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Please give me advice on my plant game

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Guest1
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I had to make a plant based game for my biology class. This is my first time trying something like this, so i'd like some advice on how to keep everything fun and balanced without being too complicated. Here's the manual I came up with so far. All feedback is very much appreciated.

PRP Game Manual
Introduction

In the game, both players are given a plant. The goal of the game is to make your plant grow larger than the other person's. The game is split into a pre-set number of years (turns) decided upon before the game. Each year is made up of four actions that go in sequence. Actions are decided before the year begins by both players (8 total actions in a turn). Players are given 3 minutes to choose their actions. If a player has not chosen 4 actions in that time, they cannot perform any actions during the year. If both players are late, the year is skipped.
Actions are written and given to the mod, who writes a copy of, and reveals them after the 3 minutes given. Neither player can see what the other person wrote before this point. Players can say whatever they want about their actions while deciding them. Both players are given ep(energy points) and lp(length points) at the beginning of the game (represented by two types of chips). Energy is used to perform actions; length measures how large a player’s plant is. Players start with 10 ep and 10 lp.

Player 1: Moves first during the 1st and 3rd actions.

Player 2: Moves first during the 2nd and 4th actions.

Mod (moderator): Manages chips, asks questions and prevents cheating. They shuffle the deck of question cards before the game and every twenty years. When a player has to answer a question, they pull out a random one.

Actions

There are 5 types of actions. Players can choose to write actions that they don’t have enough energy to perform at the start of the year. If they do not have enough energy by that action, they can’t do anything for the rest of the year.

Growing (g): Adds 1 lp to your plant. Uses 4 ep.
Waiting (w): This gives the user 1 ep. It can only be used by each player twice per year. If both players chose to wait during the same action, the mod also gets 2 ep. Uses 0 ep.

Answering Questions (a): Gives you 6 ep if you answer the question correctly. Only one person is allowed to answer a question per action. If both people chose to answer a question within the same action, only the player that moves first will be able to do so. Questions are asked nonverbally. The mod shows a question card to the player, and the player writes their answer to show the mod. If the person asked gets the question wrong, they will not be able to perform any more actions within the year. The other player can choose to steal the question. If they also get it wrong, the year is skipped (skipped years still count during the wait for a bonus question). After a question card is used, the mod reveals its answer to both players and inserts it back into the deck. Uses 0 ep.
A bonus question is spoken to both players after every five years. Whoever writes their answer and holds it up to the mod first, gets to answer the question. If they get it wrong, they cannot do anything the next year. If the other player also gets it wrong, the year is skipped. Players can choose to not answer, but they cannot take back their answer after writing it. Bonus questions give 15ep if answered correctly.

Attacking: There are three types of attack.
Insect (i): This removes 2 lp from your opponent and gives 1 ep to the mod. If this action makes the other player run out of length, 5 ep are given to the mod. Uses 8 ep.

Blocking (b): This halves the ep given to the other player by answering regular questions and makes waiting give them no ep. Blocks last for the rest of the year and two subsequent years. Both players can block the other and blocks can be renewed indefinitely(every renewal requires 2 more ep than the last). Renewing a block at any point during its duration resets its time limit(this includes the first action in the year after the time limit). Uses 12 ep.

Fungi (f): After every year, it removes 5 ep from the other player, gives 3 ep to user, and gives 2 ep to the mod. It can only be the first or last action, and can only be used successfully one total time per game. When in effect, it also prevents the user from blocking and cannot be used if the other player is already blocked. Players can not use it if they are blocked unless they were blocked on that action, or the block was renewed on that action. This removes blocks from the user regardless of which player acted first. If the user is blocked during any other situation, using fungi does nothing and takes away no ep. Uses 36 ep.

Defending (d): Defending nullifies an attack, removes blocks and fungi from the user. Defending always goes first in an action. If the other player chose to attack during that action, they cannot do anything for the rest of the year, and they cannot answer the next bonus question. If the other player did not choose to attack during that action, defending does nothing, but still uses ep. If both players chose to defend during the same action, the rest of the year is skipped and the mod gets 4 ep. Uses 2 ep.

Miscellaneous
Win Conditions:

Having a larger plant by the end of game.
The other player running out of energy or length.

Other Rules:

1.If a player has five or less ep, answering questions requires 1 ep from them and gives 7 ep if answered correctly.

2.If a player has only one ep left, they can only choose to answer questions during the next year. Bonus questions are also mandatory for that player and require 1 ep from them regardless of who gets to answer it.

