Unit 2 Ludology

Project Brief

Boardgame Reviews

Here is where you can find my reviews for the board games that we played.

My Self Evaluation Review on our Board Game

Firstly, I think the creation of the board game went quite smoothly. Everyone had something they could be working on throughout the project, and this meant that we were able to finish everything within the time that we were given, allowing us extra time to check over everything and make any changes that would be necessary before giving the game to another group to play.

I think the designing of the board was one of the hardest parts, but we had it come out quite well. It looks quite simple, but you don't need a whole lot of detail on the board to make it look decent. I think the whole designing process of things for the game went well - the cards look really nice on the front and back, the rule booklet looks amazing and is very clear and easy to read, and the other little boards are basic, but good enough for what they're used for. The box, although a little on the large side, still worked as intended and the image we put on the front is very well designed. 

The car pieces could've been bigger so they would be easier to move and identify, but this would've also required a larger board. They also didn't have much detail to them, mostly because they had to be small so couldn't have details, but also because 3D printers cannot print overhangs, so we had to take out some details. In the rules booklet, for new players it was still a little confusing to use, and it required a lot of flicking back and forth to find out the information that would be needed, possibly implying that we should've had more pages with one piece of specific information only on each page. Since we, as the game creators, knew how to play the game, it doesn't make it as easy to explain the rules since we know how everything should work which doesn't make it easier to explain what to do at times.

If we were to do this again, I would firstly change the amount of car stats that we had, since we only had speed, max speed and max fuel which seems like a good amount, but we could've had more to add more strategy depth to the game. I think all of the boards could've looked better too, since the main one was quite plain with just the track and green surrounding it, but then it did get a few designs put onto it, but they didn't get finished, which made it look worse than without any additional designs. Making it again, we either could make it look more better by adding more around the track, or making a slightly 3D game that had the track 3D which the car pieces would fit into, and 3D additions such as trees and buildings to immerse the players further into the game to make it look more interesting. The fuel tracker and lap counter boards could've also been made to look a lot better, since they were very plain with little to no detail but into them. They don't need a whole lot since they aren't being used for a lot, however, if they were made to look better they could suit the game more, but the ones we have don't look like they're really meant to be with the game, aside from the logo on the fuel tracker.

I think if we were to make this game something that you could put out onto the market and sell to people, there would have to be a good few changes that would have to be made for this. To start, we would have to do any of the designing ourselves. For this project in college we used images that we found from searching things online, however, some of these could be copyrighted, and therefore we wouldn't be able to use them, unless we got permission from the author. Some of the graphics also don't fully link to the game properly. For example, the front of the box has an image of cars that look completely different to some of the cars in the rule booklet. Although it doesn't matter too much, it also can make it slightly confusing if you are going to have a specific theme of vehicle, and once again, copyright issues, so we might as well just do all of the designing ourselves. The box structure also could've been better since it was quite large for what we needed it for, but it could've had some sections for all of the parts to be put into. The board also didn't fold very well, so should probably be made out of a different material to be better suited to being folded.

Researching Boardgames

Boss monster is a strategy themed game where you are the villains and your objective is to kill as many heroes as possible to get 10 souls, but avoid getting 5 wounds from heroes passing through your custom build dungeon and doing damage to your boss. Every turn you are able to build another part of your dungeon and you need to try and get high treasure value. These can lead a hero into your dungeon and you can have a chance at killing them for souls. You can also use spell cards which give players an advantage by making it easier to get more souls or disrupting opponents.

Due to the way Boss Monster is made, it will always give you a randomly generated game that requires you to think about what you are doing to get the upper hand over the other players to hopefully win the game without getting your boss killed. It is also very simple to set up and can be done anywhere with a bit of space to lay down some cards as no board is required, since you basically make it by building your dungeon. With 155 cards, it is bound to give you a quick game of roughly 30 minutes every time and should be very easy and enjoyable once learnt.

This special Monopoly moves away from the game's original place-buying spots and instead brings in some of your favourite brands to buy and build your empire. As usual, each player starts with a set amount of cash and roll dice to get around the board. Each time you land on a property, you are met with a billboard that you can buy, the more valuable billboards being larger in size. This is because, each billboard bought must be placed into your designated tower. Once passing "GO!", you can collect the amount of cash that is shown at the top of your tower. Reaching a tower value of 800 is when a player wins. If you land on another player's property, you must pay them the amount shown on the top of your tower. However, if you do not have enough money, you can hand over the top property on your tower. This gives the game a strategic theme due to players needing to protect their expensive properties by shielding them with small ones that aren't worth much. This mechanic also means that no player can get eliminated, which makes the game a lot faster paced than other Monopoly's as very soon every property can be bought off. You can also swap properties with another player with a "swap" face on a die, and using the Empire cards which are alongside the Chance cards.

This game is averaged to take 10-30 minutes depending on your luck and correct choices made. The fact that players cannot get eliminated makes it quicker, so is a good Monopoly game to play if you don't want to play for long. The setup also should be quite quick and the game is overall very simple to play. This is my personal favourite game at the moment due to it being a Monopoly game, but it has unique gameplay and ways to buy property that makes it very enjoyable.

This unique board game is designed to bring a racing fueled game to some cardboard, car pieces and dice. Obviously, it isn't as simple as a regular Monopoly board game, but it gives everyone a much more enjoyable time since the game goes into great depth to give the players the closest form of motor racing on a board game. It does this by allowing you to roll different dice, resembling gears, to allow you to move across the board at a faster pace. Although this obviously still includes some randomness, it does require the players to think more about what they are rolling to strategically finish the race faster than the other players. The game also includes a damage and wear board which each player gets. This is to track how much damage your car has recieved, and can determine if you are even able to finish your race, since getting your car too damaged or wearing out parts from driving too fast can result in the car breaking and your game being cut short. This adds a level of strategy that most games don't have, which is what makes this game so good in comparison to other games that we would more commonly play.

This game is roughly meant to take about 2 hours, so it's a game that you could be stuck playing for a while, being good or bad depending on your situation. The game also includes multiple ways to play, from varying the track that you drive on, to how difficult you want the game to be, it's completely up to you. If you want a relatively simple game, you can just have fuel and one or two parts of wear to keep a bit of the strategic thinking in there, but not too much to overdo it. This would especially be great for new players, to ease them in to the interesting game.