I will try to explain the prototype I made by going through the formal and dramatic elements that are defined in the book Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton:

• Players: This game needs two players and does not have any special requirements.
• Objective: A player has to move the marbles to the two squares with the same color as your own on the farther side of the board.
• Procedures:
  • When the game starts, each player takes 3 cards from the bunch. The youngest player starts.
    

    Prototype Turn & Move

  • Each turn:
    • The player lays down one of his action cards.
    • The number on the card represents the number of actions the player can use this turn.
    • The player either moves his marble on another board piece in the direction of the arrow of the card he is standing on
    • OR
    • Rotates a card on the board with 90°.
    • Each of these procedures – move or rotate – cost 1 action.
    • When the player runs out of actions, he takes one action card from the bunch.
    • The turn goes to the other player.
  • When a player strikes the other player, the stroke marble goes back to the beginning.
  • When a player lays down a rotate-a-row card, he can use this card to turn all the cards clockwise or counter clockwise in a horizontal or vertical row.
• Rules:
  • A player is allowed to move a marble or rotate a cards in the same turn.
  • A player is allowed to move both marbles in the same turn.
  • A player can not rotate the card where he or she is standing on.
  • A player can rotate a card twice (180°) but it will still cost 2 actions.
  • A player can move on a card from all sides but can only move off at the side where the arrow is pointing at.
  • Board cards with a no-rotation icon can never be rotated.
  • When a marble is struck, the attacker chooses to which beginning it is going back.
  • The direction in which the player has to rotate all the cards with a rotate-a-row card depends on what the card says, CW or CCW.
  • Once a player is ‘home’ or at his begin spot he can not be struck.
  • A red marble can not stand on a blue card.
• Conflict: What causes conflict in this game is that both players have to move in opposite direction while they can only move in 1 direction from each card on the board. This results in players irritating each other and making sure the other player doesn’t reach his goal.
• Boundaries: The boundaries of the game lie withing the physical board, cards and marbles but interaction also take place between the two players.
• Outcome: One of the players wins and the other loses. There is no draw.

Dramatic elements:

• Challenge: What creates challenge in this game is the urge to win from your opponent.
• Play: The only sense of play that emerges from this game is the freedom of rotating any card on the board, including cards that are right in front of the opposing player. This is more social play than formal play.
• Premise/character/story: This game doesn’t really have any premise, character or story, unless a player imagines one himself.

Time from idea to ‘final’ prototype: 45 minutes.

So what did I learn? It’s better to have more control over what the player gets and can do and leave less to chance. This way, the player has enough choice and is able to plan and make strategies. I also learned that a lot of my decisions were made to make the game monkey proof, for people trying to explore the boundaries of the game and hunting for ways to win – fair or unfair.

And is it fun to play? Hell yeah!

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