Trap Machinations

Noise source dispatches noise to the detectors. The detectors decide based on probability of the routes, which pool to send the noise resource to. If the central pool has greater than 20 points and the alarm has greater than 15 points, then the internal gate will be enabled (dice with the asterisk). This internal gate will send a point to lock a door when the roll is a 1. If the number of doors locked equals 6, then the character is trapped and the scene ends. The player needs to click on the two sinks (when activated) to empty the two pools to keep the internal gate from "rolling". If enough time passes, the doors locked pool will empty one point to an automatic sink.

Chapter 10 Adams Questions

1. In Khonsi: The Search for Hydra, the entities will be the weapons and armors that each character can use. The resources are money [in Dollars US] and energy ammo dumps. There will also be additional resources which the player can unlock (i.e. solving a puzzle) such as weapons and game bonuses. There are no "mass noun" objects.

2. The unique entities are the playable characters Adi and Chaya as well as the NPCs in the game.

3. All playable characters compose other "entities" because they are uniquely armed for battle. Our characters have different distinct dialog choices which function as assets for the player.

4. Our attributes would be the experience points "xp" that each character has and that can be quantified. The color of the character's clothing would be an attribute that is characterized as symbolic.

5. All entities are presumed tangible. The money and ammo resources are tangible and the level of charm or renegade is considered intangible (because they open up dialog and interaction options). Energy fields could be classified as having a state change from intangible to tangible entity by enabling special powers.

6. Adi has the task of negotiating entry points for Chaya to gain access to key resources. The two characters can "level up" by defeating enemies and solving puzzles. Leveling up allows the characters to absorb more energy before needing to pick up energy shields. It also enhances their power skill set. A black hole has the mechanics that are connected by themselves because it sucks in spacecraft without intervention by any player actions.

7. There is a global mechanic that takes the player from action to dialog. But we do not know what that is yet.

8. The resources enter at the source of conflict when the player has extinguished a hostile enemy, that player assumes the enemy's resources (picks up a gun, ammo, money, ...). The player may also obtain resources at a store selling weapons (Target for weapons). The production rate is controlled entirely by completing challenges.

9. The characters will not go to a drain. They may only be disabled or "taken out of action". The disabling of an entity is temporary but requires a large resource to enable again. The drain for money is the store where assets are purchased. The drain for ammo is into walls, or enemy shields, of course.

10. You can convert resources back to cash at a greatly reduced rate because the store needs to make money. Trading vehicles for cash is done so at certain stores but not at others. Larger vehicles can provide a feedback mechanism because you can now transport heavier weapons to deal more damage and take out larger bosses to accumulate more wealth (a positive feedback loop). If you exhaust all resources, you can break out of deadlock, but it will be slow and relatively hard.

11. There is no such equilibrium because nothing equalizes in the game. Enemies keep getting harder to beat as you progress, so the rate that you gain money helps a little.

12. The active challenges are the shooting of hostile enemies and hacking a computer system by solving a puzzle. The screen will inform the player once a challenge has been successfully completed or if failure has occurred. No other special mechanics are required.

13. The core mechanics allow the player to choose the dialog choice that she sees fitting for the conversation. This is accomplished through button clicks or slider drags.

14. The nonplayer characters are positioned by the AI according to their importance. Important characters are found at large, easy to spot compounds, whereas less crucial ones are scattered throughout the playfield. Their behavior is determined by their own paragon or renegade score chosen at random by the AI.

Jesse Schell Lecture Questions

1. What do the major games console manufacturers feel about the idea of microtransactions?

None of them want to be the one that offers free games. Uncomfortable with no upfront payment of games.

2. What made the Wi-mote on the Nintendo Wii different from other consoles? Who were the intended target audience?

Aiming at those who don' t like complicated controllers (requiring simultaneous ambidextrous control). Appeal to casual gamers.

3. In the section called the "Curiosity Gap", Schell argues

c) curious people are rewarded by instant access, if you are curious, you are rewarded more quickly with answers

4. In the future, Schell predicts "building worlds that exist beyond the spectrum of media types will be vital for making people want to inhabit them.

c) building worlds need to focus on one or two media at any given time

5. While games talk to their audience, they can't listen. For that reason, Schell predicts that speech recognition will be absolutely vital to the coming gaming revolution.

6. Unlike "Nerds" or "Imagineers", Mundanes like things in the real world - theirs is the realm of activity, of physical sports. Schell pointed out that it seems noteworthy that no sport, not a single one, contains any element of fantasy in it? Do you think this is true?

Sports are activities with real rules but have players who use imagination. Sports can have fantasy. Martial arts contain a lot of fantasy and artistry.

7. He suggested that the real promise to OnLive is that it allows:

b) sharing

8. Schell suggested that we read Alfie Kohn's book "Punished by Rewards", which lists study after study that illustrate that the more people come to associate an action or task with reward, the more they

resent the task.

9. What does Schell say is going to be outcome of sensors, screens, systems and games coming together?

b) whole life tracking

10. Schell argues that our faces, our bodies, our locations, our likes and dislikes, our habits, our friends, our families, are being tracked. Do you think this is a good thing or can it improve our condition?

It is beneficial to business because it gives them metrics about our personal spending habits and styles. Privacy is a serious concern for many. Therefore, compromising someone's personal thoughts may be easily thought of as an unwelcome intrusion into their life. Tracking should be used with caution and sparingly.

Scratch Exercise

http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/15594772/#editor

Us versus IT

Robot Images

         

Robot Move List: 1. Move one space, rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise, shoot laser eye.

The robot has 10 hit points and 5 action points. If a tank enters a 3 square perimeter of the robot, then,

the robot will automatically initiate a 90 degree turn towards the direction of the tank without using up any action points. When the tank takes a hit, the tank will drop a mine which will explode when the tank's hit points drops below 2.

The Metaphysics of Game Design Questions

1. Wright talks about companies asking for advice on 'gamification'. What does "MSG" stand for in this context?

Make it Seem Gamelike. It means to turn some form of media into a implement to entertain through playing.

2. What does Wright mean by the idea of "Interdisciplinary Entertainment"?

He is stating that entertainment is polymorphic, meaning that movies, art, music, and games all have common attributes.

3. Technology, culture, Psychology are described as being different types of:

Platforms

4. Wright argues that "play builds models". What kinds of models is he talking about?

mental frameworks of how phenomena work

5. Will Wright talks about the following schema: - lightbulb joke schema       - classification schema       -causality schema       - false schema
Why are such schema important when it comes to working with interactive media and entertainment?

These schema explain the connections between models that people formulate about the world.

6. Wright describes how network culture has given rise to a world of "narrowcast" where everyone is a publisher but to a small narrow group. What is a good example of this?

Twitter, Facebook, Blogs

7. Using the example of the '20 Questions' toy, Wright argues that we are moving to a world in which the power of collective effort is playing a larger role online.
What is another name for this type of activity?

Crowdsourcing - harvesting info

8. What does Will Wright say about the future?

The future is unpredictable. If one person thinks the market will rise, then it may just bottom out.

9. Despite the rise of online distribution in almost every arena in digital culture, what two formats continue to enjoy sales, albeit in fewer numbers?

Compact discs (CD) and record LPs.

10. What did you find most useful from the Will Wright lecture on "The Metaphysics of Game Design"?

The lecture gave me insight on how game designers think about how to find ideas for making games. His association of cognitive processes with game design was a strong argument for researching the customer base before embarking on any game idea.

King of Kong Questions

1. Mitchell is unabashedly cocky and fond of self promotion, proclaiming himself the "Sauce King" of Florida for his successful line of homemade hot sauces. Next to his family, Mitchell considers his arcade scores his greatest achievements in life.
How typical are these types of values and attitudes among 'core' gamers and how important is it to understand these values if you are a game designer? What *are* these values, exactly?

"Cocky" and "egocentric" are common terms that describe core gamers because most of them share a competitive spirit that at times can overwhelm their sense of sportsmanship. Professionalism according to Ngo, does not run in the family of core gamers because gaming is rarely considered a true "profession" (unless it is a service provided to some game company or competition). It is important to understand their attitudes because it allows you to design the gameplay to suit their desires.


2. Steve Wiebe has been laid off as a Boeing engineer, and now spends his time as a science teacher. His friends and his wife, Nicole, describe him as a tragic figure who always comes up short despite being proficient at music, sports, art, and mathematics.
Is Weibe's 'tragic' aspect typical of core gaming 'types'?

If all they are concerned about is games and nothing else, then the absence of responsibility is tragic.

What role does self esteem (high or low) play in the culture of hard core gaming and such subcultures as competitive vintage or 'classic' game playing? How would you best describe the relationship between low self-esteem and videogame mastery?

