Artist’s Statement

Concept Map

Game concept map describing the set-up, procedure, and outcome of the game

The key resources of the game, which are the cows, cards, and mooney, all influence each other. Cows are the resource which allows you to win the game, while more cards gives you more options to get cows, and mooney acts as a special resource that gives you a significant amount of cows.

 

Formal Elements & Values

Mooney Ranch was not the game we originally planned to make. It emerged while we were modifying Trouble in Dodge City. As we tested different mechanics, the game gradually moved away from the original detective theme and evolved into a ranch-themed game. After several rounds of playtesting, our team agreed that this new direction was more enjoyable, so we decided to fully develop it as Mooney Ranch. 

 

Our main goal was to create a game that is easy to learn but encourages meaningful choices. On each turn, players decide whether to grow their ranch, steal cows, defend against attacks, or take risks for a larger reward. We wanted every action to feel important without making the rules overly complicated. 

 

Another key design value was player interaction. The reaction system allows players to respond to one another’s actions, keeping everyone engaged even when it is not their turn. Finally, we aimed to balance strategy with unpredictability. Community cows provide a steady way to progress, while stealing, blocking, special cards, and the Mooney mechanic create exciting and memorable moments. Rather than following our original plan, we chose the version that our playtests consistently showed was the most fun.

 

Objective and Players: The game can have between three to ten players and is a multilateral competition. Each player fights to have the most cows by the end of the game.

 

Procedures: Each player is first dealt a game board, three cards, and one cow. Players then take turns going clockwise drawing a card, and then either playing a card or drawing another card. The players continue taking turns until all the cards are gone from the pile.

 

Conflict: Players try to get more cows and protect their own cows from being stolen by other players.

 

Resources: Players must collect cows to win the game. Players also have cards which they can play to gain more cows or prevent other players from getting cows

 

Outcome: The player with the most cows when all cards are gone wins. In case of a tie there can be multiple winners.

 

Target Audience

Mooney Ranch is meant to be a light-hearted fun game to play with friends and family. It allows for intra-game conversation while being a way to pass the time with people you know. Anyone 8 years old or older can play, however, it is specifically targeted towards groups of teenagers and young adults. The game is designed to be inclusive by embracing fantasy roles and cards. The simplicity of rules and fixed play time appeals to the socializer and joker player archetypes while the presence of dynamic rules through the special cards and ability to build cows over time appeals to the challenger and achiever archetypes.

 

Testing & Iteration History

Initial Decisions, July 2nd

Our idea for Mooney Ranch came from modding a game we played in class called Exercise: Trouble in Dodge City. In the original game, we thought the rule complexity inhibited gameplay enjoyment. In addition, as players, we had trouble understanding if the cards acted both as currency and as an action. After gameplace commenced, we realized that the Mayor card was clearly one of the strongest, because it does the same action of taking tokens from the pile but it just takes more. In addition, the Saloon also was unbalanced; it was incredibly powerful. Since the Mayor was practically the strongest card, and there were equal numbers of every card, whoever got the most Mayors won and the game was no skill and purely luck. The Saloon attempted to compensate, but it did not change the initial imbalance in the game. Furthermore, the game rules were straightforward and static, which removed any potential excitement from dynamism after the first turn.

 

Playtest 1: First iteration in-class, July 2nd

 

 

Our first playtest was in class and involved us. The first changes we made to the original game was to create a separate currency, cows, so that the tokens did not double as cards and currency. We then changed the purpose of the game so that instead of trying to collect the most cards, the players try to collect the most cows, and whoever has the most cows at the end of the game wins. We also added a “community cows” pile of cows that each player could take from.

While playing, we noticed immediately that many of the cards were unbalanced. For instance, when one player drew extra cards by using the mayor, it became apparent they had gained a large advantage. All 5/5 of the playtesters, us, thought we should change the mayor to taking cows from the community instead of drawing cards, and add the sheriff’s ability stop the mayor.

