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Shifting Dungeon

Shifting Dungeon Move Example

One of the goals I have in designing a board game is to create something that recreates the feel of the classic video game series 'The Legend of Zelda' which is something that I think motivates more than a few designers out there. There certainly are a lot of different aspects in the world of Zelda to try and emulate which makes it a rich source of inspiration. My own particular itch is wanting to create a dungeon crawl that focuses more on the puzzle aspect of solving a dungeon than combat. Very recently I hit upon an idea for a mechanic that might be a unique take on the dungeon crawl genre and also focuses more on solving a spatial puzzle.

At this point the design consists of laying tiles down in a grid with two tiles omitted-one for where the pawn will be placed and another that allows the shifting of tiles (see pics). Some of the tiles will be represent solid blocks while others will represent chambers which can only be accessed from one side. These chambers can hold a variety of things such as monsters to fight or treasures to claim or objects needed to progress to other areas. Another idea I'm leaning towards is a *switch* that means the tile is flipped over and the contents of the chamber are revealed.

The small example of gameplay pics that I uploaded show a very scaled down version of what I'm imagining. I'm thinking an actual grid would be more like 5x5. In all likelihood there will be more than one grid where one needs to be solved/object acquired before moving on to the next.

Now to figure out how to make it work for multiple players.

Comments

Hey Baub You have a very

Hey Baub

You have a very unique and interesting idea. I am working on a board game myself and am trying to incorporate puzzles into a combat-heavy game (variance in a game is good). Anyways, your tile puzzle system is good, but like you said, it needs to be made workable for multiple players (unlike Legend of Zelda). You need to consider if the players will be working cooperatively or if they will be playing against each other, as that will probably influence the puzzles, mechanics, and overall gameplay. If the gameplay is cooperative, maybe the puzzle solution lies underneath a random tile within the tile grid. If the gameplay is competitive, then maybe the opposing players get to design the puzzle in terms of where each double-sided tile is placed, in either words choosing the layout of traps, monsters, treasure, etc.

Your idea to have double sided tiles is interesting in that it combines a puzzle mechanic of solving a puzzle by needing a certain order or configuration, but also allows combat. I like the idea of having double sided tiles that, when "activated or moved," you have to flip it and face whatever is on the other side, be it a monster, treasure, or just blank.

If you go the route of cooperative, you could scale the "difficulty" by having a certain number of tiles or a certain layout for any given number of players.

Anyways, good luck and keep us updated on how it's going.

Cheers,
20%

This is a very nice idea and

This is a very nice idea and I am looking forward to see it develop.

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