Fight or Flight Paper Prototyping and Game Development

For the start of this assignment(Building Paper Prototype of a Game), I had a very different idea than my partner. I had came up with a Hunter v.s. Hunted type game idea, that involved a grid style play and was much different than how our game turned out. My partner had an idea for a Mario kart type game, so we started on a game that combined both ideas.
Fight or Flight Prototype

Original Board Prototype

How to Play
(Instructions Made Before First Play Session)

Number of Players: 2

Suggested Ages: 8+

Game Time: 5-20 minutes

Game Inventory:

First you need a token for each player(best if different), game board or paper for a game board, about 20 cards for the game, and a six-sided die to roll.

Game play:

1)Game starts with random decision of who is hunter and who is hunted.

Rock Paper Scissors (RPS), unless both players choose roles willingly.

2)Hunted will always start the game, the hunted gets to move however many spaces they roll +3 on the first roll as a head start.

3)After this each player will take turns rolling after the one another and only move the amount of spaces on the die.

4)Goal of each character is different, Hunter wants to catch hunted and Hunted wants to escape hunter.

Hunter Catches hunted
by landing on them directly, but if they pass the hunted they then become the hunted. The hunted becomes the hunter. (Second part created as first session started.

Hunted Escapes Hunter
by stepping past them, this means going around 27+ spaces.

Card spaces will give players chance to change the odds of game. Only 1 card may be kept at a time. If landing on card space while having card, draw and decide which card to keep.

Example of play: Players do RPS to figure out the initial roles. Hunted will go first with a head start of +3 to their roll.

First Session...Creation and Testing the Waters

We went with the round board, like a race track/circuit and then created spaces(27 exactly). I had the idea to use cards in my original game, so we decided to put that into our game and made card spaces throughout the board(I decided to use a sequence to place card spaces). After that we decided on what to put on the cards and started to play our first round.

After setting up the game and deciding roles we took off with my partner as Hunted and I as the Hunter. At first the Hunter just had to land on or pass the hunted to win, but this brought up some new ideas for me quickly being that Hunter would swap roles with Hunted when they pass them(Giving a new dynamic to the game, making it much more even). From here the game went on with us trying to define how cards are properly used and continuously swapping roles provoking an ongoing hunt. The first game ended in my victory, it was very insightful to what the game could be and what it needed to be more fun.

My First Taste of Victory

Changes/Overview after 1st session

Added to game:

Game map changed 21 spaces now, same card space distribution(Sequence +3,+5,+2)

• Gave a more even playing field for hunted and made the mechanics more enjoyable.

New types of spaces, Terrain may be applied to have areas with:
Cover(Tall Grass/Tree): where hunter cannot catch the hunted when landed on here.
Stall(Water/Mud): takes 2 steps to get out if landed on. ( -1 from dice roll)
Skip(Open Plains): Hunter can avoid taking this step or take it.(skip space if wanted)

• Helped to enhance variety and chance in game.

New Rules:

Hunted is caught Hunter by stepping on them, this means going around 21 spaces back to where hunter is but instead of passing them to safety, one lands directly on the hunter.

• Gave a negative dynamic for the Hunted player when they almost win, in this case the Hunter has a chance to have a positive effect happen when the hunted is close to escaping and gets an unfortunate roll.
• Before the Hunter only had this negative dynamic when close to catching the hunted, but passing the hunted with an overshot roll and swapping roles.

Changed play dead to include stalk for hunter, meaning if hunter is passed while stalk is played, they are still the hunter.

• Made game feel more equal sided, so hunter could not get a useless card.

Took out of game:

Pick any card

• Seemed unfair to either player.

Cards for first Fight or Flight prototype

Second Session, with Friend(Roommate)

This second playing session(first after revisions), was a blast to play with my roommate. To start, I thoroughly went over the rules and concepts of the games in far too much detail to my roommate(He understood the game quickly but i blabbered on about the mechanics and development). The rules were not difficult for him to understand, and soon we chose characters and were playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who would be hunter or hunted.

Second prototype of game board(21 spaces and terrain added)

I won the RPS match, and promptly chose hunter(I(Gorilla) was going to devour my own roommate(Lion)). He started the game with a good head start and was able to keep away from me for a while, but it didn’t take me more than 5 turns to catch up to him. Cards were being played left and right, causing sprinting and halts of characters. Sometimes the terrain became a turning point of the game, and in fact Open Plains terrain was where the game was won.

When things started to get close, he was able to escape me for a few extra turns due to terrain complications on my part and the clever card playing of my roommate. When I finally caught up with him again, the odds turned on me as I passed the lion and he then became the hunter, but then quickly we again swapped roles as he passed me...This was getting to be a tense game of cat and mouse, but our roles were being randomly swapped.

Again I found myself being chased by the lion, and I hopefully used my sprint card after rolling to get a +2 boost on my roll. This landed me in the Open Plains with the lion not too far behind(3-4 spaces), and I knew he had the choice of whether or not he wanted to use a step walking over the Open Plains terrain. He silenced for the roll, then slowly rolled the die...side by side it rolled till losing all momentum and landing on a 4. The rest was Darkness………..

Overview of 2nd Session:

My roommate liked the game, gave it a good review and said he liked the swapping dynamic of the game. I Enjoyed the second round even though I didn’t win. It was awesome to see someone else enjoy the work I made and put effort into, and I was really happy with the changes I made. I might add more terrain spots or something else, but in the meantime I want others to try this secondary prototype.

Third Session with Classmate...Revelations & Such

This session turned out to be quite informational and most importantly fun! After trying out my partners game and giving my thoughts to her about it and dealing with a fire drill, we started up a game of Fight or Flight.

