Broadly, our concept for our game involves decorating fancy dogs w/ accessory cards in order to make the best dog to answer some prompt. Then the winning dog will be determined via judging. We’re also considering adding a trading phase so players can exchange accessory cards.
- When should players trade accessory cards?
This changes the kind of fun the game employs e.g. whether trading relies more on bluffing or guessing. Do players know the prompt already? Do they know what dogs the other players plan to play? We might prototype this question by modding an exist judging game (e.g. Cards Against Humanity) with a judging phase. I think for the tone our game is going for, social guessing may be a more fun dynamic than bluffing, so players may prefer the trading to be before they know the prompt.
- How many accessories should dogs have?
This changes the pace of the game, and getting it wrong risks boredom. I would prototype this by modding the Monstrocard mod and putting a limit on the number additions players could make to their blobs. I expect that players would prefer to have somewhere in the 2-3 accessories range, since that gives them more options but doesn’t require them to make as many decisions as 4+ accessories.
- Shoulding judging be done by vote or by a single player?
This is important because it changes the objectives of the game. I would prototype this by modding the Monstrocard mod we played in class, comparing a version with a single judge and a version with voting. I predict that players would prefer a single judge, since they’re more predictable.
