In our 1st week we had to think up and make a board game in 15minutes; the game I thought of was "Cops and Robbers". Cops and Robbers was a very basic game; which is played on a 36square board with various squares having instructions on them for ex: Move foward X amount of spaces.
The rules of the game is as follows :-
2-4 players
One player plays the Cops, and the other player plays the Robbers
At the start of the game each player rolls the dice to determine who goes first
Players move around the board clockwise
Cops start on the police station square; if the cops land on the robbers hideout square they raid the hideout and gain a extra turn.
Robbers start on the get away square; if the robbers land on the jail square there is a jail break and the robbers gain a extra turn.
The cops roll 2 dice for their turn (one white for moving back and one blue for moving foward; they may only choose one of the dice for their movement, and the robbers roll one dice for their movement and can only move foward.
Objective of the game:-
The Cops objective of the game is to land on the same square as the robbers; when they do this they catch the robbers and the game ends with the cops being the winners.
The Robbers objective is to go around the board 3times and to pass the hideout square after the third time round.
When I first tested this game with Rob, it wasn't fairly successful as rob lost in two turns; so I made a few changes by altering some Squares to not make the game end so fast. I then tested the game again as a 2player game and it worked really well was a very intense game of cat and mouse; So I then decided to test it with 4players and the game didn't seem to work as well as it did in two players.
I got some feedback on how to improve the game; the feedback was to make the play board bigger and to add maybe some alternative routes to provide more choice for movement. I decided to improve on this and thought about making alleyways which will lead to other squares and to include a benefit/drawbacks for using them; the benefits are that the robbers do not receive a penalty for using the alleyways and get to roll 2dice for moving forward or back; while the cops can only move forward through the alleyways. I have not yet drawn up a new board to try out how these new changes will work, but I am looking forward to testing it.
Sunday 24 October 2010
Sunday 10 October 2010
Paidea vs Ludus
This blog entry is about Paidea and Ludus, the meanings of these words are as follows Paidea - "plays" for pleasure and Ludus - more constrained by rules, with a clear outcome (eg "winning"). We were given a task to decide on a game for each of those meanings; and talk a little on why they are under that term.
The game I have decided to choose for Paidea is "Mine Craft", it is a free roaming, building, do whatever you like game; there is no aim you're purely playing for pleasure. When you start the game you are given no tasks to complete, you could start by building anything you feel like from materials around the world; maybe build a house to live in, or maybe you could hunt animals for food (which you need for recovering hp) when it gets dark you can build a torch by chopping down trees or a pick-axe to mine rocks, which makes as better material to improve your house and tools. To build the tools you have a grid of 2x2 (3x3 if you have made a workbench) in which you place the materials in a set way to build the tool or item, for example if you wanted to make a rock spade you would place 3 sticks with a rock at the top of the sticks. The only boundariesare what you set yourself, its purely playing for pleasure and therefore a perfect example of a Paidea game.
The game I have decided to choose for Ludus is "Manhunt" its a extremely controversial game due to the content of extreme violence, But i chose it due to I feel it fits Ludus pretty well. In the game you play a man called "James Earl Cash" who was set up for a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to death by injection, though he wakes up in a dark room in which he is spoken to by the "director" and forced to play a game of cat and mouse in order to save his family and to earn his freedom back he has to carry out the instructions you are giving to you by the "director" if you don't follow the instructions he gives you, you cannot progress further into the game, the instructions the "director" gives you are from not getting spotted by the enemy as you make your way through a level to killing people in a extreme manner. I feel this game fits Ludus pretty well.
We also have 4 other words in which are used to talk about games which are Agon (competition), Alea (Chance/randomness), Ilinx (movement) and Mimicry (simulation,make-believe, role-play) a game that fits all these meanings in my opinion is "World of Warcraft" you have Agon which is the competition between other guilds to progress faster than each other to get server 1st's or the competition of the arena to get the highest rank and be the best.
It also has Alea as you have the chance/randomness of the "loot" that drops from mobs and bosses or if a "rare" mob will spawn, also you can roll on items which also adds to the chance and randomness.
