I’ve decided that I am going to re-arrange the board. I will fit the tiles to match the atmosphere of the region. For example, I’ve decided to change Andalusia to have more chance time tiles and one Duel tile.

I’ve also decided to change the chance tile (and by extension the cards) to include the upside down question mark. So with the “¿?” Now appearing on the board can now transmit to the player that they’re playing “in Spain”, I also plan on changing the “Community Chest” card design to have a closer design to the tale of King Midas, which despite not being of Spanish origin, is a very popular tale to be told in Spain!

The “¿?” Also gives the idea that no matter where you’re looking at the board, you will be able to see that there’s a chance time, since you’ll always be able to see a question mark that’s regardless of your angle. This also puts an emphasis on “this game has become more chance and chaotic”, however staying true to one of my design pillars which is “Strategy” the chance elements also work in favour or against those who have more money. With Duel cards I aim to create a powerful balance so everyone has a fighting chance within the element of chance. Knowing what could possibly be drawn, and what you’re willing to bid is a fundamental element of what makes the Duel System strategic yet chaotic.

The Community Chest’s design could be a reference to Midas’ gold touch, showing to the player that the community chest could be a net positive for the player that draws the card.

with this I hope to shaken the design of the board a bit!

Rules:

-Each Player will be given €2,000 at the beggining of the match. (An increase from usual Monopoly, which usually gives 1,500 I made this increase in order for money to not drain as quickly from the players. Also, due to the nature of duel system, for example some cards forcing €100 to be played, its in the best interest for game purpouses to have said increase!)

-Players will decide on who is the banker.

-The order will go from the person who rolled the highest to the person who rolled the lowest.

-Each player is to roll the dice, once a full rotation has gone by, the banker will draw a Duel card (unless the last player to roll lands on a Duel tile)

-Duel System is a system where two or more players will engage in a minigame. This will happen at the end of a full rotation (so when all players have rolled their dice.)

I have been following Ashab’s tutorial on the robot, I have had to problem solve a couple of times, but at the moment, the body hand and feet are looking good!, the tutorial is very helpful and has allowed be to visualize how to do certain things!

(29/10/24 update!)

I finished the leg, fits perfectly on the foot!, also decided to bevel the hand so it doesn’t look so sharp, thought making it curved would also give a different look for my robot!

The layout of the board is simple, the board is a light green which allows for each individual tile to be seen and read clearly. The card design is simple, to the point, which is something that I will take into consideration for my cards.

The board itself has big, capital and bold letters, allowing it to be easily read by younger audiences, it also makes each individual tile stand out. The writing on the cards is also fully in capital, which makes it easier to read.

The aesthetic of Monopoly is rather simple, which settles the tone of the game very easily. It’s a simplistic yet effective look, the different colours and writing allows for everyone to be able to see the tiles on the board, which reflects on how simple it is to pick up and play by everyone.

I’ve decided to use 16 different “Duels” in order to keep Monopoly fresh in the attempt to stream-line the game further.

Here are my ideas (WIP):

-Players 1 & 3 bid any amount of money that you want (5/10/20/25/50/100/500), roll two dice, whoever gets the highest points will get the amount they bid back, as well as all the money the opponent bid. (If there’s a tie, roll again until there’s a winner.)

-Players 2 & 3 have to choose a property they own, both players now have to do a “best of 3” at Rock Paper Scissors. The winner will keep their property, as well as the property of the opponent. (In the event that either of these players don’t have a property, the player who doesn’t have a property chooses who they want to replace them. If no players have a property, put this card at the bottom of the pile and draw another.)

-The two players with the highest amount of money have to bid their most expensive property, both players shall roll the dice 3 times, the player that gets the highest amount of points will recuperate their property, as well as win the opponents property.

-All players bid an amount (5/10/20/25/100/500), each player shall take turns rolling the dice, the two players with the highest amount of points, win a 75% (Player with the most points) and 25% (Second player with the most points) of the money. If there’s a draw, both players will have to roll the dice until there’s a winner.

-Players 3 & 4 put down €100, the player who rolls the lowest will win the amount they put back, as well as the amount of the opponent. (In the event one player doesn’t have €100, they choose a player who does. If there’s a tie, repeat until there’s a winner

Chosen Game: Monopoly.

We learnt about MAF, which stands for Mechanics, Aesthetics and Framework.

Mechanics: To stream line the game, and make it feel more like the fast pace board games most are used to, I’ve decided to make a new mechanic called “Duel”

Aesthetic: I’ve decided to make my Monopoly Spanish themed, specifically in a modern day Spain. With 4 “Main” points which’ll make the 4 different corners of the board, I’ve chosen to use “Madrid”, “Barcelona”, “Andalusia”, and “Andorra”

I’ve decided to make each region have a characteristic area to base the squares on, for example in Madrid I decided to pick “Plaza Mayor”, which is the biggest shopping district in Spain as well as one of the most iconic places in Madrid. I would like to incorporate having more shops/stops in this area where the players are “forced” to pay if they land in someone’s shop.

