Aims

Design goal: to create a card game with clear rules and some gameplay, taking into account details such as the number of players and the number of cards held per person if there are only 18 cards.

Player goal: to eliminate other players (collect the maximum number of cards or make others lose cards) in order to win.
Experience objective: to experience a certain level of danger at all times during the game, both in situations where the player can threaten other players and in situations where the player can be threatened by other players.

Prototype

Both the shapes of the two prototypes are in regular squad.

Prototype 1: Assimilation

1. Framework: 3x6
2. Cards: blackx9, whitex9
3. Mechanics: 
Cards of one colour will assimilate cards of another colour that are adjacent to them horizontally or vertically, which means Every time a card is flipped, the adjacent card with opposite color will be flipped as well
4. Game flow:
 a. Both players need to choose their colours.
 b. Fist scissors to decide who turns over the cards first.
 c. Play continues until there is only one colour on the table and the player whose colour is represented wins.

Prototype 2: Restriction

1. Cards:Ax6, Bx6, Cx6
2. Rules:
 a. A restrains B, B restrains C, C restrains A
 b. Two identical cards can cancel the restraint of the previous level
 c. The restrained player will be captured 
 d. Up to three players, those without cards will be eliminated

Critical Reflection

For prototype 2:

If two same cards can cancel out the previous player ‘s attack, in this condition, player 1 shows c and player 2 shows b to restraint, and player 1 held a “c”. if this player want to defend the attack, does c in the card pool count as one of the combo? If not, there will always be a lag in the previous player’s defence against the next player’s attack. It requires further playtest.

Inspiration

Conway’s Game of Life

Uno