Game Type: Board Game
Developed Using: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe In-Design, Adobe Photoshop
Status: Initial project completed, Additional development completed.
Role in Project: Team Lead, Solo Developer
"The Ferryman's Curse" is a board game based off of the fairy tale
This started as an assignment with a four person team and was taken through a game polishing class as an individual. The original assignment was to take an assigned fairy tale, then create a game that embodied the story's elements through gameplay mechanics. Each student was assigned a different fairy tale, and needed to develop a base prototype for a group to then adopt. Mine was chosen for my group. The initial project was only one month long, requiring 3 iterations.
The initial project was completed, but after asking permission I was allowed to bring the game through a specialized game polishing course. During that semester long course, I completely overhauled the game's mechanics, rulebook, and art elements.
The game itself pits up to 6 players in a race against each other to collect treasures, avoid bandits (or rob other players), solve mysterious problems, and encounter strange and unpredictable curses. The player to end the game with the most stored treasures wins.
The game's redesigns were very dramatic. For example, most of the game takes place on the center island tile:
Version 1
Version 2
Version 3
Card art was redone to make a information quicker and easier to read. Most cards have moved entirely towards icons for gameplay elements. Flavor text is still present, but not required to play the game.
Orignal text heavy cards relied too much on text.
Newer cards use symbols with unique silhouettes to differentiate the needed "secret" cards
The text on "secret" cards is only for flavor and labels. The labels are not vital since the silhouttes make it very distinct
Mechanics were added and refined. For example Curses were a new mechanic that was introduced to the game in the original prototype's final stage. The original curses consisted of 9 cards. Now there are 24 curses, with much more diverse effects.
In fact, curses are one of the more intriguing elements to the game. Specialty spots on each board can inflict curses, as can powerful cursed treasures. These have been color coded with the purple color of the curse cards.
Full array of curse cards
Cursed Treasure
regular treasure
Cursed Treasure
Ultimately I plan to finalize the game, and take it though the process of publication.
Fellow Collaborators on Initial Project
Zachary Pullen - Designer
Ryan Shereda - Designer
Sinan Soylu - Artist