refined kite

detail added. 

a lot of alpha layers. 

PnP Game_Surf!

By SOOJIN LEE

RINGLING COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN

GA227 FALL 2013

Are you ready to ride a wave? 

Let's Surf!

My UDK Props!

this is one of the prop lists for my 3D project 'Monster Fish Villege'

first using alpha maps! 

PnP Draft Rulebook after playtest

Surf!

“Ride a wave of change!”

A game by Soojin Lee

45min, 4 players

Be the surfing champion!

Who will be the greatest surfer of the sea? The ambitious surfers on the starting grids and ready to ride a wave to victory!!

Each player rides rough waves and reaches their own goals on the each side of the game board. The player who reaches goal first wins the game and will be the Surfing champion!

Game Components

Game Board

Start point is the center grid and each color dots are each player’s destinations.

Double-sided Wave Grid (26)

Normal Wave Grid (12)

Wave Grid with Trap: Reef (5)

Wave Grid with Trap: Whirlpool (5)

Wave Grid with Trap: Shark (3)

Extra Wave Grid (1)

Wave Grid

This is front side of grid piece.

Front side is Directional Grid, and backside is Trap side.

One grid piece has double-sided and front side always Indicating 4 directions: Up, Down, Left, and Right.

Wave Grid with Trap: Reef

“Your surfboard is stuck by reefs!”

Each grid has double-sided, and the front side is directional and backside shows trap.

Reef is trap grid, so the player who reaches this grid, cannot move until next turn. However, if the Golden shark grid exists the player’s path, Reef card will not affect the player.

Wave Grid with Trap: Whirlpool

“A violent whirlpool has drawn the surfers!”

Each grid has double-sided, and the front side is directional and backside shows trap.

Whirlpool is trap grid. If one of the players reaches this grid, each player swaps the location of their piece clockwise.

Wave Grid with Trap: Shark

Shark bites you!”

Each grid has double-sided, and the front side is directional and backside shows trap.

Shark card has two versions:

Red Shark is trap grid, if a player reaches this grid; the player lost all of collected wave points. The player must collect the points again before reach the goal.

Golden Shark is chance grid, if the player who has this card on the trail, the player can avoid affect of the Reef card once.

Printing Instructions

You must double-sided print for the grid card. If you do not like double-sided print, print each side and stick them together.

Setting up the game

Grid setting

Make sure the grids completely random and put them on the board clockwise order until the one extra grid left.

ALL Grids must faces on the Wave side only.

DO NOT change the grid direction now.

The player who has blue piece start first and next is green, yellow, and red order.

Turn Order

Each player starts on center point and ride the waves! Each color has opposite starting direction;

The blue player must pick up the one left wave grid and choose the action. All of player might change the first direction using the extra wave grid.

All players must collect 4 wave point before reach the goal. By moving and flipping the grid, players can gain one point. In other words, all of player must move and flip the grid at least 4 times.

If the player flips Red Shark trap, the player loses all points. The player must collect them again. If the player’s piece is surrounded by flipped gird, the player must do replacing grid action. 

Check for victory

The player who reaches the goal with 4 wave points will be the greatest surfing champion!  

End of turn

Players must do one of 3 actions for each turn.

1.    Move and Flip the Grid

Every turn, player must follow the grid direction. Players cannot move against direction. If the player surround by wrong direction or flipped gird, he must replacing one of the grid. Players can move one grid for each turn. Before the player moves his piece on the Gird, he must flip it. If the Grid has trap card, the player must follows the rules.

2.    Replacing Grid

Player can replace any grid on the game board with extra grid except the gird that the other players’ pieces on it. Player can change the grid direction of extra grid whatever he wants.

3.    Pass the Grid to other player

If the player moves his piece or replacing one of the grids, the player cannot use the extra grid piece and pass it to next player.

Strategy tips and design notes

Try to interrupt the other player’s path by replacing the Grid.