3.If both players have the same length by the end of the game, a bonus question acts as the tie breaker.

4.If a player looks at the other player’s paper during any time, or touches the chips, they are given an automatic lose.

5.Players cannot take their paper back after beginning to hand it to the moderator

6.Both players’ chips are clearly displayed and kept by the moderator

7.If the moderator has more energy than the lengths of both plants by the end of the game, neither player wins.

Required Pieces

2 pieces of paper per player. 1 for writing actions, the other for answering regular questions.
White board(s) for answering bonus questions.
Two kinds of chips.
Block and Fungi cards to place near a player’s chips.
Question Cards

gxnpt
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what I would do next

Drop the moderator, reduce hidden info, and drop time limits

Use action cards and energy chips - place action card face down and sufficient energy chips on top - actions simultaneous - fixed number of actions per year (seasons? 2 per season?)

Guest1
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None of these suggestions

None of these suggestions make sense to me. I want the game to have elements of both gambling and strategy. Hidden info makes this possible. Using action cards makes no sense because the amount of actions is only limited by ep, which is constantly changing. If there's no time limit and no discretion, what's to stop somebody from changing what they place on the table while the other person is placing their cards? Placing chips on turned over cards would also reveal what they are. If there's only five cards per player, it's easy to keep track of which one is which. Cards are just a trope that doesn't make sense in this kind of game play. Making actions simultaneous eliminates an entire layer of strategy. If both players makes a winning move, who wins? Time limits make the game tense. I want people to sweat while playing. Time limits are standard in many competitive strategy games.
You're telling me to totally change the core of the game. Why?

questccg
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Time limits

First of all, MOST (I can't say all — because I think competitive Chess uses a timer) board and card game DO NOT use "Sand Timers". Very few do and there needs to be a clear and definite reason for them.

If it's to SPEED UP the game, well maybe your design may be suffering from Analysis-Paralysis... This just means that the number of options available to gamers is TOO MUCH. Time to trim the fat off of most things that may make the decision making too complicated.

Realize that IF you do decide to ADD timers to your game, players may decide to OMIT using them... "So what the designer says we need to play with Sand Timers..." And "We don't need them to help figure out how long we can wait in between turns"...

So just be really certain that you NEED "Sand Timers" or is this just some gimmicky concept that you want to use to "add tension". Good tension is done by creating a challenging game with good decision making in the process... Not necessarily requiring the use of timers.

Guest1
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In certain situations, Chess

In certain situations, Chess does use timers. I mainly included the timer because it would be a real drag to wait for the other person to pick if you already have. Who knows how long they'll take. Maybe i'll remove it. In a classroom, when time needs to be crunched, it's probably necessary.
You could call it, "analysis paralysis", but I don't think there's anything wrong with a the game having a learning curve. I'm not trying to make a party game. I know I can't actually stop people from omitting the timer, but I feel that when people are starting out, it kind of acts like a learning tool. You can't just stare at the manual every time.
5 options with a few things to consider before use doesn't seem too bad. I think that's preferable to twenty simple options.

questccg
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I just skimmed through your "Actions" and...

I'm a bit confused. "Attack"/"Defend"??? How can plants attack each other? It doesn't really make sense to me. Also you probably don't need a moderator either... But "asking questions" seems like something else that has little to no relation to "Growing a plant".

But don't despair... I have some ideas (feel free to do what you want to do with them, like them or hate them...)

Okay so INSTEAD of "Growing a PLANT"... You are "Growing WEEDS"! No NOT WEED, WEEDS: "dandelions"!!! Why? I'll explain.

Then your opponent can use things like Pesticides (Most effective but illegal — so maybe dangerous to use), "Weed-Be-Gone" (Second most Powerful and does a fair amount of damage) or "herbicide" (Last and does the least amount of damage) to try to kill your weed or slow it from growing.

Growing depends on several things: fertilizer, rain and sunshine. So fertilizer can be used to offset the "damage" cause by the previous "weed deterrents". A combination of Rain and Sun cards can help a plant grow too.

You need to define the rules of the GROWTH CYCLE: but it goes something like SEED to FLOWER to SEED (again)...

KEEPING IT SIMPLE: The rules of GROWTH are on a 3x3 grid (like Tic-Tac-Toe). First player to capture 3 lined-up WEEDS WINS...

It's kind of different and it's cool because it's a SIMPLE "How-To-Win"...

Of course this is just an IDEA. You'd need to better define the concept and FLESH it out a bit more...