 

Playtest 2: Second iteration in-class, July 2th

Initial sketch of rules and materials

Still playtesting in class amongst ourselves, we iterated and evolved the game to have a clearer card system. In the first version, we had already changed the goal from collecting cards to collecting cows, and we created “community cows” as a shared pile that players could take from. We also changed Mayor so it took cows from the community instead of drawing cards, and Sheriff became the card that stopped Mayor. 

For the second playtest, we finalized the five main cards of the game:

1. Sheriff
2. Outlaw
3. Saloon
4. Merchant
5. Mayor

We wanted each card to have a clear role, so players could quickly understand what each one did. Outlaw and Mayor became the main cow-gaining cards. Saloon and Sheriff became the reaction cards that could stop other players. Merchant became the support card that helped players get more cards or take a risk for Mooney.

The rules in this version were:

Outlaw: The Outlaw allows a player to take one cow from someone else’s ranch. However, if the target player has a Saloon card, they can play it as a reaction to block the Outlaw. This made stealing possible, but not guaranteed.

Saloon: The Saloon allows a player to stop another player from taking their cow with an Outlaw card. It can also be used to block another player’s Sheriff card, meaning it can “block the block.” This created a back-and-forth reaction system, where players could respond to each other instead of only playing during their own turn.

Mayor: The Mayor allows a player to take one cow from the community cows and place it into their own ranch. This card gives players a safer way to grow their ranch without directly attacking another player.

Sheriff: The Sheriff allows any player to block a Mayor card and stop that player from taking a community cow. This made the community cows more contested, because players could not always take from the center for free.

Merchant: The Merchant allows the player to draw three new cards. Since players already draw one card at the beginning of their turn, using Merchant means the player can get four cards total in one round. This card does not directly give cows, but it gives the player more options for future turns.

After playtesting, 5/5 playtesters felt this version improved. The feedback was that the game was better because each card now had a specific purpose. The game was no longer just about luck or drawing the strongest card. Players had to decide whether to attack, grow safely, defend themselves, or build up their hand for later. The main problem we noticed was that the game still needed better balance between action cards and reaction cards. If there were too many reaction cards, the game became slow because players could block too many moves. If there were too few reaction cards, stealing felt too powerful. Because of this, our next step was to test the card ratio and decide how many copies of each card should be in the deck.

After testing this version, though, we noticed a problem with the Merchant card. Even though Merchant could let a player draw three new cards, most players did not use it very often. Part of the reason was that during playtesting, we were still learning how the game worked, so we did not fully understand how powerful having more cards could be. Players usually focused on cards that immediately gave them cows, like Outlaw or Mayor, because those effects were easier to see.

However, after more testing, we realized that having more cards is actually very strong. More cards means more future choices, more chances to attack, and more chances to defend. If a player has a bigger hand, they are more prepared for different situations. Because of this, we decided that Merchant needed to be more attractive so players would actually want to use it.

The most important upgrade after this playtest was the introduction of Mooney. We changed Merchant so that it gave the player a meaningful choice: they could either draw more cards or roll a die for a chance to get Mooney. If the player rolled a 6, they would receive Mooney. Mooney could then be used on a later turn to buy another player’s farm and take all of that player’s cows.

This made Merchant much more exciting. Before, Merchant only helped indirectly by giving more cards. After adding Mooney, Merchant became a risk-and-reward card. Drawing cards was the safe option, but rolling for Mooney created a chance for a huge comeback. This also added suspense to the game, because everyone watched the die roll and reacted to whether the player got a 6 or not.

 

“Playtest” 2.5: Mountainside, July 5th

Over the weekend, to gain inspiration on what it is like to ranch a cow, one of our group members took a trip to Mount Trampas to observe the cows in their natural environment. It was a good moove.

Research in the field – literally!

 

Playtest 3: Game Night, July 6th

 

Playtesting at Game Night

 

On July 6, we playtested with a group of people who had never seen the game before. They played along with a few of us.

