Loaded Elegance
Loaded Elegance
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Winner of Excellence in Board Games at VFS, this 18th-century strategy game has players haunted by their great-grandfather’s ghost. Featuring unique mechanics, players do not move their pieces. Instead, NPC ghosts move across the board.
Winner of Excellence in Board Games at VFS, this 18th-century strategy game has players haunted by their great-grandfather’s ghost. Featuring unique mechanics, players do not move their pieces. Instead, NPC ghosts move across the board.
Genre : Social Deduction / Resource Management
Team: Banana Donut Trolls
Team Size: 3
Duration: 1 Month
Role:
Boardgame Designer
Rulebook Writer
My Contributions
My Contributions
What My Teammate said..
What My Teammate said..
Designed and refined the core mechanics to align with the game’s unique premise, ensuring they provided a balance of strategy, tension, and unpredictability.
Balanced player abilities, resources, and board actions to create fair yet competitive gameplay that rewarded strategic decision-making.
Wrote a comprehensive and easy-to-follow rule book, ensuring players could quickly understand the mechanics and enjoy a seamless onboarding experience.
Designed and Refined Core Mechanics
Designed and Refined Core Mechanics
Results
Results
Developed a unique gameplay experience where players remain stationary while NPCs move, offering a fresh take on traditional board game strategies.
🎉 During playtesting, the game created so many memorable and chaotic moments that classmates began sharing inside jokes in the class Discord server, a great sign of emotional engagement and emergent fun.
Problems 🔍
Problems 🔍
The challenge was to combine everyone’s ideas into a cohesive design without leaving anyone behind, ensuring that the mechanics worked seamlessly with the narrative and gameplay goals.
Solution 💡
Solution 💡
We selected and refined mechanics that worked well together both narratively and mechanically. Through observation and playtesting, we iterated on the game balance to create a polished and engaging experience.
Design Process
Design Process
Defining Game Pillars
Defining Game Pillars
As a team, we discussed initial ideas and aligned them with strong game pillars, creating a solid foundation for the mechanics.
Rapid Prototyping
Rapid Prototyping
I collaborated with the team to create a prototype quickly, which we playtested internally. We experimented with different player abilities and mechanics, observing each iteration closely while seeking feedback from instructors and classmates.
Balanced Gameplay Systems for Strategy
Balanced Gameplay Systems for Strategy
Results
Results
Each character’s abilities were engaging and offered unique playstyles, allowing players to make meaningful decisions based on their chosen character.
Problem 🔍
Problem 🔍
I needed to ensure that all characters felt equally satisfying to play, avoiding any bias and maintaining fairness for all players.
Solution 💡
Solution 💡
I continuously balanced character abilities and tweaked mechanics throughout the project. By iterating and incorporating feedback, I helped turn mechanics into engaging and polished gameplay experiences.
Design Process
Design Process
Playtesting for Iteration
Playtesting for Iteration
I conducted multiple playtests with my team and classmates. I played different characters in each session to identify any imbalances or mechanics that felt off. After each test, I adjusted the abilities and tested them again until they felt balanced and rewarding.
Feedback Documentation
Feedback Documentation
I observed every playtesting session, documenting feedback from classmates and instructors. I focused on recurring issues and used those insights to guide adjustments and prioritize solutions.
Fine-Tuning
Fine-Tuning
I worked closely with my team to fine-tune each character’s abilities, ensuring they aligned with the game’s strategic depth while offering players a unique and satisfying experience.
Created a Comprehensive Rulebook
Created a Comprehensive Rulebook
Problem 🔍
Problem 🔍
The challenge was simplifying and explaining the game’s unique mechanics in a way that players could easily understand without additional guidance, ensuring the rulebook was both functional and engaging.
Solution 💡
Solution 💡
I structured the rulebook into well-defined sections with prioritized information, gameplay examples, and images to clarify complex mechanics. This approach focused on making the rules accessible and enjoyable to read.
Design process
Design process
Researching and Drafting: I outlined the rulebook's structure, identifying all key information required. To guide my design, I researched rulebooks from other complex board games, analyzing how they conveyed mechanics clearly and effectively.
Iterative Refinement: I iterated the rulebook multiple times based on feedback from playtests. By observing players during tests, I identified points of confusion and revised the rulebook, highlighting essential information and reorganizing sections to prioritize the fundamentals before introducing advanced mechanics.
Visual Design Integration: I explored ways to use game components, such as the board and cards, to communicate critical information directly during gameplay. While I considered creating an "Ultimate Cheat Sheet" summarizing rules, we decided not to include it in the final version after testing its utility.
Postmortem
Postmortem
Achievements 🏆
Achievements 🏆
I am proud of this board game and took the initiative to run play sessions at a youth resource center with people outside the game development field.
This provided valuable external feedback and validated the game's fun and engaging design through positive responses.
Challenges ⛰️
Challenges ⛰️
Balancing development tasks with my school workload was so difficult during this project, as it was developed during Term 1 at VFS, which had the heaviest academic workload. This often led to working overtime and feeling overwhelmed.
In the future, I plan to prioritize tasks and manage my time more wisely to avoid heavy workload.
Takeaways 📚
Takeaways 📚
I learned the importance of creating a clear and concise rulebook, especially for board games, where I cannot always be present to explain the mechanics. Clear communication with players is important to ensure they can enjoy the game as intended.
Playtesting proved to be an invaluable part of the development process. It helped me focus on what players wanted, identify critical problems, and refine the game to deliver a better experience as a game designer.
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