Tabletop Simulator to test how the game would play out.
As this was the initial idea for Condottieri, the gameplay mechanics were not finalized just yet. Prior to our first feedback session with Dr Charles, we realized that the size of the board was too big and it would take too long for the units to reach a point where any action would take place. We also discussed that we could include more than one capture point to speed up the gameplay, and made further adjustments to the board:
Feedback:
Our feedback session with Dr Charles indicated that we needed to make a number of changes to simplify and speed up the gameplay. Several suggestions were made, but to sum up the key points:
- Action needs to happen quicker on the board, still takes too long to reach a point where units make contact
- How the units work must be understood better; simplify how they are deployed, how they move and how they attack
- The significance of the capture points is still not well understood
Version 2 (11/4/2021)
After a few rounds of testing, we came up with a board design that was somewhat different from what it had been like up to this point, along with a few changes to the gameplay:
The game now accommodated 6 players instead of 2, but was still playable with less players. The center point was also now the main objective of the game, with teams from all sides trying to stop each other from reaching the center in the style of a battle royale. We also made new ruleset for the games and the different types of units, both of which were included into the tabletop game itself so players could read and refer to them on the fly. We were still not completely sure on all the aspects of gameplay, but it was at least starting to take shape. We also incorporated Scrabble pieces as a gameplay element that gave a boost to the units on the board.
Based on how the board works now, the general rules were:
- Players would first take a set number of Scrabble tiles from their pile to create a word, and the total value of the letters would correspond to the total cost of which units can be placed on the board (based on the unit ruleset)
- Each player will have a set amount of player health, which will be indicated on a counter
- Players will aim to move units to the center of the board while trying to stop enemy units from reaching the center as well
- Reaching the center will award players with additional player health, keeping them alive longer
- Taking out an enemy unit will cause the enemy player to lose health
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| Ruleset for units (WIP) |
During testing, we realized there were too many elements on the board that contradicted with each other (the scrabble tile values and health points were a bit confusing as the scrabble tile values made up the total deploy cost, but the amount of health a player loses when their unit dies is also based on the unit deploy cost), so we decided to scrap the counter and use the scrabble tiles themselves as the player health as well.
A copy of the basic ruleset for this version of the game is included here:
During a test session with classmates and Dr Charles, we realized a few things:
- The scrabble pieces were kind of redundant as they don't offer much other than buffing units and otherwise serve to clutter the board
- Player rounds still take too long
- Not much of a hindrance between starting positions and reaching the center, so there needs to be some kind of element that blocks player progress
- The center point doesn't provide enough of an incentive over attacking enemies, as it doesn't offer much despite being the main focus
Feedback:
Dr Charles's main suggestions were to provide a significant boost to whoever reaches the center so that it makes the game more exciting and speeds up gameplay, and to come up with blockades or similar elements to hinder progress towards the center so it feels more rewarding when you do reach it.
Version 3 (23/5/2021)
In the third version of the game, we got rid of the Scrabble pieces and relied on the health of the players’ units themselves.
Feedback:
An extensive feedback session with Dr Charles indicated that we had a number of changes to make:
- Work on balancing the movement of the units as it still takes too long for any action to start happening
- Backline units need to be made stronger or have better abilities as they don’t provide significant help
- Consider coming up with combination abilities for units when they are paired up next to each other
- Work on how the block tiles work as they don’t see much use later on in gameplay
- The center objective is still a bit unclear, needs to be adjusted to be more significant or exciting
Version 4 (2/6/2021)
Extensive changes were made for the fourth version of the game.
Main changes:
- The goal of the game now is to reach the center of the board.
- The center is protected by Guardians; all Guardians need to be defeated before the center can be accessed. This means that players will have to work together to take down the Guardians from all sides before contending with each other to claim the center.
- Whoever reaches the center and survives one full turn there is declared the winner.
At this point we attempted to script a health system into the game to avoid having players manually keep track of their units’ health, but we were unable to find a working script that allowed us to attach an individual health bar to each unit.
The full ruleset for the game along with the unit guidelines is now available to view on the board itself, and a copy is included here:
Feedback:
Based on another extensive feedback session with Dr Charles, it was decided that while the unit movements and combat mechanics were working as intended, the end goal of the game was still unclear. As units had to work together to effectively take down all the Guardians, it was counteractive to the main objective of fighting for the center. Although Dr Charles liked the idea of having players collaborate and then later on work to sabotage each other, our execution was not effective enough. Blocks still seemed unnecessary as well.
Version 5 (27/6/2021)
For this version of the game, the Guardians were removed and replaced by a wall. The design for the center point was changed to a sword, and a number of changes were made to player units:
- Players now start with 8 Levée units surrounding a King unit
- The objective now is to move your King unit to the center of the board
- The blue tiles change your Levée units to different special units based on a die roll
A copy of the updated ruleset is included here:
Feedback:
- Movement of units needs to speed up a bit, still takes a few turns for any action to take place
- Readjust the special tiles so that there are more strategic options for players when it comes to impeding the progress of others
- The wall is not really necessary as long as the combat between players is done effectively
Version 6 - Final (5/7/2021)
In the final version of the game, the walls were removed and replaced with Lava tiles that reduce the Health of any unit that stands on them by 1 every turn. The special units were brought back as starting units for players, and more special tiles were introduced to give players more strategic options. The sword in the center was also replaced with a crown to make it more accurate to the game’s story.
Special tiles:
- Range tiles (Blue): Increase the Attack range of any unit standing on them by a 3-tile radius
- Attack tiles (Red): Increase the Attack stat of the unit by +2
- Warp tiles (Purple): Allows the unit to teleport to any other Warp tile on the map
- Lava tiles (Black): Reduce the health of the unit standing on them by 1 every turn
Final board game design
Playtesting
Two playtesting sessions were held with classmates and their friends, trying out the base final version of the game and then again after making minor adjustments to unit stats.
Participants:
- Carter
- Tengku
- Yaman
- Yumnu
- Mokshanah
- Kiwi (friend of Mokshanah)
Session 1:
After introducing the game to the group, we spent a few minutes explaining the basics and going through the game mechanics. Afterwards, we played a few rounds until one player was able to reach the center.
Feedback:
- Overall the game is interesting to play and gets competitive quite easily
- The different unit abilities and special tiles are mainly what make the game interesting as they let you try out different tactics
- There is a bit of a learning curve but once you get the hang of it it becomes quite fun to play
- The Range tiles’ radius might be a little too big
Session 2:
We tried out variations where we played with less players on the board, and we noticed that it did not take away from the experience as units were still able to easily engage with enemy units, thanks to the Warp tiles. The group was able get into the flow of gameplay much more quickly this time and were keen to make riskier moves.
Feedback:
- Gameplay is much more balanced now, can play at a steady pace without slowing down
- Makes the player plan ahead to protect their King while also going on the offensive
- Wished there was a way to tally unit health on the board itself (we mentioned the scripting issue)
- In terms of visuals, the special tiles on the board look nice but might not entirely suit the theme of the game’s design
Findings based on feedback:
The overall response to the game was positive and we were quite glad we were able to strip away all the extra features to make a game that flowed together well and was found to be interesting by others. As mentioned before, it is regrettable that we were not able to create a working script for the health issue and that we did not have enough time to create proper art assets for the game. Regardless, we are still quite satisfied with being able to deliver a working final version of the game that people found fun to play, despite the learning curve. If we were to work on this game further, it would be to come up with ways to make the game quicker to ease into without having to read the full ruleset first, and to develop proper art assets.
A demonstration video of our board game is available here:
