Priscilla's Research Report
From English 194 Wiki
Abstract
When attempting to create a board game out of Christina Rossetti’s poem “Goblin Market,” the English 194 Goblin team can draw ideas from discussions on the creation of other board games. In her article, “More than Just a Game,” Grania Litwin discusses Skullduggery, a newly created board game designed by Allegra Vernon. Having never created a board game before, Vernon’s experience in designing Skullduggery can help the Goblin team formulate a board game for “Goblin Market.” At the same time, however, the article also highlights the limitations that come with having to base the board game on an existing literary piece. The Goblin team also runs the risk of losing important board game elements such as strategy, in which the players may lose enthusiasm or interest in the game. The Goblin team can research other websites to help diminish any other problems. B.J. Dodge’s website, Board Game Design, provides several steps, aspects, and processes that the Goblin team may want to adopt when creating their board game. Also, Steven Garry’s website, Garry’s Games, can help with creating a board game from an already written or existing source without straying away from the original.
Description
In Grania Litwin’s article, “More than Just a Game,” she discusses the creation of Skullduggery, a board game created by Allegra Vernon. This game has players imitate the role of pirates by searching for treasure while dodging creatures such as snakes, wild boars, tigers, as well as other the other pirates. Skullduggery begins by having players land on an island with nothing but a map in order to seek out the desired treasure. While the design of the board game allows players to strategize their moves in order to obtain their treasure, a good portion of the game also relies on chance. This mix of strategy and chance creates a competitive environment to retain the attention of the players. In fact, Litwin mentions that the blend of chance and strategy is what kept the testers of the National Parenting association interested in the game.
Vernon used a variety of sources to acquire inspiration for Skullduggery. For example, Vernon’s family members modeled and posed as pirates in order to draw the pirate characters. Vernon also used her family as players for the proto-type of Skullduggery. It was through trial and error in which her family provided valuable suggestions for her game. She shares, “…if there were things they didn't like, or they found ways to cheat, I fixed that." Vernon also gathered ideas from other games such as Labyrinth, in which players collect things, and Zombies, in which players challenge and battle each other within confined spaces on the board game and applied those features into Skullduggery.
Evaluation of Opportunities/Limitations
In the development of the English 194 Goblin team’s project, one of the opportunities that Litwin’s article may suggest is the ability to refer to the storyline of Christina Rossetti’s poem “Goblin Market.” Although Vernon had the freedom to create, write and edit a pirate adventure from scratch, the Goblin team can rely on the storyline of “Goblin Market,” which maintains a structure that can be interpreted and applied onto a board game. The team will also be able to search for opportunities of interpretation within the poem and place them into the creation of the board game. For example, the team has discussed the descriptive lists Rossetti includes in her poem and how they can be applied in a board game. Rossetti uses the lists to describe the variety of fruit, the goblins’ bodies, the two sisters, and the violent scenes. With these lists, the team has thought about how to apply it on a board game and the possibility of using the lists as a means of earning points.
Despite the opportunities the storyline of “Goblin Market” gives the team, the team will also encounter limitations in terms of creativity. Since the team has to stick close to the storyline and central themes conveyed in “Goblin Market,” the team will lack the freedom that Vernon had in her game production. For example, if the team wants to include the gaming aspect of losing a turn, the team has to make sure that the reason behind losing the turn is valid or relevant to the poem. In the game, the team has the players take on the role of Lizzie, who does not eat any of the fruit in the poem. Therefore the team cannot create a board game in which it will say that the player has lost a turn because Lizzie ate the fruit forced upon her from the goblin.
Another limitation the Goblin team may experience is the challenge of creating strategy within the game. The team is currently struggling with incorporating strategy within the board game due to the fact that the game is heavily based on chance. If the game is heavily based on chance, the team runs the risk of losing the players’ interest. In the article, Vernon was probably able to create strategy in her board game more freely because she was not limited to the structure of a preexisting story. On the contrary, if the team wants to create strategy, there has to be a relevant explanation as to how it would correspond with Rossetti’s poem, therefore making strategy a difficult task for the team to accomplish.
Resources for Further Study
On B.J. Dodge’s website, Board Game Design, the construction of a board game is broken down into easy-to-follow steps. The instructions on this website can help maintain organization through the construction of the board game. For example, the third step on Dodge’s website provides an image of a table with the usual board game components such as pieces, patterns, paths, probabilities, and others. In the column next to each aspect, Dodge provides questions that a board game designer should take into consideration when designing each element of the board game. In the sections about paths, for example, Dodge asks, “Are there progressions of events in the content that could be thought of as paths? Is there a physical place in the content that one can move around in?” In the fifth step, Dodge suggests creating a mock version of the game, such as Vernon did in designing Skullduggery. This action seems to be an important step because trial and error enables a developer to truly see what does and does not work in a game.
Dodge, B.J.. Board Game Design. 2003. 20 May 2007. <http://edweb.sdsu.edu/Courses/EDTEC670/boardgame/BoardGameDesign1.html>
Garry Stevens’ website, Garry’s Games, provides games for educational purposes. One of his games includes the history regarding Henry VIII. In the description of his game, Stevens mentions that he provides the historical setting before a player begins in order to familiarize him or her with England in 1525. The goal of the player is to “scheme and connive to win influence with the King, so that your faction will control his chosen heir and rule all England when the King dies.” Stevens does not fail to mention that this game and other games found on his site are historically accurate. The fact that Stevens’ games maintain accurate historical information, displays the possibility of the Goblin team’s opportunity of maintaining accuracy within the storyline of “Goblin Market.”
Stevens, Garry. Garry’s Games. 2007. 20 May 2007. <http://www.archsoc.com/games/Henry.html>