After more playtesting, we realized that Merchant had become too strong. In the previous version, we had buffed Merchant because players were not using it enough. At that time, most players did not understand that having more cards was one of the strongest strategies in the game. However, once people learned the game better, the opposite problem happened: players started using Merchant too much.

During the Monday night playtest, we saw this problem happen clearly in a game between Zijie and Benjamin. Zijie tried to use an Outlaw card to steal one cow from Benjamin’s ranch. Benjamin immediately did a Saloon card to block the steal. Then Zijie used a Sheriff card to counter Benjamin’s block, but Benjamin had another Saloon and played it again. This back-and-forth kept going for a while, with both players continuing to respond to each other’s cards. Everyone at the table started laughing because the situation became ridiculous, almost like a western argument that would not end.

This moment was funny and showed that the reaction system was working, because players were emotionally engaged and paying attention even when it was not their turn. However, it also revealed a balance issue. The player with more cards had a huge advantage because they could keep extending the chain. Instead of the moment being decided by one smart play, it became a contest of who had stacked more cards. This playtest helped us realize that Merchant was too strong, because it allowed players to build large hands and dominate these reaction battles. After this, we decided to weaken Merchant so that players could still draw cards, but not enough to take over the whole game.

Since Merchant gave players many extra cards, some players could build a huge hand. Once they had more cards than everyone else, they became very hard to stop. For example, we saw if one player used Outlaw to steal a cow, the target player could play Saloon to block it. Then another player could use Sheriff or another reaction card, and the first player might answer with another Saloon. This created a long back-and-forth where the player with the most cards usually won. Instead of strategy being about timing and risk, the game started to become about who had stacked the biggest hand.

Because of this, we decided to nerf Merchant. We changed Merchant so that a player could only draw up to three cards instead of getting too many cards in one round. This made Merchant still useful, but not overpowered. Players could use it to improve their hand and prepare for future turns, but they could not completely dominate the game just by drawing cards again and again.

This change helped the game feel more balanced. Merchant stayed important because it still gave players more options, but Outlaw, Mayor, Saloon, and Sheriff became important again too. The game became less about hoarding cards and more about choosing the right moment to attack, defend, or take from the community. This version also showed us that a card can look weak when beginners play, but become overpowered once players understand the strategy better. Because of that, we learned that balance should be based on repeated playtests, not only the first time people play the game.

 

Playtest 4: In-class, July 7th Card Ratio Testing and Balance

Playtesting In-class

In our July 7th in-class playtest, we focused mostly on fixing the card ratio. After the previous playtest, we knew that Merchant had become too strong because players could stack too many cards. Once players understood the game better, they realized that having more cards meant having more control. A player with a bigger hand could keep responding in long reaction chains, such as Outlaw → Saloon → Sheriff → Saloon. This was funny, but it also showed that the game was becoming too dependent on card quantity instead of decision-making.

To solve this, we tested different ratios between action cards, reaction cards, and bonus cards. One version we considered was around 10:8:5, with 10 cow-gaining cards, 8 reaction cards, and 5 Merchant cards. However, this did not change the problem enough. Statistically, the reaction and bonus cards were still too common. In a 10:8:5 ratio, there are 23 total cards in one ratio set. Reaction cards make up about 8/23 = 34.8%, and Merchant cards make up about 5/23 = 21.7%. That means more than half of the deck was still either blocking or helping players stack more cards. As a result, turns could still become too defensive and too slow.

After analyzing this, we changed the ratio to 10:5:3. This gave the deck a better structure: 10 action cards, 5 reaction cards, and 3 Merchant cards. In this ratio, there are 18 total cards in one ratio set. Action cards make up 10/18 = 55.6%, reaction cards make up 5/18 = 27.8%, and Merchant cards make up 3/18 = 16.7%. This felt much better because more than half of the deck pushed the game forward by helping players gain cows, while reaction cards were still common enough to create counterplay. Merchant became rare enough that drawing extra cards was useful, but not something players could abuse every round.

