Week 2

My group members and I are creating a board game called Empires of Trade. I am unfamiliar with the other three members of my group Peter, Mahvish and Scott, which is making the transition a little tough.  Peter set up a Facebook group in which we can communicate with each other, without having meetings outside of the classroom. In the group Peter created a poll that allows each group member to show the times they are available to meet outside of class. I thought this would be very beneficial, however it seems as though all of our schedules are pretty out of sync with each other. For now the Facebook is working for us, yet I think we will definitely need to meet outside of class a few times.

The theme of Empires of Trade is based on the Silk Road .The game allows players to establish markets, produce goods, trade with other players/ markets and establish routes. The game allows players to interact with each other by trading which is an element of the game I really like; especially since I feel as though my card game lacked interaction between players. I also like that the players are in control of their own moves, rather than being told what to do by picking up cards or rolling a dice.

I am a visual learner therefore it was hard for me to understand the mechanics of the game during our first week’s discussion. Fortunately Scott brought a map of Asia to class last week. This made it easier for me to visualize how it would feel to be a player of the game. Having the map in hand we were able to figure out the routes that composed the Silk Road. In addition we set up ten markets that are placed along each route/routes ready for players to establish them and start producing goods. As a group we decided that it would be fair that each player starts the game with an established market at one of the four corners of the route. During last weeks class we were able to figure out the core mechanics of the game and certain features we felt were necessary for a positive playing experience.