Feature Design Exercise: Part 1
Think of a feature you would like to see added to one of your favorite games. I am sure you have plenty of ideas on this one. It does not matter how far-fetched or technically difficult the idea is at first because you are not going to actually build it. Rather you are going to illustrate how it works using storyboards and words
We came to the consensus that Settlers of Catan is a game all of us have played, and one we all enjoy quite a bit, mostly because it is simple but varied enough to make repeat plays enjoyable. However, we felt one are the game falters a bit after multiple playthroughs is that it can get a bit predictable or static, and sometimes a player can feel like they just can’t get ahead due to their initial settlement placement or based on die rolls. Once roads, cities, and settlements have been placed, they remain in place for the duration of the game. A feature we would like to add to the game is for players to be able to sacrifice one of their own roads, cities, or settlements in order to destroy someone else’s. This would occur if a player could amass and play a large and complex set of resource cards (3 rock, 3 brick, and 1 of each other type). This would be a difficult and risky hand to amass, as rolling a seven would result in losing half of the cards.
The result of playing this set of cards, would be a net gain/loss as one player would lose something and another would gain the same. This feature would create a disruptive element into the game as players could sacrifice a built structure that isn’t useful anymore (say a dead end road), and cause havoc for another player. It would play into the game’s theme of diplomacy too, as a player who makes this play, could potentially lose any hope of a trading partner, increasing the riskiness of the play.
