Bugball
What is it?
Bugball is a baseball and ant-themed board game for preschoolers. It is designed for two players and it takes about 10 minutes or less to play. Both teams are trying to get all of their pieces to complete a Cycle, or a 'Homerun.' The Pitcher chooses a type of throw to do, and the Batter must spin a spinner corresponding to it.
Development Problems
Our main problem was implementing interesting decisions in a game for preschoolers. With games for such a young age, they need to be designed with an impatient player in mind. Initially, the core game mechanic was rock-paper-scissors (or 'bat-mitt-ball'). This was confusing because the hand-signs were different from the usual rock-paper-scissors, and illogical ("How does Bat beat Mitt?"). Also, it wasn't fun enough.
Furthermore, the game lengths varied between 1-10 minutes, which was way to large of a range. One player had the opportunity to win the game without giving the other player a chance to be the Batter. Other times, neither player managed to remain as the Batter for long, since they kept 'swinging misses,' and switching sides.
Later, we replaced rock-paper-scissors with spinners. The core mechanic changed to a Pitcher spinning (landing on either Curveball or Fastball), which determined which spinner the Batter would spin. The game was entirely random, so you couldn't count on landing on anything, nor were their any choices the player makes. It remained a 'Candy-land game' until the day before the final playtest.
Another problem we had was that our Rulesheet, like most group's, was confusing. We found that some players wanted to understand everything about the Rulesheet before beginning the game, which was not the intended way to read the rules. Rather, we wanted them to read the first paragraph, and then start, and only continue reading the Rulesheet when special situations arise, or when they're learning the flow of the game.
We experienced no task completion issues. All three of us worked well as a team.
Furthermore, the game lengths varied between 1-10 minutes, which was way to large of a range. One player had the opportunity to win the game without giving the other player a chance to be the Batter. Other times, neither player managed to remain as the Batter for long, since they kept 'swinging misses,' and switching sides.
Later, we replaced rock-paper-scissors with spinners. The core mechanic changed to a Pitcher spinning (landing on either Curveball or Fastball), which determined which spinner the Batter would spin. The game was entirely random, so you couldn't count on landing on anything, nor were their any choices the player makes. It remained a 'Candy-land game' until the day before the final playtest.
Another problem we had was that our Rulesheet, like most group's, was confusing. We found that some players wanted to understand everything about the Rulesheet before beginning the game, which was not the intended way to read the rules. Rather, we wanted them to read the first paragraph, and then start, and only continue reading the Rulesheet when special situations arise, or when they're learning the flow of the game.
We experienced no task completion issues. All three of us worked well as a team.
The original designs of our spinners. The left picture shows the Pitcher spinner, and the right picture shows the Batter spinners.
Solutions
The solution to our core game mechanic being based on completely random outcomes, was to-- rather than give the Pitcher a spinner-- have the Pitcher choose what type of throw to do, which then determines which spinner the Batter must spin. This evolved into a much more interesting game, as each spinner has their trade-offs and situations.
To fix the issue where the Batter can win too fast, we added two more pieces. Now, each player needed two pieces to complete a Cycle instead of one. When a piece of the Batter's reaches Home Plate, players switch sides-- giving the other player an opportunity to be the Batter.
The Rulesheet was updated for playtest day. However, it remained slightly confusing and verbose. One group didn't know what to do after the Batter spun and moved his/ her piece. (Answer: the Pitcher chooses a new type of throw). Once groups familiarized themselves with the rules, they had a lot of fun, but getting to that point with the Rulesheet alone (without one of us clarifying something) did not seem possible.
The final spinners, drawn beautifully.
The Rulesheet was updated for playtest day. However, it remained slightly confusing and verbose. One group didn't know what to do after the Batter spun and moved his/ her piece. (Answer: the Pitcher chooses a new type of throw). Once groups familiarized themselves with the rules, they had a lot of fun, but getting to that point with the Rulesheet alone (without one of us clarifying something) did not seem possible.
Playtest day.
Changes Going Forward...
Overall, the development process for this project flowed well. However, we did not make the effort to playtest as much as we could have. Furthermore, we did not spend enough time refining the Rulesheet.
Our game went through a lot of iterations over the two or three weeks we had to develop it, and more playtesting would have been useful. I personally had plenty of people who were interested in playing Bugball (I don't believe there is a single person who could resist the notion of ants, baseball, and preschool-level gameplay), but I never made the effort to have anybody play outside of class. Going forward, I will be sure to have some people outside of class play my board games, and allowing more time for my group-mates and I to work on the Rulesheet.
Happy ball boy
Our game went through a lot of iterations over the two or three weeks we had to develop it, and more playtesting would have been useful. I personally had plenty of people who were interested in playing Bugball (I don't believe there is a single person who could resist the notion of ants, baseball, and preschool-level gameplay), but I never made the effort to have anybody play outside of class. Going forward, I will be sure to have some people outside of class play my board games, and allowing more time for my group-mates and I to work on the Rulesheet.
Happy ball boy
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