Devlogs
The First Notes (2021/05/23~27)
Posted June 03, 2021 by suumnns
#ideas #brainstorming
Main idea: I want to make a game where players [open boxes], that evokes feelings of [being a cat]
Selected ideas are bolded
[ Story ]
Ben’s Idea
- Singleplayer
- Combat-puzzle TTRPG
- Player will accumulate different cats that come with abilities/tools
- A player will be represented by a token
- Each ability has to be mastered to accomplish an end goal
- Each ability will be unlocked
- Each ability is gained through levels
- Each level introduces a different tool/ability
- Each tool/ability comes on a card with a description
- Each tool has a limited amount of uses
- The player can have up to 4 NPCs
- The final level will require the player to use all their accumulated abilities
- The Final ‘boss’ will be the box that needs to be opened
- Each level will be a ‘region’ or a room
- Each region has an NPC cat representative of the region
- Will be on a map
- The player moves through the map by rolling dice
- Card deck
- NPC and obstacles mixed into the deck
- As the player moves through the map/grid, they pull out a card
- A card could either be an obstacle, or an NPC
- Once the NPC is pulled, the level is over
- The final boss is the main objective, but the actual focus is on the journey it takes to get to the ‘boss’
- Obstacles can be anything (a house rat, cockroach)
- No narrator
Sumin’s Idea
- Multiplayer
- Storybuilding
- Players can determine the mood of the game
- There will be a narrator to determine the story
- Players move through a map
- Everyone rolls a die and moves according to the number
- Players who encounter the obstacle pulls a card from the obstacle deck to decide what the obstacle is
- They then pull a card from a question deck
- Players take turns answering the question, which will determine how well they overcome the obstacle
- Players roll a die to determine the effectiveness of the answer
- Their specialties could also bring buffs or debuffs to the answer (roleplay component)
- If the players on the obstacle spot cannot get through, the obstacle is then handed to the next player behind them
- The next player rolls a die to move forward, then works on the obstacle
- This player will have to answer the same question
- This player will have an additional buff going into the obstacle so that they have a faster/easier time passing through
- If this player overcomes the obstacle, they will continue their remaining steps
- If all players fail to answer the question, they will discuss together how to solve the question
- They can then bring the suggestion to a narrator, and have a second chance to roll the die
- Luck rolls*
- By the end of the game, the map should look like a messy room
- Mix question cards, which ask the player about the final box, within the scenario deck
- When you pull out the Final-box-question-card from the deck, you don’t encounter any obstacle or event. You just need to answer the question regarding the final box.
Iris’ Idea
- Could be multiplayer or single-player
- 3 decks
- Eg. a fat cat has more strength, a tall cat can jump higher places
- Players do not have to draw from this deck and can choose which role they would like to play
- One for prompts/scenarios
- Eg. there is a cage to get out of, there is a ball of yarn you want to knock off the table
- One for the tool/abilities to acquire
- Players go around in a circle to draw from the scenario deck until reaching the final scenario, which is the box
- Players roll a die to determine how effective their plan to overcome the scenario is
- If the players fulfill the needed conditions, they acquire a tool from the 3rd deck
- If they fail, the scenario is passed to the next player onwards until someone succeeds
- The player who fulfills the conditions takes the card
- Final scenario
- Players take their accumulated tool cards, and roll the die to determine how effective the tool is in opening the box
- Cat roles and the tools/abilities should encourage players to think of how to overcome scenarios in different ways
- There could be a limit to how many tool cards a player can hold
- Players can discard tools by using them to aid the player in a scenario (players can only use one card per scenario)
- Players could also choose to put a card in the discard pile in favour of another newly acquired card
[ General ideas ]
- Inventory
- Various cat roles for the player to choose from
- This deck is used prior to starting the game
- The player can choose from any of the roles, or they can choose at random as well
- Each role is different and should encourage the player to solve the puzzles the way that role would solve the puzzles
- This also ensures that in future playthroughs, the player will have to come up with different solutions to solve the same scenarios
- The player progresses through a grid (the map) and draws from the scenario deck
- Each scenario has 3 prompts to use to overcome or solve the scenario
- The player can use any of the 3, but they cannot use anything else
- Eg. the player encounters a sleeping dog, the prompts are a table, a ball and a tube. the player then tries to use as many of the 3 they like to solve this scenario
- The player must come up with a scenario, then roll a die to determine how effective their strategy will be
[ Mechanics ]
- Puzzle game
- Chaotic
- singleplayer
- The player can choose from various cat roles
- Inventory
- Mapped out regions for the players to visualize the journey
- 1 card deck for roles
- 1 deck for inventory
- 1 deck for obstacles/enemies
- Roll die for whether or not the cat can overcome the obstacle
- Luck rolls*
- Roll 4 and above, you succeed and gain points
- 3 and below you fail and lose points
- if you get 6 you would succeed and get extra item 4 and above, you just success doing that 2-3 you fail to do that and 1 you would make a mess
[ undetermined ]
- One room? Multiple rooms?
- Each sheet is a room
- Maybe different grid layouts for different rooms?
- Each grid box we roll a die for placement of obstacles
- Go through the grid in a certain pattern
- Once you reach an obstacle you make a plan on how to go around it, roll a second die for how well you achieve it
- Narrator?
- Cooperative
- The Player states their plan to solve the obstacle, rolls a die to determine the effectiveness
- competitive
- Point system?
- Whoever has the most points by the end wins
- Go around in a circle, every turn a player can use their points to sabotage another player or solve their obstacle