Make it a DECK of shared cards. We have:

  • Pesticide cards (-5 points)
  • Weed-Be-Gone cards (-4 points)
  • Herbicides (-3 points)

Next you have the empowering cards:

  • Fertilizer (+5 points)
  • Rain (+4 points)
  • Sunshine (+3 points)

The CYCLE goes from:

Seed > Flower > Seed (again)

Each square in the 3x3 grid REQUIRES a "Flower" to be produced. Once this is done, that "dandelion" may only produce ONE (1) SEED which it can populate the NEXT position in the grid.

WHAT IS REAL COOL IS THIS IDEA: Use a SPINNER to "blow" your seed. You spin the wheel and your seed flies in that direction to the next available empty spot... YEAH this is VERY "gimmicky"... But seems like you wanted something gimmicky too!

Player each start with a SEED in OPPOSITE corners on the 3x3 grid (diagonally with an open space in the CENTER).

You must score "X" amount of points to grow from a SEED to a FLOWER. Then you must score "Y" amount of points to become a SEED and move to the NEXT location...

Just did a bunch of gardening and pulled out a whole backyard of those suckers (dandelions)... Feel free to discuss this idea MORE, if you like it ... No worries, most of what you wrote gave me the CONCEPT.

Cheers!

Guest1
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Eh, well two things. You're

Eh, well two things. You're underestimating the amount of initiative plants have. Plants can respond to stimuli in a number of highly complex ways. They can thicken their walls or secrete poisonous substances as a means of defense. Plants can even kill their cells to stop the spread of pathogens. If I could conveniently post multiple pictures and place them anywhere, this would make more sense, but the moderator is represented as a fungus. Plants can actually communicate and transfer material with each other through integrated mycelium. They can even attack each other this way or attract plant eaters to competing plants. Plants are highly perceptive and they even have neuron like cells that can transfer electricity throughout their body. A few of mechanics of the game are loosely based around the botany that I've read about.

Asking questions are only there because of the specifications of the project. If I ever feel like developing the game after, I might replace it with something else.

Your idea sounds interesting, but it's a totally different game. Is there something fundamentally wrong with the game that I made? Does it just seem not fun? The only feedback I've heard so far amounted to totally changing the game.

let-off studios
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Feedback & Suggestions

TO SUM IT UP: Keep it simple, let the moderator guide the game, and let the teams make the decisions that their knowledge will either benefit or penalize.

THE LONGER VERSION:
I just had a good laugh seeing what a springboard your game has become for other game ideas. :)

I assume that you (Guest1) are building a trivia game for class, and all the questions you're referring to are about your biology class subject. If that's the case, I think this is a solid start to a complete class activity. If it's for the hobby market, then I'll be way off base and your other suggestions above will be more helpful. My suggestions below apply to a "classroom" version, not hobby market version of this game activity.

I recommend you can reduce the components by omitting the Block and Fungi. Instead, partner up students (two to a single "plant") and have them write down how many points they will wager for the upcoming question. Allow players to see the general category first, make their wager, then record it on a single sheet that's passed into the moderator (or even a moderator team).

If a team doesn't want to wager much on a question they think is tough, then they'll ease back. If they've blown all their points on a wrong answer, they can sit out the next round and collect 4 points (or whatever value you think is fair). This keeps players in the game even if they're doing poorly with the questions.

Between questions, teams will have the option to Grow their plants. To do so, they take 5 or so points (whatever you think is fair) and turn them into 1 segment of their plant.

After a certain number of questions, give the "booster" to the team with the smallest plant. Any team with the booster can add length to their plant at a conversion rate of 1-to-1. This would replace the Fungi and Block options (because blocking other players is mean and the target won't have fun), but isn't a sure win for the team that has it.

Guest1
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So it seems to me like your

So it seems to me like your idea is kind of like a team based jeopardy style game. I really like the wagering mechanic. What I don't get is where insect and waiting would fit into this concept. What exactly is a booster? Is it like a bonus question?

You seem to be implying that blocking is too powerful, but I would disagree. It has it's own costs and risks. I has to be renewed, which costs more and more ep every time, and if the other player is lucky or good at predicting, they'll set you back by a lot. Hypothetically, a player can choose to defend during every action during a year to definitely prevent a renewal. Fungi gives players a second option. Even a player losing, they can potentially force a draw(rule 7).

