http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Stepping_stones,_Hebden,_bench.jpg
The Player has to jump onto a series of stepping stones to reach the finish. Each player can only move once per turn and only onto one stepping stone at a time. The player that reaches the finish first wins.
Each stone has a number, the player must roll the dice on there turn if they get the same number or higher that's on the stepping stone they may jump onto it then the next person has there turn. If you go for a short cut and find it difficult to progress you CANT go backwards if you get a lower number, you have to get the number that's on the rock in front of you.
Design Document For:
Stepping Stones
"Dont Loose Your Step"
Written by Will Roberts
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Table of Contents
Design History
For this project I'm trying to make a board game based on what we have been learning and researching about game theory and mechanics.
Game Overview
The game consists of 2 - 4 players racing against each other to get across a river to safety. The players make there way over by jumping onto stepping stones, but the players may only jump onto the stones if they have the required number or higher to do so. The player may also take short cuts onto smaller stones, however this is more risky as you need a higher number.
Feature Set
General Features
Tense player races,
bright colours making the game very clear,
easy to understand the rules but allowing for fun gameplay
Gameplay
Turn based,
Jumping to stones,
Dice,
Race,
Walk across logs for a shortcut,
Whirlpools that send you back 2 spaces if landed on,
Initial Ideas
This is the first few sketches I made of my idea. I wanted it to be on A4 so its not massive and can be taken around easily. I also didn't want to make something too challenging with lots of features as it can get confusing and could be hard to grasp if there is a lo of rules to read through.
The main idea for the game actually came from the short story 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' and how the grass is greener on the other side and this is why I set my game on a river where you have to get to the other side.
The mechanics of the game consisted of having to jump to stepping stones in order to get to the finish. Each stepping stone has a number and the only way you could jump onto a stepping stone was by rolling a dice then achieving the same same number that's on the stone or higher. There is also short cuts but these require a higher number to roll and once your on the harder stone you cant go back if you find it takes to long to get the desired roll.
Here is the refined version of the game made in Photoshop. I wanted to colour scheme to be bright so it pops out and be pleasing to the eye, also a little cartoony. I think this refined version shows my original idea very clearly, my only doubts would be that it might be a lot on the paper like its crammed together, also there is no real way of knowing which direction the players have to travel in which may confuse them.
Beta Testing
I went through some beta testing with members of my family to see if any problems popped up and for there general opinion on the game. The game started off quite fun but did start to get a little repetitive towards finishing. They didn't really like how the game was just down to chance and that you could only win this way, there was no real technique to actually winning apart from rolling the dice and hoping for the right number and this made the game drag on.
Afterwards we sat down and they suggested things I could change to make the game better. This included things like making a way to send the player backward some steps, maybe changing some of the stones to lily pads which make you sink. Having little fish or frogs guiding the player to the direction there supposed to move which was one of the biggest concerns because some people may think you just cut right across instead of starting in the corner. One of the possible ideas for fixing this was to make rapids in-between the stepping stones to show you cant cut across them. Another big thing they mentioned was getting rid of the whole number thing and making the amount you roll the number of places you can jump.
Walk across logs for a shortcut,
Whirlpools that send you back 2 spaces if landed on,
Initial Ideas
The main idea for the game actually came from the short story 'Three Billy Goats Gruff' and how the grass is greener on the other side and this is why I set my game on a river where you have to get to the other side.
The mechanics of the game consisted of having to jump to stepping stones in order to get to the finish. Each stepping stone has a number and the only way you could jump onto a stepping stone was by rolling a dice then achieving the same same number that's on the stone or higher. There is also short cuts but these require a higher number to roll and once your on the harder stone you cant go back if you find it takes to long to get the desired roll.
My initial layout was relatively straight forward to make. On a separate layer I Just made a rectangular selection down one side with the selection tool and filled it green, then copied it to the other side making the grass. The layer below this I just filled blue with the paint bucket and then using my tablet started painting ripples and highlights to show it actually is water. Later on I actually painted in some reflections of clouds just give it some realism.
The Rock was probably the thing that actually the asset that took the longest to make but was just as straight forward as making my template. I just had to use several layers for the different elements of the rock like the moss, shadow colours, and highlights. Everything had its own layer to make it easier to make then once it was finished I merged all the layers together to lower the file size.
I went through some beta testing with members of my family to see if any problems popped up and for there general opinion on the game. The game started off quite fun but did start to get a little repetitive towards finishing. They didn't really like how the game was just down to chance and that you could only win this way, there was no real technique to actually winning apart from rolling the dice and hoping for the right number and this made the game drag on.
Afterwards we sat down and they suggested things I could change to make the game better. This included things like making a way to send the player backward some steps, maybe changing some of the stones to lily pads which make you sink. Having little fish or frogs guiding the player to the direction there supposed to move which was one of the biggest concerns because some people may think you just cut right across instead of starting in the corner. One of the possible ideas for fixing this was to make rapids in-between the stepping stones to show you cant cut across them. Another big thing they mentioned was getting rid of the whole number thing and making the amount you roll the number of places you can jump.