Ilnx as you have the whole world to move around in either by foot, or a ground mount, even by flying either on a airship or a flying mount like a nether drake.
Mimicry as it's a make believe world you play in, or if you so choose you can play on a role playing server in which people act as there character in how they would speak and act.
I have found it interesting to learn about these words and what they mean, also the way they could be used to explain about games.
The game I have decided to choose for Paidea is "Mine Craft", it is a free roaming, building, do whatever you like game; there is no aim you're purely playing for pleasure. When you start the game you are given no tasks to complete, you could start by building anything you feel like from materials around the world; maybe build a house to live in, or maybe you could hunt animals for food (which you need for recovering hp) when it gets dark you can build a torch by chopping down trees or a pick-axe to mine rocks, which makes as better material to improve your house and tools. To build the tools you have a grid of 2x2 (3x3 if you have made a workbench) in which you place the materials in a set way to build the tool or item, for example if you wanted to make a rock spade you would place 3 sticks with a rock at the top of the sticks. The only boundariesare what you set yourself, its purely playing for pleasure and therefore a perfect example of a Paidea game.
The game I have decided to choose for Ludus is "Manhunt" its a extremely controversial game due to the content of extreme violence, But i chose it due to I feel it fits Ludus pretty well. In the game you play a man called "James Earl Cash" who was set up for a crime he didn't commit and sentenced to death by injection, though he wakes up in a dark room in which he is spoken to by the "director" and forced to play a game of cat and mouse in order to save his family and to earn his freedom back he has to carry out the instructions you are giving to you by the "director" if you don't follow the instructions he gives you, you cannot progress further into the game, the instructions the "director" gives you are from not getting spotted by the enemy as you make your way through a level to killing people in a extreme manner. I feel this game fits Ludus pretty well.
We also have 4 other words in which are used to talk about games which are Agon (competition), Alea (Chance/randomness), Ilinx (movement) and Mimicry (simulation,make-believe, role-play) a game that fits all these meanings in my opinion is "World of Warcraft" you have Agon which is the competition between other guilds to progress faster than each other to get server 1st's or the competition of the arena to get the highest rank and be the best.
It also has Alea as you have the chance/randomness of the "loot" that drops from mobs and bosses or if a "rare" mob will spawn, also you can roll on items which also adds to the chance and randomness.
Ilnx as you have the whole world to move around in either by foot, or a ground mount, even by flying either on a airship or a flying mount like a nether drake.
Mimicry as it's a make believe world you play in, or if you so choose you can play on a role playing server in which people act as there character in how they would speak and act.
I have found it interesting to learn about these words and what they mean, also the way they could be used to explain about games.
Tuesday 5 October 2010
A look into childrens educational games.
Today's entry is for about a look into childrens educational games, the game we took a look at was a shape game on the bitesize website.
Endogeous meaning -
The objects that have meaning within the game are the shapes that you have to select to answer your question and the suprise behind the curtain.
Evaluation -
My evaluation of the game is that it is very basic and simple, It is educational although children could just keep selecting until they come to the correct answer which doesn't really teach the children, I think a solution to this problem is that it could tell you why the answer you selected was wrong and try to help you come to the correct answer, Also a reward system would add more longevity to the game such as a point system if you got all the answers correct you should get a little reward such as a bonus mini game or maybe a little print out certificate.
Here is a link to the game : - http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/shapes/index.shtml
We had to analyse the game and form a evaluation of the game based on various merits.
The merits are as follows :-
- Interaction
- Goal
- Interaction
- Goal
- Struggle
- Structure
- endogeous meaning
- overall evaluation
Interaction -
Interaction is the selecting the shapes, and a purposeful selection of the correct shape.
Goal -
Goal -
The goal of the game is to select the correct shape for every stage, in which there are 5 in total. After all 5 stages are completed your reward is to see whats being created behind the curtain.
Struggle -
Struggle -
The struggle of the game is to choose the correct object out of the 3 objects, though there are no bad consequences for the wrong answer other than having to repeat the question.