I'm not sure whether the games will actually be played in class or not. I'm leaning towards a no. You're idea is great if it is. I'll remove blocking and fungi in that case. If it isn't, I've already got an A with what I have knowing the teacher. Most of my classmates are just making really derivative stuff without much thought. I chose to make the project a creative endeavor. If I keep going with it after, I'd want to include more gambling type mechanics in it. Maybe I could learn about and incorporate aspects of poker? It would even better if I could work out a way to get money involved. My vision is of a game that's brutal and nerve-wracking while still being playable.

questccg
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Classroom exercise???

Guest1 wrote:
...Asking questions are only there because of the specifications of the project. If I ever feel like developing the game after, I might replace it with something else.

Your idea sounds interesting, but it's a totally different game. Is there something fundamentally wrong with the game that I made? Does it just seem not fun? The only feedback I've heard so far amounted to totally changing the game.

Like let-off pointed out... If you were making a GAME that's to be on SALE, it wouldn't have trivia and the "whole other side of things". For the most part "Trivia" games that are NOT only "Trivia" games ... are a very niche market. And so that's why I would have "axed" the "Trivia" side... because the market won't respond well to that "type" of game.

As far a growing plants, I've had a garden and produced GIANT-SIZED Zucchinis... I've also had my own herb garden which produced herbs like Oregano, Basil and Dill. But I'm not a "botanist" nor even a student... "I just GREW the stuff". And what that meant was a daily watering around 6:00 PM after the sun is less hot and repeat fertilizer like Miracle-Grow.

I've also tended to tomato plants too which were bought as small plant. The zucchinis and herbs I grew from seeds. The tomatoes were a gift and I planted them and took care of them.

Coming back to your game. If it's a classroom exercise please tell us more details about the "restrictions".

Like I said an "Attack"/"Defend" by plants for the most part sounds to me a bit unreasonable. Plants are usually thought of as being "peaceful"... But Dandelions spread like wildfire...

Once your green goes yellow... forget it... Even if you mow the lawn, they will just grow back. You need to either have the entire lawn killed and then use sod and make sure you actually tend to the lawn and weed out dandelions, etc. So I was going for a HIGH TENSION concept... You could maybe even make the grid 5x5 (I'm just saying... because the Dandelions can sprout several seeds — going through the cycle multiple times).

Let me think more about YOUR design... and I'll get back to you soon. At the latest tomorrow.

But it would be nice if you explained the "context" for the game too...

let-off studios
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Game Identity

Guest1 wrote:
I'm not sure whether the games will actually be played in class or not. I'm leaning towards a no. [...] If it isn't, I've already got an A with what I have knowing the teacher. [...] My vision is of a game that's brutal and nerve-wracking while still being playable.
You'll be making a lot more progress once you determine your audience.

My final advice? Earn the A, and stay in school. :)

Good luck with your project...!

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Well, in terms of the actual

Well, in terms of the actual project the restrictions are simple and open to interpretation. It must function as a review on synthesis, and it can't be TOO derivative. I already showed my project to the teacher and they said they liked it. I really don't have to worry about it.

I could link you some articles about how plants are very far from being peaceful or passive, but that's beside the point. The general public might not know anything about that, but i'm already going for a fantasy/fictitious type of theme, so I think they can suspend their disbelief. To be frank, dandelions are just unappealing.

I'm not trying to make an othello/reversi-esque, capture the territory type of game. There's nothing wrong with that, but it's just different from everything I have. It's a good idea. Maybe you should run with it?

let-off studios wrote:
My final advice? Earn the A, and stay in school. :)

Good luck with your project...!


Thanks.

questccg
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Still not sure...

Guest1 wrote:
...To be frank, dandelions are just unappealing.

I'm not trying to make an othello/reversi-esque, capture the territory type of game...

Well kudos to you for recognizing that I was going for a "Worker Placement", "Area Control" type of mechanics. To be honest with you, I was trying to keep the concept as "simple" as possible.

Writing on a "paper" and submitting that to a mod... Doesn't sound like any type of "board or card game" that I have ever seen. And answering questions (Trivia) also seems a bit like "Cellular Phone" games that force you to watch Ads in order to earn bonus resources...

It very much seems like more of a "Trivia" game... But then you have an "ADDED" element, which is "Plant Growth". I don't get how those two (2) mesh together.

Quote:
Player 1: Moves first during the 1st and 3rd actions.

Player 2: Moves first during the 2nd and 4th actions.

What do you mean by "moves"? Are you saying PLAYS or GOES first?? How can plants MOVE...???

Quote:
Waiting (w): This gives the user 1 ep. It can only be used by each player twice per year. If both players chose to wait during the same action, the mod also gets 2 ep. Uses 0 ep.

