I’m starting to think through the mechnics of placing and/or moving the birds along positions. For now I have 2 ideas in mind:
whith levels and random.
Option 1: levels
Branches and positions are structured to form circular levels, that have more and more reduced positions from lower levels to upper ones.
The final level has just one winning position.
Levels influence on the potential combination mechanics and here are some initial thoughts on rules points that I can see for now for this layout:
- amount of available positions reduce as players progress upwards. So the mechanics must take into account this reduction and be functional
even with a small amount of positions. - there must be a rule (or particular combination) that controls and allows proceeding to the upper level
- It can be possible to surround opponent’s bird and make it yours (what can lead to processing to the next level. Maybe players can form clusters
of their birds, particular amount of which allows proceeding further. But this strategy may cause problems when the number of positions reduce. So there
must be a way to either make opponent free a position or, again, make his birds yours, but in restricted space. Will think about that)
In general this option challenges not only agility, but strategy as well.
Option 2: No strict layering
First of all there must be a principle on when it’s allowed to claim higher positions. Idea of colour-code may be of use here and play major role.
Idea a) each “level” is marked with one colour and players can proceed to next color if all positions of the previous one are taken (UPD: the game will just turn into “fill the layer as fast as you can” with no significant challenge. I will playtest it, but even now I don’t think that will work out)
Idea b) positions are marked with different colours, and player can take a higer position of a particular clolur if all the lower ones of this colour
have been claimed. (For now I think it’s the most potentially workable idea as it simplifies the game understanding. Because it to compare it with strict layering system, the rules will be easier to master as they won’t work on particular combinations. Thus, to add some strategit thinking, but not just challenge for hands ajility, some combinations can still be introduced to allow bonuses, and players will be encouraged to place birds in particular places and orders instead of doing it randomly)
What about the app and how positions will be distributed?
I’m still sticking to the project goal that new feature (origami folding) must be the main or significant element in gameplay. So the game must be not only about taking positions otherwise origami birds can be substituted with figurines. Players must work for obtainig the units to place on positions as well. And that’s where speed of making origami takes place as a challenge. Time to make them is restricted, and,
since I chose to reduce the impact of digital element on the game, the app can still play a supportive role. Of a timer, for example.
First I thoight about turn-taking, but almost immediately rejected the idea as it will take some time to fold even an easy origami, and at the same time there must be allowed even more time to fold several and place them. So the time of waiting will have to be significant at least for a couple of minutes, what will slow down the game immensely, and the second player will get bored. So time of action must be simultanious for both players for everyone to be engajed, and it general it will make the game more challenging.
So, the app can still take up the role of positions distribution, but in a much simpler way, than I thought before. Just a timer with a colour changing screen (random or not? and show time or not? – to consider). Color is active for a set period of time, during which players must fold as many birds as they can and place them on any position of that colour they like (according to rules restrictions). When colour changes, the process starts over.
To consider:
- the win position can be neutral, and before game starts, players can agree on what colour it will take
- are players obliged to take a position during the time period? Or can they use one time to make some amount of birds and the next one to place them?
If we consider criterias of hybrid element in board games such as !!!, the app can be replaced with a simple timer and a Twister-like method to randomise colous.
What about time?
I started measuring the amount of time needed for making an origami bird. First of all it’s the queston of scheme itself. Ideally I would take one from the image, that inspired me for the project idea. But I tried it myself first without a timer, and it turned out to take too much time and hard to master. So I opted for a much simpler one, that I could memorize from 2-3rd time of folding.
I took into consideration that the first time folding will take more time and less as players master it. First forlding took me about a minute, while further ones around 40 seconds. I used ordinary printing paper and big square 21×21 cm. The simple bird scheme worked very well, so I’m keeping it.
But firstly, I knew it’s possible to shorten the time and, secondly, these birds are too big to play. So I tried a much smaller square of 6×6 cm, which game me time of around 30 seconds and a small neat bird. I’m satisfied with it, but also I can think that I can use other types of paper – softer ones – because printing paper is quite dense and struggles slightly with folding.
Like tissue or Chinese rice paper. (Which arises the question of cost for potential product, but that’s not a question to consider on this stage). Than can reduce folding time even more.
So, what am I doing next?
It’s time to make a prototype to make some playtests, if gameplay ideas will work out and what problems it may have. I can already make the app, finish experiments with types of paper and decide on the timer time (which can be random in length, but to less than the time to fold one bird, which is for now 30 seconds). Then I’ll make the tree with branches that can be altered to test both gameplay options. Till next entry! 🙂