Sometimes pass the grid to other player helps to avoid the trap! You never know what Grid has trap side, so throw the trap to others!

After the play test...

  That was totally great time with my friends! They give me valuable feedbacks for improving my PnP game! I have several students in CA major and they are all female.

I think my theme and game style are attract female then male. About 80% of them said the game was too passive. They liked details but some of them expected more dynamic mechanics.

Here is my Exit Question list;

How many time you played? Once? Twice?

Once. Most people play once. Whole game designed at least 2 phases, because double champion will be the winner of the game, but they did not understand the rule correctly. After I explain it, they realized the rule.

= Make sure the important rule should be more dominant part of my rulebook.

Do you want to play it again?

Fortunately, they want to do this game again! They like the game because not much complicated and not too long.

Do you understand how the play? Rules?

Not completely. They did understand almost of the rules, like 70%, but they could not play good enough at the beginning. They could not start the game because they confused about the game setting.

How I put the grids on the board?

Are there extra grids for every player?

Who goes first?

What should I first?

 Mostly, they did not understand the setting part of rulebook.

If you understand the rules, can you play it easily? If you don’t understand the rules, what is the most confusing part? Turn order?

Sadly, no one figure it out until I explain. One of my friends played it completely different way. She took all of the grids and put on the side of board and picked it up and placed on the board. It is also nice way to building a route, but it is not my intension…

How do you think the level of game? Super easy? Easy? Normal? Hard? Confuse?

The people who did not understand the rules said it is normal level because they could not understand the rule easily. Rest of people said easy but agreed with the others’ opinion. They also said the game mechanic is pretty simple and easy.

Which element do you think fun? Shark? Whirlpool? Reef? Or Wave direction?

They trilled when they flipping the grid. The most popular one is Red Shark trap and whirlpool trap. They said the first one is horrible and second one is annoying.

Do you feel the game is fair?

In this game, grid order decides everything. So, they felt helpless because player’s decision did not much affect on the game. I think player still have to make decision like moving or replacing the grid and this decision brings a critical affects to the entire game.

This game theme is surfing; do you think it is suitable with the game style?

They did not realize the theme because the prototype game has very minimalized illustration.

Do you have any suggestion? Advice?

The most critical problem is the player who reaches the final gird, right before the goal piece, did not know what to do. The directional arrow on the gird does not connect the path correctly, so that makes the player confuses. Also no one interrupt the player’s way, so literally the player who reaches the grid located on right before the goal gird will be a winner automatically even if the player did not reach the goal yet.

And another problem is each player has her own boundaries. The player did not have to interrupt other player’s path and did not have to go further than 4 girds. This problem makes the game really flat and boring.

 So, following suggestion of my friend; reversing the start point.

Goal point will be the start point, and the start point will be the goal point. This is very simple and effective way to fix the problem. Additionally, in the start point, all player must start on the same point, each player choose the direction randomly and play. The direction should be opposite way from the destination, so it helps to use more space of game board.

 Also, one more suggestion is point system.

To solve the boundary problem, all of player must collect several points before reach the goal. It is nice way to lead the player goes further than 4 grids.

Exit Interview Questions

Before the playtest, 

Exit Interview Questions

• ·      How many time you played? Once? Twice?
• ·      Do you want to play it again?
• 
  
• ·      Do you understand how the play? Rules?
• ·      If you understand the rules, can you play it easily?
• ·      How do you think the level of game? Super easy? Easy? Normal? Hard? Confuse?
• ·      If you don’t understand the rules, what is the most confusing part? Turn order?
• ·      Which element do you think fun? Shark? Whirlpool? Reef? Or Wave direction?
• 
  
• ·      Do you feel the game is fair?
• ·      If you won the game, do you have any particular strategies?
• ·      This game theme is surfing; do you think it is suitable with the game style? 
• ·      If you have any suggestion? Advice?
• ·      One thing that you does not like?

++ Gender, major must consider