ANDREW TAYLOR

CONNOR GILHULY
NICHOLAS PHAN
PY BOULERICE

SWEAT
Postmortem

WHAT WENT RIGHT

With SWEAT we were able to accomplish our initial task of creating a
dynamic feeling of race through the mechanics and aesthetics of the game.
This dynamic was evident through the tension between the players, the way in
which players played the actual game as well as from play test feedback. From
our feedback, our players appreciated the simplicity of the card design
themselves which allowed us to turn a relatively complex rule set into an easy
to pick up and play game with little setup and confusion. While our rules had
potential for more refinement, we did find them very balanced and was able to
create a fun game, which accomplished our goal of creating a space and
opportunity for players to race against each other. Our entire group was
involved in the brainstorming, design, creation and execution processes
working together to provide each other with reliable team members and
support.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Our groups design and prototype process went exceptionally well, but like
any procedure, theres always something bound to go wrong. The first
problem we encountered was the mechanic for drawing cards. The initial
idea was more focused around one player drawing from the deck and then
passing the card they don't want to the next player. Then that player would
do the same, so on and so forth. In our first play test, we quickly realized that
this mechanic doesnt work. It gave a giant advantage to the player who drew
from the deck rather than the others who got cards passed to them. Our team
quickly came up with a solution that made its way into the final prototype,
which would be drawing from the deck simultaneously without turns.

Other problems that we ran into included printing problems and health issues.
All of which our team communicated extensively and eectively to resolve and
because of this, our games quality did not suer.

NEXT STEPS

If we were to continue building on SWEAT, we would like it to be able to

accommodate more or less than four players. Although this might be dicult,
since the amount of cards in the deck is specifically balanced for 4, we could
try dierent solutions such as adding in cards or redetermining how many wires
each player gets if such an occasion occurs. The problem with this might be
that it would take away from the simplicity of the game if the players have to
check and count cards depending on how many players are playing.

Also, we would introduce specific characters that the players could play as. We
initially had an idea for each player to have a character card. With this card the
player would essentially have 2 ways to ignite other peoples fifth fuse. If the
player drew a card that pertained to their character card, they were given the
option to use it instead of a fire card. This gave more ways to get other players
out as well as include more cards in the deck that would prolong the game. This
feature was abandoned since during playlists, the testers felt that adding any
more mechanics would make it too complex. However we believe that by
making this feature optional, it would open up the game to those who were
experienced while keeping it simple for beginners.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN FUTURE PROJECTS

The things that we can take into future projects are the organizational
techniques we used during the development of SWEAT and the problem solving
and teamwork that was used during SWEATs development.

When we had meetings, everybody was always present and on time, and the
assigned tasks for each individual member were completed punctually and did
not hinder the other team members. This is mostly due to each member being
focused and enthusiastic about the project, but also because each member
was willing to carry their own weight and chose a task that they could
handle well. Also, we chose the initial concept for a game partly due
to the fact that we could fix problems rather easily. With a card
game, we could easily remove a or add a certain type of card so that
we could remove or add a feature of the game. If it needed to be
rebalanced, we could of simply increase or decrease the amount of
cards. This line of thinking greatly helped us choose this type of game
as well as made obstacles that occurred during the games production
to be solved easily.