Philip Hoare
Oneiro
Board Game Vertical Slice | 2022
Tools
Trello, LucidSpark
Skills
Board Game Design, Leadership, Board Game Development and Production, Mechanics Design, Version Control, Playtesting
A vertical slice of a single player board game where the player must build a deck of cards, to defeat an area boss, by traversing a board that can be unfolded to access a different world. The overworld provides small buffs, like an increase in health, but if the player chooses they can unfold the dream world for greater rewards. In the dream world the player can pick up powerful cards for the boss fight, however, it is a risk as some pick ups may damage the player. Each of the dream world areas use a different art style and become more abstract and surreal as the player gets further along the board.
When developing this game I took on a project lead role where I managed an artist, mechanics designer and narrative designer. I learnt a lot about the logistics of creating a game in a team, and how important specific pipelines and processes are to work efficiently in game development. I also learnt how to run effective weekly meetings where the group would update on each part of the game, to keep everyone informed on the progress of the project.
Early Idea Generation
Boss Fight
The boss fight took place at the end of the vertical slice; in the full game there would be 4, one at the end of each area. We chose to make this a card battle revolving around damaging each other's happiness, as managing happiness between the overworld and the dream world was already a key part of the game. We playtested this part a lot to balance the cards, costs and happiness levels to ensure it was fun but challenging, as this was the culmination of everything in the game and where players could see their choices pay off.
Rulebook
As well as managing the team, I was responsible for the design of the rulebook and writing the rules in a clear, concise way.
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