Board games? More like bored games...
The Workshop
In this workshop, we created board games with one rule in mind: there has to be some type of race/competition to a finish line. We also had to use little game pieces and dice. Other than that, we had complete control over what the game looked like and what the rules were.
We worked in groups of 3-4 students. In my group, my partners and I decided to make a monopoly-style game in which the players move linearly through the board, and when they reach certain shapes/colors, they must either move forward or backward. As VT students, we decided to make our game VT-themed with little VT-based designs such as the drill-field, Burruss Hall, Torgerson bridge, and Hokie stone. Our game is the first image shown below. The second image shows another game from a different group.
Reflection
This was much more entertaining and complex than I had originally assumed. Coming up with an idea, especially as a group, was really hard. Sometimes it felt like we all weren't on the same page, and this affected the speed with which we could put the game together. Also, when drawing the actual game, we'd keep making mistakes and had to make changes accordingly.
One big issue we faced was trying to make the game interesting and exciting. We wanted to be able to create a competitive, fun environment that lasted the entire duration of the game. Many times, with a "race" style game, when one person gets really behind, they'll feel hopeless and just give up. However, when you add little twists and turns throughout the entire game, it leaves the game up to chance.
In our group reflection, this concept of chance came up a lot. This was a big factor in the board game because race-style board games do not require skill to be competitive, therefore any age or skill level could play. This makes the game always fun and unpredictable.
The way we chose to implement chance within our game was by adding "slides" of Hokie stone which let the player either move up or down when they landed on the stone. Our inspiration for this came from the slides and ladders games. This would cause someone who was far in the game to possibly drop back down closer to the start line, or cause someone who was behind to jump forward. One issue we realized when playing one round of the game was that someone in the middle of one of the Hokie stone "slides" could move up or down, but would most likely choose to move up. We resolved this by adding in the rules that someone in the middle of the Hokie stone "slides" couldn't move either way- you must be on either of the ends to use it. In a different version, I would have it so the stone does not go through the board like that. We also realized that we needed to add more slides so that it would increase the chance factor and make the game more entertaining.
Applications
I started researching other games and there are a LOT... I wasn't aware. They all basically fall under the same types of categories. Some were a race-style, some were mission-based, others were like a puzzle-style. I was more interested in finding games that aren't the normal type of board game that involve a dice and game piece.
Image Source: Living with Technology (1)
One of the things that intrigued me was the tablet board games. The picture above is an example of a tablet board game. I thought this is a really cool idea because it allows the board game to just be an app that you can download. Therefore, you don't need to buy 10 different board games and always remember to bring them to the party- you can just bring your tablet. I always know about game apps, but most of them are one-player or multi-player only if each person has their own phone. What I like about this form is that everyone can still gather around the "board" and have that same unifying experience that a normal board game.
Another interesting version of a board game was a projected board game. In specific, a company called Tangible Entertainment Projection System (TEPOS) creates games for the elderly. The idea is that now they don't need to carry multiple games around, they just have to carry the one mini projector.
Image Source: Projected Chess Set (2)
In the image above, the people are shown playing chess, but other games can be projected as well. Just like the tablet version, this one system can hold many different types of games.
Finally, the last cool game set I saw was the Vacuum Tube Chess Set that glows when you move the pieces around. As you put the piece into the socket, it will light up, which gives it a cool aesthetic and a nice way to integrate technology into the normal-style board game.
I really like seeing these various ways of integrating technology into a board game.
Image Source: Vacuum Tube Chess Set (3)
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