Partners Game Board

I decided to be the hippo, fearsome yet adorable, and my opponent choose the stork, elegant yet dangerous. Our RPS match ended with me victorious, so I choose to be Hunter and the game started with my opponent, the hunted fleeing away from the start. Here we came to an interesting issue/dynamic, my opponent only rolled a 2 plus the 3 for head start, I then I rolled a 5 and won the game in my first move.

*This pointed out a major flaw in the game, that hunted could easily lose within the first turn and this is unfair. To fix this I proposed that the head start could be increased, maybe even up to +6 on the first roll, for it would be impossible to be caught on the first turn of the hunter that way.

We decided to play another round with the same head start rules that were originally in place, and my opponent wanted to be hunted (Hoping to redeem herself after that quick loss). This round luckily did not end so fast, and was quite enjoyable for the two of us. It was a close chase to start with, where I got close to catching her a few times, but kept losing her right before. Then I got stuck in a mud space and she started to get a large lead of about 15 steps, but I got a few large rolls and helpful cards that put me back in the chase.

Then I over shot landing on her, and the odds had flipped on me...this happened a couple of times with my opponent and I swapping roles, until I got a decent lead in front as hunted. Sadly this was my downfall, soon after this my opponent landed directly on me and the game was over, I had been caught.

We played a few more rounds after this and had an even distribution of wins and initial starts (we both started as Hunter and Hunted twice).

Overview of 3rd Session:

This session was helpful in letting me know that my game could actually be fun and that it could still use some extra tweaks before being perfect. Most importantly it made me think about what I could to fix the issue of the Hunter being able to win so fast.

My opponent/partner  for class told me that it could be fun to add a few modifications:

1. Bigger board/more spaces to play on, and to go with this maybe an extra die or even a die with more sides. (Possible fix for original board size)
2. More terrains on the board spaces to have more things that happen.
3. Make the game work with more than 2 people (this was interesting to me, and I want to try it out).

Also playing my opponent's game gave me some insight to what I could add or take away from my game to better appeal to larger audience of players.

Ex:

Multiple Hunted to start with and 1 hunter for more than 2 players, giving the game more of a herd hunt dynamic.

Have equal character distribution and have captured Hunted turn to Hunters and passes hunters turn to hunted till all are the same. (Zombie/takeover/control dynamic)

How to Play, Rules, and Example
(After Prototyping)

Number of Players: 2

Suggested Ages: 8+

Game Time: 5-20 minutes

Game Inventory:

• 1- two tokens are needed, a token for each player(best if different),
• 2- 20 cards (Amount of each card in Section 5a),
• 3- a six-sided die, and
• 4- Board with oval shape and 21 spaces.
• One space labeled start, and then game play moves clockwise. →
• Card space every +3, +5, +2 spaces on board, from the start clockwise.
• Terrain spaces: (Start is 1st space)
• Slow(Water/mud) on 5th and 13th spaces
• Cover(Tall Grass) on 10th and 20th spaces
• Skip(Open Plains) on 7th and 17th spaces

Second edition of game board.

Game play:

1)Initial Role Selection:

Game starts with random decision of who is hunter and who is hunted.

Rock Paper Scissors (RPS), unless both players choose roles willingly.

2)First Move:

Both players start at the space labeled start. Hunted will always start the game, the hunted gets to move however many spaces they roll +6 on the first roll as a head start.

3)After the First Move:

Each player will take turns rolling after the one another and only move the amount of spaces on the die(Unless a card effect or terrain states differently).

4)Goal of Each Character:

is different, Hunter wants to catch hunted and Hunted wants to escape hunter.

Hunter Catches hunted

By landing on them directly, but if they pass the hunted they then become the hunted. The hunted becomes the hunter.

Hunted Escapes Hunter

By stepping past them, this means going ahead of your opponent on the board. If the Hunted lands on the Hunter, they lose.

5)Card Spaces:

will give players chance to change the odds of game. Only 1 card may be kept at a time. If landing on card space while having card, draw and decide which card to keep.

Card Space Distribution sequence, One card space every +3, +5, +2 spaces on board.

5a)Card Effects/Skills that players can use(Number next to name is amount in deck):

Trap/Sacrifice(4):

Opponent’s next move is -3 from their roll, cannot be negative. Move >= 0, always

Sprint(4):

+ 1-2 steps on your turn. Can be played when picked up or on another turn before or after a roll. (Amount of steps can differ from card to card)

Power sprint(3):

+3 steps this turn, and -1 step next turn. Can be played when picked up or on another turn before or after a roll.

Play Dead/Stalk(3):

(Hunted) player is assumed dead this turn, if opponent lands on them they are not killed.

(Hunter) player is hidden this turn, if opponent passes them, they do no escape.

Fight or flight(4): +1-2 step on opponents turn. (Amount of steps can differ from card to card)

Turn of the Odds(2): hunter and hunted swap roles. (Could also be a space on map)

6)Terrain spaces:

On board, Terrain may be applied to have spaces with effects:

Cover(Tall grass): Where hunter cannot catch the hunted when landed on here.

Stall(Water/Mud): Takes 2 steps to get out if landed on. ( -1 from dice roll)

Skip(Open Plains): Hunter can avoid taking this step or take it.(skip space if wanted)

7)Example of Play:

Players do RPS to figure out the initial roles. Hunted will go first with a head start of +6 to their roll. Hunter then rolls their move. Players continue to roll one after another. Hunted gets caught in mud, and plays their “play dead” to avoid being caught be the close by hunter. Hunter take a roll of 1, leaving them right behind the hunted. Hunted rolls a 1, but is in mud so move is reduced to 0. Hunter then rolls a 2 moving right past the hunted, causing their roles to swap. The new Hunter new rolls a 2, still in the mud this counts as 2-1 = 1 step landing them on the Hunted and getting them a victory.