They'd find exploits and pain points, and offered candid feedback that was invaluable in honing the edges of the design. In preparing for an online publisher "speed dating" event, I relied heavily on this group to play through ideas. Hearing that some of their designs had been published was a huge confidence builder that it could be done. By happy accident, Max Xuereb, the organizer of the group I'd joined, turned out to be one of the judges in the 2016 Canadian Game Design contest we had entered! The group was incredibly helpful, offered candid insight, and has been ever supportive of the game. Riding the thrill of development, I sought out a local game design group in Victoria, BC and got a new prototype together. This helped us make decisions such as removing an entire card market for "basic" cards (as pictured above). I was able to look at old feedback from playtesters and the contest judges with an open mind and less attachment to the game. With time away from the project, it became easier to cut and change elements that were getting in the way of our design goals. We lived and worked in an area without cell reception and limited internet access, so I had no trouble roping them in as testers. The board was drawn straight onto the table and erased/edited as needed - it was quick and messy, but allowed for rapid iteration.Ī test among friends at Strathcona Park Lodge. Sebrans ABC is a powerful, free Windows game, being part of the category PC games with subcategory Kids Games (more specifically Educational). Along the edges, each player would allocate pawns (their sailors) to different roles on their ship: navigation, rigging, and cannons. Twelve kids games, ideal for 4 to 9 year olds. In the game shown below, the horizontal knight pieces were ships, the white poker chips depicted currents you'd slide along, and the upright chess pieces were rocks. My groupmates and I had completely missed the mark in our first submission, straying so far from worker placement as to become action selection and having implemented an out-of-scope naval combat element. In this introductory course, the focus was on the game design process rather than the game itself. There were to be multiple rounds of deliverables highlighting research, development, testing, and documentation. The assignment was simple: Create a game that combined both deck-building and worker-placement mechanisms. Peter Gorniak was the course professor, and I was a part of the group that had submitted the game. Seas of Havoc was originally a school project called "Sloops!" and was built out of LEGO, craft foam, and rocks from a campus planter. This is the journey from school project to published product and the people whose love for games and community brought it to life. What seemed impossible in 2013 - getting a game signed and shared with the world - became a possibility through their mentorship, selfless generosity, and support. It was through this course and subsequent development of the game that I discovered the welcoming community of tabletop gamers, designers, and playtesters to whom I owe a great deal. Seas of Havoc is a project that started in 2013 as a challenge for students of a game design course.
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