There seem to be rules, but they have all kinds of "exceptions". And 1 ep for waiting a turn when they could do one of the other actions instead??? Seems very low. And why would the "mod" get points? Shouldn't it only be the players not the "mod"...? Is there some kind of "lottery" mechanic which allows players to WIN said "mod points"???

I think that's enough question from me... You know how I feel about the "Attack/Defend" ... I still have more questions... But they can wait until you resolve some of these.

Guest1
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I can't really give you a

I can't really give you a satisfying answer for the trivia part. That's just the nature of the beast. Maybe i'll update that part after the project is due. Questions are just necessary to get energy. They're not like micro-transactions or adverts or anything.
The word move just comes from the game's rpg influences. I can change the word. Here's an example turn.
Player 1's actions:1.Answer question 2.Grow 3.Answer Question 4.Insect
Player 2's action's:1.Grow 2.Answer question 3.Wait 4.Defend
Here's how this would go down.
1.Player 1 gets 6 ep and then player 2 gets 1 lp
2.Player 2 gets 6 ep and then player 1 gets 1 lp.
3.Player 1 gets 6 ep and then player 2 gets 1 ep.
4.Player 1's attack is defended against by player 2.
Waiting is a necessary mechanic because it allows people to rack up ep passively. If you want to use an attack instead of growing, you have to have a way to save up energy. Otherwise, you can't get any ep on that action if the other person chose to ask a question on the action that they, "move", first. Either you have to waste an action, or use up energy.
As for why the mod gets energy, read rule 7. The mod is also a fungi, so this makes sense thematically. This mechanic is also a means for players to force a draw.

questccg
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Hmm... I think you need to "playtest" it

Why would I "randomly" choose to "defend" on Action #4 instead on #3 or for that matter why wouldn't I just attack too!

I know you have a "good grasp" of your game... I'm not trying to be too critical, but challenging your notions to see how the game really plays.

Sometime people have "ideas" which sound good but "in practice" they don't work so well...

Like why not REMOVE the whole "choosing actions" and play ONE (1) TURN AT A TIME??? This would allow more fluid play and could help the opponent better foresee an eventual attempt to attack, making SENSE that a player can do table talk and anticipate that #4 Action being an attack. Get what I mean?

Rule #7 sounds arbitrary... Why should both players lose? My guess is if both players lose, those players would never want to play the game again.

And I do agree with @gxnpt that you should remove the "mod". It's hard enough finding players to PLAY games... Now you have a "mod" that just "manages" the game just because you worry about cheating... Can't a player just look at the card and ANSWER to make sure it's right or wrong?

By making turns sequential, you avoid the NEED for a "mod".

Just more feedback from your game's description...

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Well, a player can tell that

Well, a player can tell that the other player probably wont attack on the turns that they can definitely ask questions with no worry. This already more or less gives defending a 50% chance of succeeding if the other player chose to attack within a turn. If they wouldn't have enough points after the first question, this gives you near 100% chance of success. If you either notice that a player tends to favor attacking, or they've been collecting a lot of energy without growing, it's more likely that they'll attack. Of course, the other player can anticipate this line of thought and choose not to attack. Neither player knows for sure what the other will do, they can only estimate based on context clues.
Successfully defending also gives you more reward than attacking would. The other player can't answer the next bonus question and the rest of their turn is rendered useless. Defending takes little resources and gives high rewards if pulled off.

Being forced to pick 4 actions both makes turns and deciding time have more consequence, and forces players to think ahead constantly. One turn at a time also makes predicting seem more arbitrary and luck based, even if table talk is easier. Defending is also devalued because there is no rest of the turn. Rendering up to 3 actions useless is far more harmful than a single action.

Rule 7 works thematically and makes actions have even more consequence. Both players are forced to worry about an additional element. On the other hand, a draw is preferable to losing, so if one player feels that the game is a lost cause, they have another option than accept defeat.

Being a mod would kind of suck, but they're definitely necessary for bonus questions. Rule 7 also kind of acts like moderator compensation. The mod technically wins in that scenario, so they kind of feel more involved. They also get to passively watch the match without having to worry about anything. That could be entertaining in itself. Kind of like a spectator sport. It's a bit like a dungeon master without the creative aspect. Somebody's just got to do it.

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In class, only my teach and

In class, only my teach and partner(who wrote half the questions and that's it, which is the way I like it) played the game. Neither did anything but grow wait and answer questions. They played for all of two years and that's it. My partner got curb stomped. I can't say that i'm surprised this is the way things turned out, but i'm still disappointed. What was all of it for?

questccg
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Hmm... what I was trying to get at

Maybe your "card" game might have been a bit "ambitious". Like I get from what you explained and all... But I think for a "public" game played by people "other than hard-core gamers", needs to be rather simple in design.

