OUR INSPIRATION
From the start of the project, we wanted our boardgame to tackle awareness for memory loss (e.g. Alzheimer's, Dementia, etc). The problem was figuring out a concept that was 1) family friendly, and 2) would still raise awareness. After some discussion, the first project idea came to mind…
INITIAL CONCEPT
A Cat vs Fishes memory game
The first concept of our game was a Cat vs Fishes memory game! Here, the Cat player had the option of removing tiles, and the fishes had to memorize the exact shape of the board, and place the tiles in the right place. And, the reason why we chose a "Cat vs Fishes" style was because we wanted the game to be fun and friendly too!
So, with our initial concept out of the way, the next step is to let all kinds of players/people user test our boardgame idea!
USER TESTING
Testing, testing, and….even more game testing!
Once we came up with our initial gameboard idea, we dived headfirst into user testing! Here, we had 12 user testing rounds, and each one is sectioned off into different categories: 1) Characters, 2) Events, 3) Rules
GROUP 1: CHARACTER TYPES & WIN CONDITION
For the first round of user testing was all about finding out if the Cat vs Fish game was possible. During this time, we experimented with the size of the board, board shape and even how many Cats or Fishes should be played. And, after a few gameplays, we quickly realized that the Cat would be too overpowered, so we had to pivot and basically changed our direction from a Cat vs Fish game to just a Fish game.
GROUP 2: EVENTS
After establishing our playable characters, we wanted to innovate and change up our boardgame cards/tiles. So, from just taking the tiles out, we pivoted and made it flip-able tiles that had hidden events on the other side, which players had to memorize and use to their advantage in-order to find their pebbles and bring it safely to the castle
GROUP 3: RULES
After figuring out the characters, win condition and establishing our final events—the next step was to finalize our rules. We conducted numerous user testing to remove rules that weren't needed, adjust the wording so that it's simpler; and over all, just make the game as easy to understand as possible
PROTOTYPING + FABRICATION
Creating every part of our boardgame from scratch!
Finally, after conducting multiple user testing, the next step was to finalize the look of our board. A lot of our user testing was done with our cardboard-and-paper prototype. So, to make it feel better and more playable—we decided to create all parts of our boardgame from scratch.
A huge chunk of my time was spent teaching the team which is the best way to make our boardgame, and I utilized several of technologies available to me such as: laser cutting, vinyl printing, 3d printing and etc.
FINAL
The final look of Fishbowl Follies!
After many weeks of work, my team and I were able to finish handcrafting our boardgame! At the end of it, I am proud to say that my team and I were able to create a boardgame that's not only visually appealing, but also fun to play!
It was a blast fabricating a boardgame, and iterating it in real time based on feedback! Honestly, shout out to the amazing team I have —
I believe that our passion has shown throughout the entirety of this project!
THANKS FOR READING! CHECK OUT SOME OF MY OTHER PROJECTS HERE :)