Initial feelings about each board game:

Monopoly:

Monopoly is a game where every action you make can heavily influence the game. This is because players can “buy” spots on the map where other players will (when they land on the tiles) have to pay the owner of the tile a fee. Because of this, Monopoly is a game where both skill and luck combine in order to have one true capitalist winner. This concept of being “selfish in a board game” is one of the reasons why I chose to pick Monopoly, other games like Uno No Mercy also reward this type of gameplay, allowing you to play only for yourself and bankrupt your enemies.

Monopoly is a game suited for all ages, and thanks to its “simplicity” can be enjoyable for everyone. The board of Monopoly does make you feel that “pressure” of buying locals/places/tiles in order to succeed in winning with the amount of information displayed to the player (The prices of different locals, stations etc etc)

I found monopoly to be simple yet effective, however I do feel like it can get tedious as there doesn’t feel like there’s a lot going on. I would fix this by adding a third layer of chance to Monopoly, adding to the Chance and Chest cards, to stir the game some more and give it a coat of fresh paint.

Cluedo:

-The version of Cluedo that we played I found to be quite confusing, and it’s definitely self aware of it as it had a tutorial deck to have an “appetizer” as to what was going on.

The core mechanics of this Cluedo is to draw cards to solve mysteries, and with these cards you’ll slowly be able to “reveal” the full contents of (in this case) the mansion and unveil who killed Mr. Black.

-The intended audiences would be people over the age of 10, which I believe should be bumped up a bit. I mainly believe this because we found it complicated to understand what was going on even with the instructions telling us what to do. However, I do believe that the idea of replacing the board for cut outs that will eventually make the board a great one. At first it felt off putting, but when put in context, it feels like we are slowly unlocking new rooms with the characters were playing as, which is great at making the players feel immersed with the game, making us feel constantly engaging with the atmosphere and core mechanics of the game (the cards that help us solve the mystery.)

-I do think that it will feel too time consuming to complete though, I think that board games, especially when it’s a “party” environment or a “get together” a board game should be a “quick, pass time where you can play various rounds back to back”, which I believe Cluedo will struggle in, simply because the replayability factor could feel tedious, especially when in some situations it won’t be completed.

Battleships:

-The actual “board” is simplistic, the grid allows for a variety of options of where to place your ships or to place your attacks, making the game easily repeatable and enjoyable.

-The intended audience is for younger people, and thanks to the simplicity of “Hit or miss”, it’ core mechanics of Hit or Missing is easily understandable for the intended audience, however, this doesn’t mean that Battleships isn’t suited for older audiences. Thanks to its basic structure and play, everyone is able to pick up the game and have a fun time.

-The simplicity of the grid is further expanded with the ships being plastic pieces coloured in grey, with the grid itself being blue resembling the water, your Miss points are yellow and your Hit points are red, allowing for them to easily stand out with the brightness of this colour in comparison to the others used in the field.

-To give the game a new look, and make it feel more like a “war”, I would add an Explosive object, that would have a 4×4 “detonation”, if it were to hit a crucial spot of the ship (ie the middle) it could result in the ship immediately sinking.

Because of this, I want this Explosive to only be used once per game.

Chess:

Chess is a complex game, the grid is a 8×8 with 32 individual pieces taking up half of the board. Meaning that with your pieces, and limited movements, you’ll have to formulate a strategy in order to defeat and outsmart your opponent. The goal is simple, kill the opposing King and you’ll win with a “Check Mate”.

The different pieces have different “attacks”:

-Pawns can only move forward but attack diagonally (one space only).

-Bishops can only move and attack Diagonally.

-Knights can only move in an “L” shape, killing with only the last spot it lands on.

-Towers can only move in a straight line, be it vertically or horizontally, only being able to kill within its lane.

-Kings can move 1 spot in any direction at a time, and kill anything within said spot.

-Queen is the most powerful piece in the board, can move in a straight line and diagonally in any direction, meaning that she has a wide range of spots that she can achieve and kill in.

-Because of the complexity, And limitations of these pieces, you can use these pieces to defeat your opponent.

-The simplicity of “Black and White” Pieces and the lack of vibrant colours it allows for both players to concentrate easily on their strategy, in this regard I believe Chess does an amazing job at allowing their players to not have any distractions mid game. 

Since most of the pieces and made of wood, it gives the sense that this game is cozy, since its “hand made” and not fabricated In a factory (and therefore made with plastic) it allows for players to feel the soft touch of the wood used to create the pieces, which will  bring this sense of comfortability that Chess aims to achieve.