Yeah! I survived my first GDS and had fun in the process. I post an edited journal of the experience and encourage others to have a go.
Friday 12
Read the conditions for the September GDS today ...interesting but no ideas. Talk to the critic from hell (CFH), she does not believe I will enter. I give her my “word” and bet a freddo, just to make sure.
Brainstorming
Public: beach art gallery museum cinemas zoo park (national) park (play) mall school pool
Hidden (within components) back of hex under a token card face player’s hand centre piece
on the board: graphics raised graphics flat secret compartment pop up sliding
Lost: wallet snow tickets fabric Keys sand children crowds sunnies leaves jewellery water
Saturday 13
hide the board with hexes to start the game.
Hexes are taken from the board during play by using equipment cards.
Number of hexes removed depends on the piece of equipment held at the time.
Children’s game of area / image discovery. At least it will be easy to pack up at the end.
Decide
Zoo leaves keys – equipment = rake wheelbarrow sack blower what else?
Spent all day thinking about story arc – failed to think of anything.
Sunday 14
Made a quad board with a slight edge of thick paper. .sketched paths and animals on the surface.
Monday 15
Make some hexes after work
Tuesday 16
Doodle game rules during lunch. 10pm - the hexes are finished.
Wednesday 17
CFH arrived around 5pm.
The CFH advises that the monkey looks like a fur ball from the cat, the hexes are out of shape and I have no hope of developing rules before closing because we are 12 hours behind. The deadline is tomorrow morning. The CFH tells me I have been busted and owe her a freddo.
This has just gone from making a game to proving the CFH wrong. I am not posting a fur ball, should have answer to pm tomorrow.
Story arc – the CFH squashed my game...
Think! Busted = broken or caught out bust = artefact. Go back to lists.
Public museum
Hidden card - under the bust.
When during set up of a new display.
Why the bust can prevent a set from being displayed.
Game rules drafted - I have relied on euchre again.
Try a standard deck and single joker
There must be more suits than players
A player will want to change suits if stuck under the bust.
The bust is not a wild card. The players are the wild cards. Who has it?
Early guess – gets it out of the game, gives chance to switch suits – may also put the bust into a player’s hand.
Late guess – risk of freezing a suit, no opportunity for players to switch to another set.
Attention – players would need to watch what others were picking up to determine who was collecting what.
Bust – if there were many suits the bust can be used to off load all excess cards in one move.
Advantage – player can hang on to all cards, preventing others from completing a set until their own six are collected
No limit on number of cards being held
Cannot place a set of six until other cards gone
Bluffing – would nominating another player throw people from knowing I hold the bust?
Would picking up a card I don’t want trick people into discarding those I do?
this is muddled
Cannot think of enough suits to make this game playable.
The bust is a golden CFH.
The clock says game over ... my kingdom for an hour!
Thursday 18
Sent the draft today, no re visit, just attach and send.
Friday 19
It is on there! CFH rings to tell me I still owe her a freddo, she did not know that I changed the game. Ha! I thought she would pick up on the title.
The Learning curve
Deadlines: Hate them. This will probably be the first and last GDS.
Graphics: Waste too much time on them. From now on x will mark the spot and some one else can draw the fur balls.
Rules: Cannot imagine them; I want physical components and test for the rules.
Critics from hell: Need them – the original game did not have any rules.
