A game that has many similarities to our game is Quiplash from Jackbox Games. It’s intended for people of all ages, and like Perfect Match, is suitable for social group play. It’s available on The Jackbox Party Pack 3 which is available on a number of different platforms (PC/Mac/Linux, XBox, Playstation, etc.).
In Quiplash, players are given a prompt that they have to answer, and then the other players vote on which response was the best. This is a rather simple version of a judging game. Just like our game, the core principle is that everyone puts down a response, and a vote occurs. In both games, there is a bit of strategy in determining when to put a literal response, and when to put down a silly response. Depending on the group dynamic, it might be beneficial to give responses that are humorous. For example, when I played there was a prompt that was “a terrible name for a girl group”. One of the answers was a literal made-up bad name, but the other was an actual girl group that us players don’t like. This was a bit of an inside joke that made that answer more relatable and funny to us. Situations like these give us the ability to grapple with the concepts of game design for friendship formation described by Schacter and Festinger. In particular, I feel like this is the second law of friendship formation: similarity.
Similarly in our game, the answer doesn’t always have to be literal. Sometimes the funny sarcastic answers will be the best. The overarching goal in these games is to come up with the most likeable response. This is a tried and true method that makes so many judging games fun. And at the same time, it helps to build cultures of similarity and help friends potentially get closer through the game! I think that we may be able to take even better advantage of the Laws of Friendship Formation in our game to make our game even more social and fun to play.
That being said, there are also a number of differences between Quiplash and Perfect Match. For one, our game doesn’t allow for as much freedom in prompt responses. Our players must play a card from a hand of pre-written responses. Which card they choose is up to them, but this is an additional obstacle that makes the game a bit more challenging and invigorating. Our game also has a number of additional mechanics, like “crushes” and “sabotage” cards that influence the point system to make winning less straightforward. In Quiplash, whoever is voted wins, but in our game there are different perks if you are voted. For example, at the end of each round people would cheer if their answer was chosen, but in Perfect Match you probably wouldn’t until you knew what sabotage you get to play.
Quiplash is played digitally, and players type in their answers into a website. In our case, since there are predefined answers, it makes more sense that our game is played physically. We can print out physical cards with pre-written answers, and they can get played and parsed through by hand. Additionally, the entire premise of our game is solely matchmaking themed. In terms of MDA, the mechanics of Perfect Match are a lot more intricate and complex, and also employ mostly a fantasy and competitive aesthetic, while Quiplash is merely competitive. We hope that this added storyline makes users more invested and excited to play our game, but rely heavily on my of Quiplash’s concepts to build a solid foundation.
