Burke & Hare
A game with only 18 cards
Aims
- For this game I wanted to explore how games use luck and chance as a method of creating an engaging experience for players.
- I also intended to create a game that evokes particular emotions over the player during play. For example, a sense of relief, pride or joy when picking up the correct card and a slight feeling of annoyance or disappointment when picking up the wrong card.
- Additionally I wanted to theme my game. Initially I had the plan to create a kind of tarot cards style but after some discussion with tutors, was presented with the idea of a more Victorian grave digger theme, after that I had the idea of the coffin’s on the back of the cards as if when turning them over the players are exhuming the grave.
Coming up with the game
One of my aims was to explore how games use luck and chance. So applying this to an 18 card game it made sense to create a game in which players reveal the cards at random and this determines the outcome of the game.
Above are the final designs for the cards drawn myself using Procreate and using Photoshop for additional elements such as the tea stain paper effect and the text. On the left is the back of all the cards, displaying a coffin all of which are identical. The middle image is of the Loot Card and the image on the right is a Death Card.
The Rules
The original rules of the game differ from the current rules. The old rules will be expanded upon in the Play Testing segment. The most up to date rules are as follows:
- One player must shuffle the cards into a deck. They must then lay the cards out into rows of six on a table.
- Players must then take turns, starting with the youngest player, to pick up cards of their choosing.
- The player must choose a card and display the card to the other players, if that card is a Loot card the player may keep it as it acts as their point. If the card is a Death card however the player must replace the card back in the position they picked it up from and allow the next player to take their turn.
- Whichever player is first to reach five points in a two player game is declared the winner and in a three player game it whichever player reaches 4 points first is declared the winner.
Play Testing
Play Test 1
Issues Summary:
- Shuffling the cards around the table each time was taking up too much time
- Quick shuffling was not enough to shuffle the cards sufficiently
- The game was too harsh in the punishment of players
Originally the rules of the game were different. Initially I was aiming for as many players as possible, so therefore the Loot cards would need to be returned to the table in order to provide the players with enough points.
The way this worked is that players would shuffle the cards and then lay them out messily on the table, players would then take turns picking up cards and after each turn return the card to the table and quickly shuffle the cards around.
On the first play test I found that this method was actually taking up too much time and people were not able to take their turns quick enough so therefore it was slowing the pace of the game and if there were many people playing, it could take some time to get through each round. Another issue is that the quick shuffle was not enough to shuffle the cards properly.
Other issues included the points system. Players would collect a point in the form of a small 3D printed coin each time they picked up a Loot card. However when they picked up a Death card the original rules of the game stated that they must give up all their points. This was too harsh and impacted the willingness the players had to play the game.
On further talks with tutors, It was suggested that instead of harsh punishment the punishment should be lessened or all together removed in favour of a different mechanic instead, for example, making no progress in the game rather than setting the player back. This in theory will prevent the player from becoming frustrated and will affect their willingness to play the game less. Players prefer to be rewarded over punished and so to create a fun and engaging game, reward should be prioritised.
Lastly I used to have Spare Life cards that would save the player from loosing all their coins, after deciding to change the way the game worked this card type became unnecessary.
Changes made after Play Test 1
Changes Summary:
- Limited the players down to 4
- Number of points needed to win changes dependent on the number of players
- Loot cards now represent the point rather than the coins
- Spare life card removed
- Card layout changed to rows and Death cards replaced to add the element of a memory game
After the first play test I made some changes. Firstly I limited the players down to maximum 4 and the amount of points players needed to reach depended on the amount of people playing. Secondly the point system was changed so that the Loot cards now represented the point.
Another discussion with tutors led to the idea of laying the cards out in rows and players replacing the Death cards in the same place when they pick them up. This added in the additional component of players having to use their memory skills to have an advantage in the game. The game had now become a game of chance, luck and skill.
Play Test 2
Issue Summary:
- Game became imbalanced and too easy
- 4 players are still too many
On the next play test I found that the new system worked much better, players were able to go through the rounds much quicker and the new points system appeared to work. The issue this time was that the game had become too easy as the balance between Loot and Death cards was too in favour of the Loot cards. Also found was that 4 players was still one too many and the player limit had to be set at 3 players max.
Changes made after Play Test 2
Changes Summary:
- Changed the number of loot cards to death cards to be 50/50
- Maximum number of players limited to 3
After this play test the issue I needed to tackle the most was the balance of the Loot to Death cards. I have since set the balance to 50/50 so as the Loot Cards are removed the game gets harder as there is less chance of picking up a Loot Card. The reason that the balance was so in favour of the Loot Cards previously is that I believed that if I had too many Death Cards I felt players may get frustrated if they kept picking up Death Cards. From play testing I now know that I made it too easy.
Conclusion
I think Burke & Hare is successful in being a game of luck and chance. The game uses a degree of random chance and from play tests it can be noted that players did respond to the reveal of the cards in the desired manner. Loot cards gained a positive response and Death cards a negative, disappointed response. The game overall received a positive response from players during play testing and with the changes made the experience was greatly improved.
What I would improve
If I were to go forward with the game I would focus particularly on the balance to make sure that the game provides the best level of difficulty aiding the flow of the gameplay.
I would also be keen to see what additional elements could be added to the game to extend its playtime or just to make the gameplay a bit more involving. For example a new rule that allowed players to see certain cards and maybe bait other players into picking up a Death Card, or maybe make the game more collaborative where players need to work together and aid each other to win the game. To me personally the game works but still feels a bit lacking and I think some kind of additional element may aid the game.