Storytelling Illustration- Exploratory Sketches

Storytelling Illustration- Exploratory Sketches 

Below are 5 of my thumbnail sketches refined for my board game illustration. This will be what is actually going on the box for my board game.

Breakfast Sketch

Here is a quick sketch of my breakfast.....waffles.

Storytelling Illustration for Board Game (Thumbnails)

Questions Revised and Answers


What in the game is unbalanced?
     
     I recently made a change in my game that involved the explorer being able to use 2 die instead of 1, while the guard only had 1. When we tested this mechanic it failed and made my game very unbalanced. This is one part of my game that is unbalanced, because it is much easier for the explorer to escape from the guard. Another unbalanced element of my game is the time it takes to set up. I made my board increasingly bigger, which also increased the number of flippable tiles on the board. The process of setting all of these individual tiles take way too long. I need to make it balanced more so that the set up takes less time.

Should I incorporate cards into my game instead of using tiles?

      The tiles in my game have many down sides, for example it takes too long to set up, players get confused on whether they take the pieces off the board or leave them. Also they are too small to grab easily. Cards would seem like a much better solution than using tiles.

Is anything unclear in the rulebook?

      My rulebook gets a little too wordy, and I tend to be very repetitive at parts. I also need to move some of my additional instructions into the beginning of the rulebook. I also need to have sections of rules for each character more clearly divided in my rules.

Is anything in the game confusing?

      The way that I have the explorer starting with 1 key is a bad mechanic, and confuses people. Another confusing part of my game is how at the end when the explorer is trying to let the monster out, I need to fix it so that the player doesn't have to roll a certain number to get to him, that rule contradicts my game.

Is my game skill based enough?

     My game relies on chance and skill, but a good portion is chance. An easy fix to that is when I change my tiles to cards, I could have it so that players can keep the card they land on if it's positive and use it when they want. Then they have to plan out when the best time to use the card is. Then with the negative cards, they will be required to use them right away. That should even out the skill and chance in my game.

Play Testing Questions

Board Game - Play testing Questions


What was unbalanced in the game?

Should I use cards instead of having tiles you flip?

What is unclear?

Is anything confusing?

Do the rules read clearly?

Rough Rough Draft for Board Game 

Here is a rough outline of my rules. They still need a lot of work but it's a start.

Trapped

By: Brooke Olson

20 minutes

2 players

“Release, destroy or survive, it’s your choice.” This game is simple stratgety fighting game, involving an explorer protector, and monster. You get to play as either the explorer or protector. The goal varies depending on who you play as. 

Objective

The objective of the game varies depending on which character is picked. If the explorer is picked, his objective is to collect the 4 keys on the board, and then attempt to release the monster. If the protector is picked, his objective is to destroy the explorer before he releases the monster.

Components

Board Game
14 dark blue tiles
12 green tiles
10 light blue tiles
1 center cage
4 key tiles
1 die

Setup

To start the set up of the game you first need to lay down the board on a flat surface. Then without looking at the backside of the tiles place the color coordinated tiles on their matching colors, face down, so that the words are hidden. ( See additional instructions fro details on tiles.) Then place the center cage with the monster inside in the middle of the board, where the larger pentagon is located. The player’s character then starts at either horizontal end of the board, doesn’t matter which character is at which end.
(add picture of board set up showing where players start)

Players will switch off turns going back and forth, a “turn” is a single players chance to play, not a “round” where it is everyone around the table having a turn.

Next it has to be decided who starts, to this the 2 players will roll a dice and whoever gets the highest number gets to go first. They then switch off the rest of the game.

Starting The Game

To start the game players decide which character they want to play as, then once both players have decided, the roll a die. Whoever has the highest number goes first.

To start the first player must roll again. Then depending on the number they roll they then move that number of spaces, in any direction they want. (hint: the explorer has to first collect all 4 keys before attempting to release the monster, the starting space has the first key. The protector must try and kill the explorer.)

If the player chooses/ happens to land on a colored space, they must flip the tile over and read the back. Then they must do whatever the tile says, and keep the tile flipped so that it known for the rest of the game that someone already landed on that tile.

The Second Turn And Beyond

The second players turn then begins, they too start off by rolling the die, and move whatever the number is that they rolled. The same rules apply as above, for the moving and landing on colored spaces.

If the protector lands on the same space as the explorer he is allowed to try and kill him. Once the protector lands on the same space he must roll again and try and get an even number, he has one try. If he rolls an even number then he kills the explorer. If he does not get an even number, the protector’s turn ends and it moves on to the explorers turn, and the explorer has a chance to get ahead.

Winning And Losing The Game

For the explorer to win the game, he must first collect all of the 4 keys on the board, he starts with one key, so he must collect the other 3 by navigating around the board. Once he has collected all 4, he can attempt to get to the middle of the board and let the monster out. If he makes it to the middle and gets the correct number of spaces or a higher number he is declared the winner, because he let the monster out before being killed by the protector. 

