Not On My Block! was very fun to create as it required a careful balance between players and strategies. Its asymmetrical design represented gentrification well but required a great deal of attention to be paid to how different resources and actions balanced out. For our first few versions, one of our biggest challenges was that the Developer was significantly underpowered, and it was incredibly fulfilling to see closer competition and emergent gameplay as we made revisions to game mechanics. I learned a lot about how to adjust resources and actions to balance a game.
We also completely redesigned the game after 3 versions to better align with the real loops (e.g., developers gradually pushing residents out using new luxury house developments) and arcs (e.g., developers completely displacing residents) of gentrification. We had been struggling with our initial design for a bit, and coming up with the new design was a huge breakthrough! It was just one of many moments in which I appreciated having a great team to bounce ideas off of. However, in the future, I think it would help to consider the system we’re modeling/its loops and arcs more before diving into game design to prevent having to pivot mid-development.
With these new mechanics, the Developer’s main action was to push houses and replace them with luxury housing, but they also had a number of other actions such as gentrifying stores for additional powers and stopping residents trying to collectivize. Residents primarily focused on collectivizing to permanently protect their Apartments but, as we saw in our final full-length playtest, also employed other actions such as temporarily protecting their Apartments.
The new design not only enabled players to experience what it was like to be a luxury developer or someone living in a neighborhood getting gentrified but also contributed to fun through challenge and competition. Players particularly liked balancing individual and collective incentives, and while it is something we designed for, it was super cool to see that actually play out in playtests!
Furthermore, I think the playtests for P3 were the most chaotic I had done, with most of the ones I did having in-game adjustments being made and tested out. These were primarily to address game imbalances, and I learned how valuable it is to playtest variations of the game to see how they resonate with players. Going forward, it could help to go into playtesting with those variations in mind instead of having to come up with them on the fly, although that is not always possible since some of those needs for variation are discovered during the playtest.
Overall, I had a great time creating Not On My Block! and learned a lot about system game design, game balance, and playtesting.