Structure -
Structure -
The structure of the game is very linear, as in you answer the question you move on to the next question, guess the wrong answer you repeat the same question again.
Endogeous meaning -
The objects that have meaning within the game are the shapes that you have to select to answer your question and the suprise behind the curtain.
Evaluation -
My evaluation of the game is that it is very basic and simple, It is educational although children could just keep selecting until they come to the correct answer which doesn't really teach the children, I think a solution to this problem is that it could tell you why the answer you selected was wrong and try to help you come to the correct answer, Also a reward system would add more longevity to the game such as a point system if you got all the answers correct you should get a little reward such as a bonus mini game or maybe a little print out certificate.
Monday 4 October 2010
Interview Questions
Hello I'm Steve welcome to my Blog, today we got set a task to pair up with a partner and to ask some set questions to find out about each others tastes in art and culture then to post the answer I gave here on this blog.
Here are the questions with the answers I gave :-
Q -What is the title of the book (fiction) you are currently reading (or the last fiction book you read) ?
A - The last book I read was a Bleach Manga, Which is a Anime book series about a boy called "Ichigo" who becomes a Soul Reaper and has to battle monsters called "Hollows", The plot line is exciting and fullfilling. The writers of the manga always seem to come up with new ideas which keeps the story lines fresh.
Q - What is the title/topic of the book (non - fiction) you are currently reading (or the last non - fiction book you read) ?
A - "If chins could kill : Confessions of a B movie actor" by Bruce Campbell, The book is an autobiography about the actor called Bruce Campbell who most will know as either Ash from the Evil Dead or from various parts in all 3 Spider-man films.
Q - What is the last live performance (music,drama or dance) you attended?
A - The last concert I remember going to was a friend of mine called Robert Castellani, who is a amazing guitar player.
Q - How often do you read the newspaper? (which one?)
A - I don't actually read the newspaper, It's usually all bad news.
Q - Which art gallery / museum / exhibition did you last visit?
A - I can't actually remember the last one I have been too, Though I hope sometime in the future I can go to a E3 or a Blizzcon.
Q - How many Hours do you spend playing video games?
A - Shameful answer coming up, roughly 40-50hours, mainly due to "World of Warcraft" just a little bit of addiction I swear haha. Also few other games like "Left for Dead" and "Street Fighter".
Q - How many hours do you spend playing games other than video games?
A - I would say roughly 5-10hours if i meet up with some friends we usually Play some "Magic the Gathering" which is a amazing card game.
Here are the questions with the answers I gave :-
Q -What is the title of the book (fiction) you are currently reading (or the last fiction book you read) ?
A - The last book I read was a Bleach Manga, Which is a Anime book series about a boy called "Ichigo" who becomes a Soul Reaper and has to battle monsters called "Hollows", The plot line is exciting and fullfilling. The writers of the manga always seem to come up with new ideas which keeps the story lines fresh.
Q - What is the title/topic of the book (non - fiction) you are currently reading (or the last non - fiction book you read) ?
A - "If chins could kill : Confessions of a B movie actor" by Bruce Campbell, The book is an autobiography about the actor called Bruce Campbell who most will know as either Ash from the Evil Dead or from various parts in all 3 Spider-man films.
Q - What is the last live performance (music,drama or dance) you attended?
A - The last concert I remember going to was a friend of mine called Robert Castellani, who is a amazing guitar player.
Q - How often do you read the newspaper? (which one?)
A - I don't actually read the newspaper, It's usually all bad news.
Q - Which art gallery / museum / exhibition did you last visit?
A - I can't actually remember the last one I have been too, Though I hope sometime in the future I can go to a E3 or a Blizzcon.
Q - How many Hours do you spend playing video games?
A - Shameful answer coming up, roughly 40-50hours, mainly due to "World of Warcraft" just a little bit of addiction I swear haha. Also few other games like "Left for Dead" and "Street Fighter".
Q - How many hours do you spend playing games other than video games?
A - I would say roughly 5-10hours if i meet up with some friends we usually Play some "Magic the Gathering" which is a amazing card game.
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