Evaluation - FlipDeck

This is a picture of the final prototype for the board game 'FlipDeck', that me and my group decided to make after getting the brief. Our task was to design and produce a prototype for an original board game/reworking of an original title. There were guidelines for the product and we managed to overcome all of these. The idea for FlipDeck came about because me and Max are both skaters. We downscaled a game we play on our skateboards to a small board game scale. After coming up with the initial idea, we did some research to check there were no similar games on the market (online and in shops), then tweaked the game so it fitted the brief and was playable. With a group of four, we were able to get the prototype created fairly quickly, and we didn't come into any problems with technicalities.

Overall I would rate the product a success, which could work as a real game on the market. One thing that it could improve on however was the skill level it takes to play the game, making it hard to play for a wide audience range. To improve this we could add a dice with much easier tricks. If we had more time to respond to the brief we would have sourced and created proper dice as opposed to paper ones, and would have put more effort into the rule book. Nevertheless, I think this was an effective idea which worked well as a board game.

Rationale for Board Game

Create an impressive board game - In our game "FlipDeck" we featured a Tech Deck in the game as a playing piece which hadn't been done before. This is a unique selling point of the game which doubles up as a toy. Additionally we made sure that it didn't follow the usual format of a board game where a piece is moved around a board, but instead made the board a playing field. This gives a unique and fresh perspective of board games in general, and their common format.

The aim of the game is to roll a dice which gives you a trick to perform on the board, which you and all players must perform. If they fail to do it, then they get a letter, which goes on until they spell out S-K-A-T-E. This is another unique selling point of the game, as there is no limit to how many people can play. With the playing piece being a Tech Deck, it can be fixed and replaced, not to mention the opportunities for limited edition or special pieces.

We chose to aim it at a younger market, not only because it would be easier to design, but because that's who the game is most appealing to.