Reflection & Evaluation

The board game project required us to go through the process of game development in a shortened time frame and allowed us to experience our first real deadline. The brief requested us to create a board game, following the 4 stages; Research, Pre-Production (planning), Production and Evaluation.

My group decided quite quickly on an idea, BoardNite, a board game based on the popular Battle Royale game; Fortnite. We took the brief and started to answer some simple questions about the game, what will it look like, how will it work, and most importantly, is it possible? We soon came to the conclusion that, although with difficulty, the game will be possible and that it would suit the brief fine.

Immediately, problems soon came up which is a given in game development; the size of the board, and how they should start was a big problem initially, but with some research into other games of a similar genre, we decided on a size that worked, not necessarily as big as you might expect. Another issue was how the combat system was going to work, we initially thought about using dice rolls, but we soon expanded on that to include an initiative system which allows for a wider range of attack values.

Our final idea was based on a group decision which we all decided on because we thought it was a popular concept at the moment and we all had the same views on the game. With great research, and inspiration from the online game, the aesthetic of the game was decided to be fairly bright but also realistic. Inspiration from the game based our ideas on the mechanics of the game, how it would work. We also had to be creative to transfer a digital game into the board game style and we did some basic maths to determine how the combat mechanic would work.

I used Photoshop to design the board, the health cards for the game and the buildings. I found that it was easier to use compared to drawing it by hand, and one struggle we had was to make sure it wasn’t flimsy and so we managed to laminate them all. I also had difficulty originally with the buildings but later decided to have them separate from the board.

When it came to making the game, it took longer than expected and so we struggled to meet the deadline, and even when the deadline hit, parts of the game were unplayable. If we were to do the project again, we would probably reduce the amount of complexity within the game to make it easier for us to stay on track. Luckily, we were given a session afterwards to spend more time finalising the game and we were able to get it to a playable state. We play tested it and noticed some immediate problems arise for example, there were some weapons which were too common and so made the game very overpowered. We also noticed that stun grenades were too common and therefore extended the game time considerably.

In conclusion, the project allowed us to work to a real deadline, but we struggled to meet the deadline because of the complexity of the game. However, it still gave us experience of how future projects will work. We mostly enjoyed the development of the game, which gave us inspiration to finish it. We have learnt not to overcomplicate mechanics to ensure we meet the deadline.