I tested my early barebones prototype of a card game today! When I first started to conceptualize this game last weekend, I thought that my extensive experience in both online and tabletop gaming would making the design process a breeze. Well, it turns about that crafting game mechanics is more challenging than I anticipated. After some intense brain-squeezing sessions, I pieced together a concept for a social deduction game I’m calling “Spycraft.” Here’s an overview of this barebones very early iteration of what I’m working on:
Game Components:
Role Cards: Each player randomly selects a role card that defines their character for the game. Example roles could include: Spy, Diplomat, Hacker, Journalist.
Character Traits: Alongside the role, each player is assigned traits that suggest specific behaviors or styles of communication they should exhibit, like “charismatic”, “suspicious”, or “secretive.”
Conversation Cues: Prompts that help start interactions, such as “What brought you here tonight?” or “I heard you have information on the upcoming tech launch.
Basic Rules:
Setup: Each player draws one role card which comes with traits at the start
Gameplay: The game revolves around players asking questions or making statements based on their roles and traits, trying to guess the opponent’s role while masking their own.
Point System: Points are lost for breaking character or making incorrect role guesses.
Ending the Game: It concludes when a player successfully identifies the other’s role or when a player’s role is revealed after losing three points.
Role Cards:
Spy: Traits include Observant and Persuasive
Hacker: Traits include Paranoid and Resourceful
Diplomat: Traits include Charismatic and Elegant
Journalist: Traits include Inquisitive and Persistent
Conversation Cues:
- What do you do in your free time?
- Have you ever been in a situation where you had to think on your feet?
- What gadget or technology do you find most indispensable on your missions?
- Ever had a cover nearly blown? How did you handle it?
- What’s your strategy for blending into a new environment?
- Is there a particular location where you always wanted to go undercover?
- How do you unwind after a high-stakes operation?
The game was designed to immerse players in their roles and to practice conversation skills in a fun, engaging setting. For a first test of the game mechanics and effects, I created a very simple barebones prototype using cardboard and markers.
I tested this early version with a subject who is an avid tabletop gamer, and is also someone who struggles with public speaking. We played for about 40 minutes, tweaking as we went. Here’s some of the feedback I received:
Before the Game:
Question: Do you play online games? Do you have online friend groups that you play with?
Answer: I do a lot of mobile gaming and yes, I do play with friends online frequently.
Question: Do you feel socially anxious in the offline world as opposed to the online world?
Answer: Compared to online? A little bit, but it doesn’t really affect me too much besides doing public presentations.”
After the Game:
Question: Do you think the game has helped you in any way to help make you feel more socially confident?
Answer: The game feels very unfinished and the game flow is too fast. I’m just starting to get immersed into my character and the game abruptly ends. I played too little to tell you, I can’t really give you an answer.
Question: Do you think the game was fun or engaging?
Answer: Playing the game was fun and refreshing, trying to be subtle with my character and even trying to misdirect you to make you think I’m another character, while still staying true to my real role really had me thinking about how I should act and how I can act to trick people. But again, the game feels unfinished and is too fast.
Feedback on Mechanics
Question: Do you have any feedback about the game mechanics?
Answer: It was very hard to roleplay characters I am not familiar with, I have to roleplay it but also still be subtle about it to keep you from guessing who I am, it feels a little be contradictory.
Question: Was there anything you find disturbing about the game?
Answer: One thing about the rules where the gamemaster deducts points from the players when they don’t act accordingly to their roles sounds a bit problematic. You have to either really define the game rules and define what is acting accordingly and what is not, or else the gamemaster could get really biased and the game wouldn’t be fun or immersive for anybody. Also, when a GM tells you you’re doing badly it could be discouraging.”
These are great feedback. It’s clear that I need to refine the game, particularly around incentivizing role-playing rather than penalizing players for breaking character. My next steps include tweaking some rules to enhance gameplay consulting with more experienced designers in the industry to perfect the mechanics.