Week 8 - Re-Envisioning Game Mechanics

Type:Rider’s Learning Objectives

Learning Objective 1:

Students will navigate a digital environment, analyzing their surroundings to formulate strategies to overcome challenges.

Learning Objective 2:

Students will classify individual characters of historical typography.

Learning Objective 3:

Students will examine information on the history of typography.

Game Mechanics

Mechanic One: Obstacles / Challenges

This mechanic is closely linked to Learning Objective 1. Navigating obstacles is extremely vital to the gameplay of Type: Rider. A player must use inductive reasoning through observations, trial and error risk taking, and fail states to figure out how to obtain certain items within the game’s environment. That player must use that information to avoid obstacles such as bards, electrified objects, or gun fire. This is the most important mechanic I would like to translate to an analog game because it largely encourages higher-order learning.    

Rotating object squish or smash you on the ceiling if timed wrong

Electrified marquee (kills you if you land on it while electrified)

Challenge I'm currently stuck on (It doesn't let you see where your going next)

Mechanic Two: Collecting Items

This mechanic is related to Learning Objective 1 and Learning Objective 2 and closely interacts with Mechanic One. A player navigates obstacles to collect items (typographical characters) within the game environment. Type: Rider is divided into levels, referred to as “chapters”, with each level focusing on a different typographical font from history. Within each chapter, a player’s main goal is to collect all “characters” –which consists of letters, asterisks, and ampersands from that particular font- while avoiding obstacles to complete that level. A player can choose to complete the game without collecting all of these items, but in doing so, they receive a lower grade on the “chapter”.  I would like to translate this mechanic to analog but expand on it so that players must use collect all items to win the game.   

On my way to collect a character!

Partially completed chapter

Completed chapter: Grade Aa!

Mechanic Three: Delivering educational information

This mechanic is related to Learning Objective 3. Within each chapter of Type: Rider, there are six asterisks a player can collect. With each asterisk obtained, information about that chapter’s typographical font is provided. As with Mechanic Two, a player can choose to complete a chapter without collecting all six asterisks, but again, they will receive a lower grade on those “chapters”. I would like to translate this mechanic to analog but again expand on it so that a player must apply this information learned to progress within the game.  

Information Examples gained from asterisks

Analog Game Ideas

To incorporate at least one mechanic mentioned above. Objective must remain the same as original game. Description of ideas: what form will game take? What materials? How do players interact? What concerns do you have about design?

Game Idea 1: Board Game

The main mechanic I’d want to translate for a board game would be “collecting items”. For a board game, I would pick one “chapter” of Type: Rider and its corresponding typographical font and make a card for each of the font’s characters, based on the art from the video game. Ideally, I’d love to incorporate all “chapters” from the game but think for this type of game, one level would suffice, and then additional levels could be future expansion packs. I envision a cooperative game in which 2-4 players take turns rolling a die (or two) for movement across the board. Each spot on the board would feature art from the “chapter” selected for the game. The spots would be divided between ”character” spots – where a player collects one of the font pieces – and “obstacle” spots – where players either lose collected pieces or must complete a task to keep their piece. The game would end when the team collects all “characters” for that font or if they lose all pieces, losing the game! My biggest concern for this design would be that it leaves the game up to chance, and that the game does not include any higher-level learning. It would be possible to incorporate the other mechanics, and by doing so, this would integrate higher-order thinking, but I’m not sure how I would do that at this stage.

Game Idea 2: Deck Building Game

I’m actually far more passionate about this idea and I think I will actually attempt to create this game in the near future. I think a deck building game would allow for me to easily incorporate all three mechanics, ensuring both a challenging game that is engaging and encouraging higher-order learning. First, I envision the game being a competitive game between 2-4 players. Like my board game idea, this version of the game would include just one “chapter” from the video game and future expansion packs could feature additional “chapters”.

Each player’s goal is to collect all “characters” from the typographical font chosen for the game (including all letters and asterisks). The first player to collect them all, wins. I envision splitting the character cards into 3-4 categories, with each category having different advantages (or special powers). The players will take turns, in which they can choose to draw a card from either the “character” deck or the “action” deck. For the “character” deck, I’d like the player to complete some sort of challenge to obtain the letter, so they don’t just get them for doing nothing. I’d love suggestions on what I could do for this aspect!

The “action” deck is necessary for players to progress, and ultimately, complete the game. It will have the art of various obstacles from the video game (such as a rolling boulder or a timed puzzle), in which a player must take on an obstacle through “characters” they have collected (each character card will have a different “special ability” for combating obstacle.) This deck will also include random events that may positively or negatively affect the players progress in the game. Finally, this deck will also include the asterisks randomly shuffled throughout, with the objective being the winner must collect at least six to win. This aspect is actually one I’d love some feedback on as I’m not sure how I’d get it to work, how many asterisks should be included in the deck based on the number of players, etc. For a player to obtain an asterisk, they will have to answer a question on the card related to the information provided in the game (such as: what civilization was the Cuneiform Writing discovered?) Therefore, that means this game would only be played as a review to this content being covered in the classroom.

My biggest concern with this game overall is how I’d get all of the aspects to run smoothly. How many types of obstacles do I need? How do I know how many asterisks need to be in the deck, relative to the number of players? Should I incorporate some type of “bank” in relation to the “character” deck, and if so, how do players “buy” a new character? Should I remove the random events that positively / negatively effect players as they are entirely up to chance? I’d love feedback on some of these questions!