Low self esteem sometimes makes videogames inviting because according to Ngo, it provides a universe away from the mundane atmosphere of everyday existence. However, the relationship between the two is non sequitur because people with low self esteem do not always appeal to videogames as a solution.


3. Despite Wiebe's protests that his own first score was disqualified for being submitted via unsupervised videotape, Twin Galaxies accepts Mitchell's score over Wiebe's and proclaims that Mitchell is still the record holder.
How valid do you think videotaped gameplay should be in establishing videogame playing records? If valid, why? If not valid, why not?

Videotaped gameplay should be valid as long as it is supervised. It is impossible according to Ngo to examine every hardware component to see if it qualifies as a valid game though.

4. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, wondering "Who would have guessed that a a documentary about gamers obesessed with scoring a world record at Donkey Kong would not only be roaringly funny but serve as a metaphor for the decline of Western civilization?"

What do you think of the film? Is it an accurate protrayal of what makes videogames so compelling for those who play them?

It is funny but as long as some people put it in perspective, this is not the "decline of western civilization". It was about a niche of game players addicted to playing particular games as Ngo sees it. If they know how to lead an honest life, then they are not more hostile than the group of people who follow Oprah's book club.


5. On November 10, 1981, Walter Day opened an arcade in Ottumwa, Iowa called Twin Galaxies. Though it was a modest arcade of merely 22 arcade games, it soon became known as the International Scorekeeper for the burgeoning video game industry. Under Day's direction, Twin Galaxies set rules for gameplay on hundreds of games, while maintaining a records database of competitive high scores. Twin Galaxies is considered by gaming historians as being the first organizer of professional gaming, putting competitive electronic gaming on the world map.
How important do you think organizations like Twin Galaxies are in the vintage arcade gaming community?

They are important because arcade gaming is not nearly as popular in ngo's opinion as it was in the past. Twin Galaxies tries to keep the spirit alive by bringing those who have nostalgia together in a forum to discuss arcade games.

Could such communities exist without such organizations?

The communities can exist in small numbers without Twin Galaxies. But it depends on the location and other factors.

What role does Twin Galaxies play ultimately, and why is this significant to the film and its story?

Twin Galaxies is the ultimate moderator for all competition by establishing ground rules. They are supposed to be impartial according to Ngo, but have shown a penchant for bolstering the accomplishments of one man "Mitchell".


6. The film depicts Wiebe's skill at Donkey Kong being linked to his ability to deeply understand the title's game mechanics, particularly the way that rhythm and timing work to ensure a successful outcome.
The film in one scene compared his love of drumming and his abilities at basketball as well as his musical talent as part and parcel of his gift at playing Donkey Kong.
How would you describe this set of inter-related skills?

Hand/eye coordination is key to success in these types of games. You have to react accurately to timed events to be successful at these games. He was already primed for the role of player because of his background in sports and music.

Have you experienced anything like this yourself when playing games? Have you been able to associate the skill of playing games with similar related skills and talents and how would you best describe the nature of this set of inter-relationships between skills/passions/abilities?

Yes, hand/eye coordination and timing helped me play organized baseball in Wallenberg high school. My skill did not necessarily translate to better VIDEO game playing though. Conversely, not all core gamers are by default "gifted" at playing sports.


7. In the film, Wiebe, while playing the game says hello to Mitchell. Mitchell didn't respond. As he's walking away from Wiebe, Mitchell says, "There's certain people I don't want to spend too much time with." Mitchell offered no explanation for his behavior towards Wiebe but did later explain that at the time of filming, he had not played video games for "more than a year", and that the filmmakers had not given him enough advance warning to train for a public record-breaking attempt. Seth Gordon, the film's Director, in referring to Mitchell's character says that Mitchell "is a true puppet-master", "a master of information-control".
What do you think Gordon means by this? What role does such behavior play in general terms in videogame culture?

Gordon probably means that Mitchell knows how to manipulate people into believing things without knowing the full story. He knows that Wiebe is not privy to believing anything like those who were gullible enough to believe anything that Mitchells says. Information-control is probably a description of the way he speaks carefully and calmly. I do not believe that Mitchell knows how to control dissemination of information, Ngo thinks going a little too far.

8. What did you think of the film? Is it really only about the game "Donkey Kong" and those who seek to hold the highest score or is it really about something more?

