Game Log 1 - Group Test

      Today, we gathered 6 people to refine and play 3 paper prototypes. It was fun and I especially like the part when others raised questions for the rules. For most of the time, I am so immersed in my own world when I design a game that I may ignore the feelings of players. With this opportunity to have others question my rules or give advice, I indeed learned a lot about how to improve user experience.
      I got the inspiration from "alchemy" and a traditional Chinese game (mahjong) for this rough paper prototype. It's a card game better for 3-4 players. The basic mechanisms are collection and prediction. I would like to call it "Alchemist", since I regard all the players as alchemists. Each card represents an element, players need to collect and combine them with a specific requirement to transform them into philosopher's stone (tokens). Here is the basic core of this game:

Object of this game: Be the first player to get all of your cards replaced by at least 3 tokens.

Setup:   1. Each player starts with 8 cards.
             2. Roll dice to determine starting player.

Turn:     1. Draw one card
             2. You can face down your 3 to 5 card-straights and pairs to make an exchange for a token. (People can suspect, see Challenge below)
             3. You need to either match the card on the top of the discard pile to make a straight or a pair (you can collect tokens in this way), or put down a useless card (face up)

Challenge:   If those face-down cards are true, the challenger draws 4 cards and returns 1 token.
                   If those face-down cards are false, the player returns 1 token and draw 4 cards.

      We also played another 2 prototype games. One is based on gears and mechanics. It's like a combination of puzzle and physics. You need to match the pipelines and also consider about the direction of the force. We suggested to use colors and one-way arrows to help players easily determine the directions. Also, we thought it would be better to involve time limitation inside the game.

      The other one is more like a party game. I would say the mechanism of this one is prediction. Each player gets one card from each pile: "I have___" and "True" or "Lie". Everybody needs to fill the blank and says something about themselves. (must have evidence on their phones). Each player gets to ask 1 question to the person on their right and others can challenge that person to see if he is the liar. I really like this prototype because it's close to our life and can satisfy people's curiosity to other's life in some extent. I believe this game can even be applied into the study of psychology.