Taking the feedback from my beta testing into effect I made several changes to my game. I think one of the biggest changes was removing the numbers as that was one of the core gameplay mechanics, but I figured that in order to send the player back steps I would have to remove the numbers because there wasn't a way I could make the player go back as they needed to roll the right number to actually progress through the game. But removing them actually made the game better as I can now change the gameplay to have penalties which take you further away from your goal and allow other players to penitentially get in front of you. I decided to replace some of the stones with whirlpools which would be the things that make you back, I think this is a nice addition and playing through the game again made me realise that I really did need something like this. Also by removing the numbers it allowed me to place directional markers on the stones to help guide players. I made the short cuts more visible by placing them actually on the stone you land on instead of being an optional choice to take a short cut or not. Its also more related to the river by making them drift wood.
Evaluation
I quite like the overall design of my game it stands out quite nice which makes it easy to navigate around. However looking back I would liked to of detailed the river a little more putting stones in it, some reeds or fish, just filling it up and making it look more like a river. Same apply's to the grass, its looks a little flat and could maybe do with some extra things on it, maybe some shadows of trees hinting that there are trees nearby, or just detailing the grass further to make it stand out more. I like the whirlpools and the logs, I think its a nice addition to making the river more natural but also still have an effect on the gameplay and how the game works. Although it looks like there just placed onto it, relating to making the river look better I think I could of put some rocks or currents in to make it look like the whirlpools are formed from something. But then again, I do like how simple it looks and maybe putting to much detail in it would make it a little confusing to look at since making it easier to navigate was one of the things I had to improve on.
I think if I was to do this again I would make a digital version and a drawn version as both have there benefits and it would of been nice to compare them both. I would of also tried detailing one of the versions more to see what it would look like with more detail. Instead of sticking to A4 I think I would've made it bigger, possibly A3 as it could make the game more interesting and allow for a mix of routes for the stepping stones instead of following an 'S' to the finish. I found using A4 made it a little hard to fit everything in.
I think the colour scheme works with the images used but if I was to do this again I think I would change it up a little as sticking to just 2 main colours it looks a little boring which was something that was suggested in the beta testing. There needed to be another colour in the image, a brighter one or something else in the image, perhaps fishes or frogs in the water, maybe some lily pads. It also looks a little flat, there isn't much shading going on or detail, the only detail is really in the stepping stones and there quite small.
The response I got from beta testing was really good, everyone that tried it said they enjoyed playing it and was fun overall. The feedback I got from them was really helpful and actually made the game better. Some of the suggestions were making it looks more interesting, adding more things into it. They also suggested changes some of the mechanics to make the game more fun to play and that it needed some way to send the players back. I took all of this on board especially about changing the mechanics and I felt it needed a way to give players penalties.
Evaluation
I quite like the overall design of my game it stands out quite nice which makes it easy to navigate around. However looking back I would liked to of detailed the river a little more putting stones in it, some reeds or fish, just filling it up and making it look more like a river. Same apply's to the grass, its looks a little flat and could maybe do with some extra things on it, maybe some shadows of trees hinting that there are trees nearby, or just detailing the grass further to make it stand out more. I like the whirlpools and the logs, I think its a nice addition to making the river more natural but also still have an effect on the gameplay and how the game works. Although it looks like there just placed onto it, relating to making the river look better I think I could of put some rocks or currents in to make it look like the whirlpools are formed from something. But then again, I do like how simple it looks and maybe putting to much detail in it would make it a little confusing to look at since making it easier to navigate was one of the things I had to improve on.
I think if I was to do this again I would make a digital version and a drawn version as both have there benefits and it would of been nice to compare them both. I would of also tried detailing one of the versions more to see what it would look like with more detail. Instead of sticking to A4 I think I would've made it bigger, possibly A3 as it could make the game more interesting and allow for a mix of routes for the stepping stones instead of following an 'S' to the finish. I found using A4 made it a little hard to fit everything in.
I think the colour scheme works with the images used but if I was to do this again I think I would change it up a little as sticking to just 2 main colours it looks a little boring which was something that was suggested in the beta testing. There needed to be another colour in the image, a brighter one or something else in the image, perhaps fishes or frogs in the water, maybe some lily pads. It also looks a little flat, there isn't much shading going on or detail, the only detail is really in the stepping stones and there quite small.
The response I got from beta testing was really good, everyone that tried it said they enjoyed playing it and was fun overall. The feedback I got from them was really helpful and actually made the game better. Some of the suggestions were making it looks more interesting, adding more things into it. They also suggested changes some of the mechanics to make the game more fun to play and that it needed some way to send the players back. I took all of this on board especially about changing the mechanics and I felt it needed a way to give players penalties.