You can't expect everyone to have your level of knowledge about the game.

And that's what I was trying to make you understand: you may know how your game plays and all of the intricate details — but most gamers will NOT have this level of knowledge.

Trying to "teach" such a game with all kinds of "exceptions" ... is rather difficult. I have a lot of experience trying to do so, because I have demoed my own game at Comic Cons, Game Stores and Meetups. So I know it's rather EASY to lose players if you can't explain the game in SIMPLE terms.

And yes, even I have lost players too... On one occasion, I was explaining the game and suggested people play a couple turns to get a better feel for the game... NOPE. They wanted to hear the full explanation about how to play and not need to play a couple of rounds to get a better feel for how to apply the rules. They actually walked away from the table (that was 4 people)...

So losing people when teaching a game happens to everyone.

I just think that it was a bit "too complexe" and I think you probably did not playtest it with different groups to understand how to streamline the design... Or you did not want to make any changes to refine or simplify the game experience...

But at least you got to demo YOUR game...

Also you said you would EXPLAIN "Why" the "Trivia Questions"??? I'd like to know why you had to include that as being part of the game...?

Guest1
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Lot's of popular games have a

Lot's of popular games have a learning curve to them. Chess, poker, etc. Even more recent games like D&D are popular. Those games had to have gotten popular somehow. I'd like the think that the setting was off, not the game. I've never been to a con, nor do I have I had any interest in them, but by the sound of it, they're more about socializing than the actual passion, which is pretty lame.

The trivia part is literally only there because the project requires the game to be a review on photosynthesis. I really didn't want to attempt working in real biology into the mechanics because that would be boring as hell and too limited creatively. I already had a vision for the game that electron transport systems could not comfortably be stuffed in. It would just be contrived. Trivia is a roundabout way to make the game have science in it.

let-off studios
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Trivia =/= Game

Guest1 wrote:
Lot's of popular games have a learning curve to them. Chess, poker, etc. Even more recent games like D&D are popular.
I'm not clear why you're trying to compare your activity here to non-trivia games on the mass market. I think you would benefit yourself more if you considered this as an education activity instead of a game. In that situation: was knowledge tested? Did people receive immediate feedback when they delivered a correct answer? An incorrect one? Was there an apparent victor?

If you can say "yes" to those, then I think the trivia game was successful. Was it fun? Well, unless you really like trivia games it probably wasn't. But this was for class, not for your Friendly Local Game Store.

Is your school year over yet? If it is, then take the A in your class and spend the rest of your summer making a game. Take heart in the fact you finished a school project. Regarding your plant warfare game ideas: target your audience as part of the design process, create a prototype, and test it out. Leave out the trivia questions and focus on your inter-plant-etary conflict (sorry, I couldn't resist) tabletop game.

Personally, I think a tabletop game based on photosynthesis would be pretty cool.

questccg
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I agree

You could have designed a game about Pollution and how trees and plants help extract Carbon and produce Oxygen so that the other species on the planet can breath...

And I still don't understand WHY you would want to design a "complicated" game?! Like Let-off said, the trivia was for a class and that was cool... I honestly hope you got a "A" or "A+"...

But an important thing to remember is your "target audience". For any game if you have defined WHO is going to play your game, you need to ensure that your game will INTEREST that audience. Otherwise you'll learn early that no matter how "complexe" a game is, if there are no players, there is little to no doubt that your game would not succeed.

Just try to keep that in mind the next time you want to design a game for some kind of "market"...

And I don't want to seem critical, I'm just trying to help you see how some of your thinking may impede on any potential success.

Cheers!

questccg
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Joined: 04/16/2011
The Taller Tree

Maybe you could design a game about how trees grow taller and how they compete with other plants to gain access by raising towards sunlight (for photosynthesis). Like how nothing grows below Pine Trees versus how grass and other plants grow beneath Maple or Birch Trees, etc. And then you could introduce Fungi of different species and how they interact with humidity and trees too...

And it seems like a competition to sprint to the TOP to get the most sunlight. So a "racing" element seems to fit too. You yourself said you wanted "tension". Here is a natural source of tension built into how the trees survive.

It's just an idea. But if Let-off was suggesting you make a game over the summer... Well then this concept of "The Taller Tree" may be of interest.

Just another thought. Cheers!

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