This course focused on semantics, and starting a project by defining the end user emotions. Our group of 3 decided to have prepubescent youth as our user group, for who we aimed for the emotions of confidence, self-assurance and positive curiosity.
I took it upon myself to be in charge of game design theory, and thereby shaping a lot of the game mechanics, the process and the user tests. In the final part of the project I made most of the illustrations that ended up on the board, as well as the final presentation.
Process and methods
Having decided on our user group and end user emotions, we made an analogy to explain how our future product would affect the user group. Our analogy is that there is a ball coming straight against your head. It might be frightening and embarrasing if it hits. However, if you’re ready to catch the ball, it’ll lead to a feeling of accomplishment, pride and an invitation to play the game. We also made a user journey to help empathise with the user group and specify the situation.
Our board game process was just like out of a theory book: after completing 20 % of the game, we went straight to user testing. We had an iterative process, where we continuously tested the game and made changes based on the test results, new insights from game design theory and inspiration from successful games.
Using concepts from Bartle's Player Types, we shaped the game to fit different kinds of players and personalities, which would make it more usable in an educational setting. We also balanced the game to both reward previous knowledge and keeping the learning experience interesting for the players.
Final prototype
Chance cards
Question cards
Question cards, board and evidence collection
Entire game
Entire game
Entire game
Evidence collection, proving that the player has answered all required questions to complete the game.
Hormones, used to buy answers and short cuts.
Game rules, part 1/2
