Author Archives: Marc Helmisaari

A look back at the GGC version cards part 2


Mistakes. They happen and this is the biggest one in the game. This was the last card to be checked off the play tested list and was rushed in order to be completed for Gotland Game Conference. The damage this card made to the opponent was so powerful that even if it cost 9 it would still be broken.
Lets list the mistakes:
1: It cost 7. A number that is not that hard to reach. Early False […]

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Program: Programming

A look back at the GGC version cards part 2


Mistakes. They happen and this is the biggest one in the game. This was the last card to be checked off the play tested list and was rushed in order to be completed for Gotland Game Conference. The damage this card made to the opponent was so powerful that even if it cost 9 it would still be broken.
Lets list the mistakes:
1: It cost 7. A number that is not that hard to reach. Early False […]

/ Comments Off on A look back at the GGC version cards part 2
Program: Programming

A look back at the GGC version cards part 1.

While play testing Agency I got the idea to look at the cards showed at Gotland game conference and explain my reasoning behind the card, share fun information behind the card and see if it was good or bad in the end. So in no perticular order:
 
The original idea of “And Now You Don’t” was it were suppose to be the second part of a two card part combination. The first card “Now you have it” […]

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Program: Programming

A look back at the GGC version cards part 1.

While play testing Agency I got the idea to look at the cards showed at Gotland game conference and explain my reasoning behind the card, share fun information behind the card and see if it was good or bad in the end. So in no perticular order:
 
The original idea of “And Now You Don’t” was it were suppose to be the second part of a two card part combination. The first card “Now you have it” […]

/ Comments Off on A look back at the GGC version cards part 1.
Program: Programming

???

After a taking a week off , development for Agency has begun once again. Play testing sections are now taking place and things are looking good. Currently looking to get some new people into the team as well. 
This is only a shot update, however I am exacted to tell that…  “Contacts and Jobs” are coming soon.
Until next time
Nest Invader In the Sky
//Marc

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Program: Programming

???

After a taking a week off , development for Agency has begun once again. Play testing sections are now taking place and things are looking good. Currently looking to get some new people into the team as well. 
This is only a shot update, however I am exacted to tell that…  “Contacts and Jobs” are coming soon.
Until next time
Nest Invader In the Sky
//Marc

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Program: Programming

Victory and Future plans

Student choice prize
GGC is over and Agency where able to win the Student choice award. This is a huge accomplishment as it shows that what we were able to create a product that people enjoyed.

The last 3 weeks I have been working on finalizing the cards as well as working on implementing visual feedback to the digital version of the game. After many late hours our work paid off in the end by winning a prize. 

Future plans for […]

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Program: Programming

Victory and Future plans

Student choice prize
GGC is over and Agency where able to win the Student choice award. This is a huge accomplishment as it shows that what we were able to create a product that people enjoyed.

The last 3 weeks I have been working on finalizing the cards as well as working on implementing visual feedback to the digital version of the game. After many late hours our work paid off in the end by winning a prize. 

Future plans for […]

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Program: Programming

Production Week 6: Strong stuff, High town and Attack fixes

This week more iteration of the game has been made. This blog post will go into further detail of some of the changes to the cards as well as explain problems and solutions that the cards have created. 
Strong stuff and High town
[Insert Pic of stong stuff and High town]After many iterations of Strong Stuff and High Town these will be the final versions of them. 
In the start both cards had a much lower cost to them, witch created a […]

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Program: Programming

Production Week 6: Strong stuff, High town and Attack fixes

This week more iteration of the game has been made. This blog post will go into further detail of some of the changes to the cards as well as explain problems and solutions that the cards have created. 
Strong stuff and High town
[Insert Pic of stong stuff and High town]After many iterations of Strong Stuff and High Town these will be the final versions of them. 
In the start both cards had a much lower cost to them, witch created a […]

/ Comments Off on Production Week 6: Strong stuff, High town and Attack fixes
Program: Programming

Production week 5: A shot in the dark and Stealth

What have I done this week?

Playtesting
Playtesting
Added, removed and redesign cards
Playtesting

Play testing with new card type
“Stealth” is a new Card type have been tested this week. Its role is to create diversity in the game and also to reinforce the feeling of being an agent and create more player iteration. A stealth card have the text:“Stealth (Place this card in front of you upside down). Revel this card when X happens. Do action Y”An example of a Stealth card is […]

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Program: Programming

Production week 5: A shot in the dark and Stealth

What have I done this week?