It is really about psychology of competitive spirit. Who wants to be on top more? What measures does one take to stay on top? It also describes the nature of a support system around people.

9. Have you ever played "Donkey Kong"? What was your memory of playing it? Where were you, when was it?

I have never played the game. I was too young.

Machinations

My Machinations model

My model consists of a simple armament schematic whereby points accumulated over time will enable you to make more ammo and weapons. If the ammo repository is overwhelmed with too much supply, then the difference is recycled. This ammo can by utilized by clicking on the diamond gate to transfer the ammo "unit" to the Commando. Weapons are automatically supplied to the Commando which when fully armed, will deploy one worker soldier to battle.

Nonlinear Story From a Linear Story

SUMMARY OF "A & P" by John Updike

     Sammy is a cashier at an A & P supermarket located in a suburban town north of Boston. It is a hot summer afternoon in the 1960s. The atmosphere, as described by the narrator (Sammy), inside the A & P is monotonous with mostly old ladies checking off their shopping lists and housewives in pin curlers. Then, three girls wearing bathing suits saunter in, barefoot. The 1st one that caught Sammy's eye was a "chunky" girl with plaid, green two-piece bathing suit on. There was also a tall one with a long chin. Finally, there was the "queen", short with white legs, walking deliberately and leading the group. The queen was the one that stole Sammy's attention. The straps falling off her shoulder, dirty-pink bathing suit, and her face and hair mesmerized him. Stokesie, another male cashier also noticed them. Sammy and Stokesie were college-aged.
     The girls proceeded to make their way through each of the aisles. Sammy referred to the elder customers as "sheep" and mocked at how they were indifferent in the presence of these girls. Women generally do not wear only bathing suits in these parts since they are far from the beach. The queen and her sidekicks approach Sammy's checkout and she presents a jar of Kingfish Fancy Herring Snacks in Pure Sour Cream: 49 cents. Lengel the manager walks in and tells the girls that they are not dressed decently. He tells them that they had to cover up the next time since it is store policy. Sammy promptly quits with a slight sense of remorse mixed with the conviction of what he did was rational.

Flowchart of nonlinear variant of "A & P"

2 Paragraph Character Situation

     Terrenzo is a 20 year old student at CCSF. Overnight, his inner self was transported to another person's body. This other person is a 65 year old male attorney named Bradshaw. Bradshaw is scheduled for a hearing in Superior Court of San Antonio. Terrenzo does not know what is going on. He panics as he rushes out of the restroom inside his apartment and tries to make sense of what happened. Terrenzo is normally dexterous and can quickly move around with ease. However, the 65 year old body that he is confined to limits his mobility to slower paced movements. Terrenzo goes to the hospital to be evaluated for a mental disorder. He was cleared for that. He exclaims to the doctors that he is really a 20 year old college student from California. The doctors, feeling no remorse for him, discharge him and instruct him to consult a psychologist. Terrenzo books a flight back to San Francisco and once there, he calls his friends to tell them what had happened to him.
    Terrenzo may be an interesting game character as a non-playing character. But as a primary character, he would not have the movie star appeal that you would encounter in mainstream entertainment. He would make a good side-kick instead.

User Interface Questions

1. What type of challenges do you want to include in your game? Do you want to challenge the player's physical abilities, mental abilities or both?

I want the player to be immersed in a virtual obstacle course while playing. Therefore, the challenges that the player will face are mostly mental. It will demand critical thinking and memorization abilities.

2. Game genres are defined in part by the nature of the challenges they offer. What does your choice of genre imply for the gameplay? Do you intend to include any cross-genre elements, challenges that are not normally found in your chosen genre?

The RPG that I will develop will force the player to react to diverse situations and to carefully weigh
the consequences of their actions. I do not intend to include cross-genre elements.

3. What is your game's hierarchy of challenges? How many levels do you expect it to have? What challenges are typical of each level?

It will have several memorization skill levels where the player is expected to memorize some
information within a time limit. There will be 3-4 levels. The challenges are diverse: from planning to
team building.

4. What are your game's atomic challenges? Do you plan to make the player face more than one atomic challenge at a time? Are they all independent, like battling enemies one at a time, or are they interrelated, like balancing an economy? If they are interrelated, how?

Pressing buttons to unlock secret items. All challenges are done in sequence and are independent.

5. Does the player have a choice of approaches to victory? Can he decide on one strategy over another? Can he ignore some challenges, face others and still achieve a higher-level goal? Or must he simply face all the game's challenges in sequence?