For the protector to win he must hunt down the explorer and catch up to him. If the protector lands on the same space as the explorer, the protector must roll his dice again, and if he rolls an even number he is declared the winner. If he rolls an odd number, his turn ends and the explorer gets to go a turn. The protector just has to keep trying to catch up to the explorer and roll and even number.

Whoever completes their objective first wins!

Additional Instructions

What do certain tiles mean?

The color of the tiles do not matter, all of the tiles are completely random. 

Players can only flip one colored tile they land on per turn. 

The teal colored tiles are the keys. 

Only the colored tiles have additional moves, grey tiles mean nothing. 

Alternate Rules

If you like the basic game, you can spice up the game by adding these advanced rules. 

The explorer and the protector must both collect all 4 keys, instead of just the explorer. 

An Example Of Play

Round 1

Explorer: Rolls the die and gets a 3, moves ahead 3 spaces. Lands on a green tile. Flips the tile over, it says “advance 2 spaces ahead.” Player one then advances ahead 3 spaces. Then lands on purple colored tile. ( Player one turn ends because they cannot flip more than one colored tile per turn, so they must wait until their next turn to flip the tile they are on.) Player one hands the dice to playerr two. 

Protector: Rolls the dice, gets a 4, moves ahead 4 spaces, lands on a blue tile, flips the tile over, it says “Player advances to colored tile nearest to the opponent.” Player two then moves to the closest color tile near the explorer. Hands dice to player one. 

Round 2

Explorer: Flips the colored tile, it says “ Go to nearest key.” Navigated to second key and now has two keys. (Started with one key, and just collected the second one. ) Hands off dice to the player two. 

Protector: Flips the tile he was on, and tells him to move 2 spaces, he lands on the same tile as the explorer. Now he rolls again, and rolled a 3. Since he rolled an odd number he doesn’t kill the explorer. He must roll an even number to eliminate him. 

Round 3

Explorer: Rolls the die, and gets a 5, moves 5 spaces and lands on a grey space. So nothing happens, he hands the die off the player two.
Protector: Rolls the die and gets a 6, navigates to the desired tile and lands on the same tile as the explorer, he rolls the die, and rolls a 2, which is an even number so he wins the game. The monster was not let out before the explorer died, so the explorer loses.

I also started working on the concept of the board, and a few characters. I will list a few pictures below. 

Here is the concept so far so my board. For my actual final, I would like to make the board out of clear and colored plexi-glass. 

This is the concept for my monster, he will stuck in the middle cage. This is the monster that the explorer is trying to let out. 

Theme and Concept Statement for Board Game

Theme and Concept Statement for Board Game

Concept: Release, destroy or survive, it’s your choice!

        My game theme is,  “A Monster is trapped, and the explorers job is to release him without being caught by the protector! “ In “Trapped” players have the option to play as either a protector who is ahead of the monster protection program, and he makes certain that this monster does not leave his cage. Or players can play as an explorer who has found this monster and wants to release him so he can do further studies. The future relies on these three characters, the monster, protector, and explorer. What will happen, and who will change the world?

       “Trapped” is set in the future and is in a futuristic forest. Everything started when this monster was first found and the monster protection program decided to keep the monster hidden in a forest, and lock him in a cage. They then assigned him a protector that watches over him and keeps him safe from anyone and anything. Then an explorer came around and found this monster, he made it his goal to release the monster. He wanted to further his studies and learn about this monster.

      Since I am going for a futuristic look for my game, I found some reference pictures that I think relate very well to my concept. 

This first image is from an art of Halo book, and it has nice colors and I really enjoy the environment. I feel like mixing this with a few other ideas can help make my futuristic forest believable. 

This image is from a Star Wars book, and I really like the colors and it looks futuristic to me. The cage that my monster is going to be in. I would possibly include lights and I think blue lights would look good. 

This photo is from the art of Halo book also, and again I really enjoy the colors and would like to make my board game similar to this kind of look. 

This image is from the art of Halo book also, I like this sketch and I feel like it's a good reference for when I start constructing my board. I really like the idea of how they have the a path leading out to the middle. I was thinking maybe I could incorporate that into my board game. 

This is another image from the art of Halo book, and this image looks very futuristic also. I think the overall look and color scheme is nice.

This image is from the Lilo and Stitch art book, I feel like this image is a good reference for my monster. 

This is my last reference image, overall I found this to be an awesome reference, it shows exactly how I want some of the aspects of my game to look. I really enjoy the colors in this picture and how everything is placed in the composition. 

Lastly is my color scheme, I want it to look futuristic yet not to distracting. I picked some colors that I think coordinate well and will look good overall. I want to include these colors in my board game and the pieces.