This ratio also matched the main purpose of each card type. Outlaw and Mayor are the main ways to get cows, so they should appear the most. Saloon and Sheriff are reaction cards, so they should appear less often; otherwise, every action gets blocked and the game slows down. Merchant is a bonus card, so it should appear the least often because it gives players more future options and can lead to powerful plays.

By the end of the July 7th playtest, 10:5:3 felt like the most balanced ratio. The game still had funny back-and-forth moments, but those moments did not last forever. Players could still defend themselves, but they could not block everything. Merchant still mattered, but it no longer dominated the game. This playtest helped us understand that balance is not only about whether a card is strong by itself, but also about how often that card appears in the deck.

Iteration after playtest: In the final stage of development, we added a new group of special cards to make the game more exciting and give players more chances to come back from behind. Before this version, the game mainly depended on the five core cards: Outlaw, Mayor, Saloon, Sheriff, and Merchant. These cards created the basic structure of gaining cows, blocking moves, and drawing cards. However, after several playtests, we wanted the game to have more surprising moments and stronger emotional reactions.

New special cards

We added five special cards: Mootiply, Mooving Out, Moonopoly, Mooney, and Moogration. Each card was designed to create a different kind of dramatic moment. Mootiply helps the smallest farm by doubling its cows, which gives losing players a chance to catch up. Mooving Out forces every farm to return 3 cows to the community, which weakens players who are far ahead. Moonopoly lets a player take the Mooney card directly, making it a rare shortcut to a powerful move. Mooney allows a player to buy out another player’s farm and take all their cows, creating a huge comeback or betrayal moment. Moogration makes all farms rotate, with the player choosing the direction, which adds chaos and strategic timing.

These special cards made the game feel less predictable. They also helped solve a problem we noticed in earlier playtests: once one player became too far ahead, the game could feel decided too early. By adding comeback and reset mechanics, the game stayed interesting until the end. At the same time, we kept these cards rare so they would feel exciting instead of making the game too random.

 

Playtest 5: In-class, July 9th Special Cards and Comeback Mechanics

On our final playtest, mainly with players who had not played the game before, players continued to enjoy the back and forth interactions and the cow theme of the game along with the numerous cow puns. There was a clear fantasy aesthetic as players immersed themselves in the cow theme playing along acting as ranchers and even coming up with their own cow/ranch theme jokes. The special cards also added more strategy as the players realized how powerful some of the cards could be, increasing the challenge of the game. The players felt that the game was easy enough to pick up with simple rules, but was still difficult to win. The direct quote was that the game is “easy to understand and easy to play but is difficult to win”.

Though the game felt overall fun for the players there were still several places for improvement. With the addition of more cards which were had greater rarity and the changing card balance, players didn’t know what all the cards did, and recommended having a cheat sheet with a description of each card. This was later implemented and is included below. Players also noticed that after there were no more cows in the comoonity ranch, the mayor card became useless. We since updated the rules so a Mayor card can return a cow to the commonity if it is empty. Players felt that the game would appeal best when played amongst friends and family who knew each other well, which is the target demographic, and that the game leaned more towards the fellowship aesthetic than challenge. Since most of the playtesters did not know each other, we observed less moments of fun. The moments of fun that did happen came from the two people who were already friends, validating that the game would likely be quite fun amongst friends. Our playtesters gave us this feedback explicitly, and when prompted to share if the game was fun or boring, the three who answered said fun.

Addressing the form feedback, while the card for removing 3 cows from every farm is significant in power, we found in other playtest rounds that it was less powerful than it seemed. That is because it also applies to your farm, and since there is only one card in the deck, it often gets pulled once everyone has a few farms at least. This symmetry makes the card more balanced. In terms of the ratio of blocks to normal cards, we tested several iterations as described in the playtest history and found the current 10:5:3 ratio to be the most balanced. When there are too many blocks, no one gets cows, but when there are not enough, the game is too simple. Finally, for first-order optimal strategy, we found the current balance to be ideal to maintain a level of minimalism in the challenge of the game that the target audience enjoys. It allows the players to socialize in between turns, which is ideal for our target audience of friends and family.