Playtesting
Playtesting
Added, removed and redesign cards
Playtesting

Play testing with new card type
“Stealth” is a new Card type have been tested this week. Its role is to create diversity in the game and also to reinforce the feeling of being an agent and create more player iteration. A stealth card have the text:“Stealth (Place this card in front of you upside down). Revel this card when X happens. Do action Y”An example of a Stealth card is […]

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Program: Programming

Attacks, Locks and Random: Production week 4

Production week 3
What have I done?
This week I have been working on the following:

Play-testning the game
Re-design attack cards
Balancing the game

Play-testning
The game has a paper prototype that the group uses to test the design of the cards and see what works and what does not.
I had play testers over all week and documented games that was played and the feedback from the players who tested. I sat them […]

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Program: Programming

Attacks, Locks and Random: Production week 4

Production week 3
What have I done?
This week I have been working on the following:

Play-testning the game
Re-design attack cards
Balancing the game

Play-testning
The game has a paper prototype that the group uses to test the design of the cards and see what works and what does not.
I had play testers over all week and documented games that was played and the feedback from the players who tested. I sat them […]

/ Comments Off on Attacks, Locks and Random: Production week 4
Program: Programming

Designing card

This week I have been design forth the cards the game is going to use. In order to keep the complexity down I created three  types that the cards will be categorized under.

Attack cards: These are Cards that interact with the opponent in a negative way. These cards attacks the opponents hand, deck or buying options. 

Support cards: these are cards that allows for temporally benefits for the player who played it such as extra resources during a turn or just […]

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Program: Programming

Designing card

This week I have been design forth the cards the game is going to use. In order to keep the complexity down I created three  types that the cards will be categorized under.

Attack cards: These are Cards that interact with the opponent in a negative way. These cards attacks the opponents hand, deck or buying options. 

Support cards: these are cards that allows for temporally benefits for the player who played it such as extra resources during a turn or just […]

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Program: Programming

Start of a new project

Hello happy people. After a long time of silence so is it time to start blogging again with a new school project.
This time it is for the game course “Big Game”. The course end goal is to to create a “big” game during 8 weeks.
ReadySteady(Wip)
“Ready steady” (working title) is an mobile deck building game where players have the ability to play wherever they want, whenever they want. You play as a hired agent, who have been tasked by a company […]

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Program: Programming

Start of a new project

Hello happy people. After a long time of silence so is it time to start blogging again with a new school project.
This time it is for the game course “Big Game”. The course end goal is to to create a “big” game during 8 weeks.
ReadySteady(Wip)
“Ready steady” (working title) is an mobile deck building game where players have the ability to play wherever they want, whenever they want. You play as a hired agent, who have been tasked by a company […]

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Program: Programming

What is exploration in games?

Intro
What is exploration in games? What defines it and how can we as designers use it in video games?This was the question that 9 people tried to answer those questions one night, with discussions and bringing up examples in order to find out.
What defines exploring?
The discovery of the unknown. This phrase sums up what exploitation in games is. That includes everything from discovering how the controls works to exploring a unknown cave in Minecraft.
Now, if you follow that […]

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Program: Programming

What is exploration in games?

Intro
What is exploration in games? What defines it and how can we as designers use it in video games?This was the question that 9 people tried to answer those questions one night, with discussions and bringing up examples in order to find out.
What defines exploring?
The discovery of the unknown. This phrase sums up what exploitation in games is. That includes everything from discovering how the controls works to exploring a unknown cave in Minecraft.
Now, if you follow that […]

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Program: Programming

Week 42

Goal of the week
Get a playable paper prototype and see if the core system works as the group wanted.
How was it achieved?
This week, the group started by prototyping and test the board game, since the design was establish the week before.
The group decided to use paper and card sleeves in order to create the first prototype, since the paper could easily be replaced and re-designed if it did not work.  As soon the deck […]

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Program: Programming

Week 42

Goal of the week
Get a playable paper prototype and see if the core system works as the group wanted.
How was it achieved?
This week, the group started by prototyping and test the board game, since the design was establish the week before.
The group decided to use paper and card sleeves in order to create the first prototype, since the paper could easily be replaced and re-designed if it did not work.  As soon the deck […]

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Program: Programming

Why so serious?

So today I meet up with my serious game course group in order to finalize our concept document. This went well, mostly due to the work that had already been put into it and tomorrow we will present the topic and concept for this game.
So what is it? (I hear you say)
The topic of the serious game is heath care. The game more specific takes the problem with the waiting time in the emergency department waiting rooms, since the patients […]

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Program: Programming

Why so serious?

So today I meet up with my serious game course group in order to finalize our concept document. This went well, mostly due to the work that had already been put into it and tomorrow we will present the topic and concept for this game.
So what is it? (I hear you say)
The topic of the serious game is heath care. The game more specific takes the problem with the waiting time in the emergency department waiting rooms, since the patients […]

/ Comments Off on Why so serious?
Program: Programming