 

Final Game Components

Mooney Ranch

Mooney Ranch is a fun cow-centered game for friends and family where 3-10 players work to grow and defend their ranch while keeping other players’ ranches in check. Everyone starts with one cow and can steal cows from other players, take from the community ranch, block other players’ moves, and even risk it all to win big and buy out another player’s ranch.

Components 

1. Cow pieces
2. Cards
   1. Sheriff
   2. Outlaw
   3. Saloon
   4. Merchant
   5. Mayor
   6. Special Cards
      1. Moogration
      2. Mootiply
      3. Moonopoly
      4. Mooney
3. Ranch placemats
4. Six sided dice

 

Cow Pieces and dice

 

All card types

Placemats for comoonity and individual ranches

Rules

1. Players: 3-10 
2. Everyone takes a ranch placemat and puts it in front of them. Each player starts with 1 cow on their ranch. There are “comoonity cows” in the center of the table, specifically 3 times the number of players.
3. There are 50 cards total, shuffled in the center of the table. Everyone draws 3 to begin, and each player knows only their own cards.
4. Each player takes a turn, rotating clockwise. At the beginning of their turn, they draw a card, then can play one card.
5. When a card is played, other players may respond to that player’s card with one of their own, when appropriate based upon the card type.
6. The card types are as follows, with their abilities:
   1. Outlaw: The Outlaw allows a player to take a cow from someone else’s ranch. It is blocked if that target player plays a Saloon card.
   2. Mayor: The Mayor allows a player to take one “comoonity cow” and place it in their ranch. If no cows remain in the “comoonity”, the Mayor can take a cow from someone else’s ranch and put it back in the “comoonity”. This card is blocked if any player plays a Sheriff card.
   3. Saloon: The Saloon allows a player to block another player from taking their cow. In addition, it can also be used to block another player’s Sheriff card, in effect “blocking the block”.
   4. Sheriff: The Sheriff allows any player to block a player’s Mayor card. However, the Sheriff can be blocked by a Saloon card, in effect blocking the Sheriff’s attempt to block the Mayor. Sheriff and Saloon can be played back and forth, alternating, each blocking the other.
   5. Merchant: The Merchant allows the player to either: (1) draw three new cards, or (2) roll a six-sided die. If they roll a 6, they get the money card. If another player has the money card, they can steal it.
   6. Money card: When played, the money piece allows the player to “buy out” another player’s farm, taking all of their cows. This can only be played when it is the player’s turn. The money piece then returns to the center.
   7. Special cards: Each special card only appears once in the deck.
      1. Moogration: All farms rotate, player chooses direction.
      2. Moonopoly: Player can take the mooney card.
      3. Mooving Out: Three cows from all farms return to the comoonutiy.
      4. Mootiply: The smallest farm doubles in size.
7. Once there are no more cards to draw, and the player who took the last card finishes their turn, the player left with the most cows wins.

 

Video of Final Playtest

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp7iBZyDdDI

 

Moments:

1. 4:52 – Less than five minutes in, the Socializer and Achiever player archetypes come to the forefront as competition and jokes build.
2. 11:23 – The special cards create renewed interest in the gameplay by introducing new game dynamics that disrupt the game symmetry about 10 minutes in. 
3. 14:36 – The game balances skill and luck by allowing one player to attempt to gain a luck-based advantage by rolling the dice.
4. 22:56 – New inter-personal dynamics develop as players reference historical gameplay.
5. 23:42 – The game continues, still promoting jokes around the cow theme and a sense of fellowship mixed with competition.

 

AI Disclosure

We leveraged AI to make a green pasture placeholder image for the ranch as a placeholder during a few intermediate playtesting rounds. This was later replaced by a hand-drawn ranch. All other drawings were original without any AI assistance.