The player has different options on how they want to clear levels. The player is not allowed to skip
over challenges. All obstacles need to be cleared for the player to prevail.

6. Does the game include implicit challenges (those that emerge from the design), as well as explicit challenges (those that you specify)?

Secret unlockable stages are scattered throughout the game in addition to the explicit ones.

7. Do you intend to offer settable difficulty levels for your game? What levels of intrinsic skill and stress will each challenge require?

There will be an option to change the difficulty of the game. Higher difficulties will require faster
reaction and greater image processing abilities.

8. What actions will you implement to meet your challenges? Can the player surmount a large number of challenges with a small number of actions? What is the mapping of actions to challenges?

The player needs to map a symbol on a set of buttons pairwise to achieve success. One mistake leads to complete failure. The actions are undefined at the time.

9. What actions will you implement for other purposes? What are those purposes--unstructured play, creativity and self-expression, socialization, story participation, or controlling the game software?

There will be dialog stages for story telling purposes.

10. What save mechanism do you plan to implement?

There is no save mechanism built in. Security policy prevents writes to the filesystem.

Custom User Interface

Custom User Interface

Hero Machine

Armored Technician : Bischof

He is a neo-modern bomb technician capable of arming and disarming explosives. He is outfitted with MAG-41K tactical heavy armor capable of withstanding frag grenade blasts and medium caliber bullets. Bischof is also loaded with a rocket jet and shoulder mounted RPG cannons to help him evade and destroy homing missiles. He is used for dangerous missions that require going deep into enemy territory and nuking the facilities. If an enemy is too close for comfort, Bischof can activate his flame aura to incinerate those who happen to be in contact. Bischof works as a lone wolf style operative, preferring to do things his way. He is accompanied by his dog companion, Mischief.

Renegade Hunter: Katerina

Katerina is a hunter, gatherer in a RPG. This amazonian likes to wear her aviator glasses to intimidate males and get her way. She is outfitted with a large sheath blade, a utility knife, and a leather whip. The  knives help her attack animals. The whip is used against people who wish to defy her orders. She is witty, tactful, and does not take "no" for an answer. She wears a green dress to display pride in her Irish heritage.

Worker, Debt Collector: Grunt

Grunt is your above average bookie who collects money owed for you if the price is right. He is used in a game similar to Grand Theft Auto. He is stocky and outfitted with unconventional weapons to scare the daylights out of the people he deals with. When not collecting "late payments", he is a day laborer, doing all sorts of menial jobs for a living. He prefers tight fitting shirts and has a wild surfer haircut.

Questions for Tilt: The Battle to Save Pinball

1) What was the big innovation in the 1940s that made all other pinball machines obsolete?

Flippers revolutionized pinball because it changed the gameplay from luck to skill.

2) In the 1970s, what new technological advance brought pinball up to date and enabled another step forward in the industry?

Pinball machines began to incorporate software run by computers to enhance the gameplay.

What types of innovations did it make possible?

It allowed the pinball machine to function like an arcade game. Graphics can be displayed to further entertain the player.

3) Which company specialized in 1970s pop-culture themed pinball machines?

Bally.

4) What technology shook the pinball world in the 70s? Why?

Video games shook the pinball world by extending the capabilities of the machine.

5) By the 1990s, was pinball successful or not?

Pinball had a very popular fanbase in the 1990s. This period marked the pinnacle of pinball's success.

6) What was the key innovation behind "Pinball 2000"?

Pinball 2000 included a video monitor that projected an image that was reflected off the glass surface.

7) What was the problem with the license behind the first major rollout of the Pinball 2000 idea with a major 3rd party license?

The major 3rd party license had their own agenda and did not release the game in a manner that would capitalize on the hysteria that movie fans would display towards movie based merchandise. Also, the license was expensive.

8) Why did Williams decide in the end to shut down its pinball division?

The production price was too high and required too many resources relative to making slot machines. Slot machines sales were bringing in more income as well.

9) Do you think this was a good idea?

Not really. It saved the company a lot of money. However, the technology was not allowed to be advanced since the company did not license the pinball technology to someone else.

10) Does a good idea always guarantee a commercial win?

There are no guarantees for success. It depends on a variety of business factors most of which are beyond the control of the developers. Only the return on investment justifies whether a game can continue to be made.

Cartoon Network Level Design

ADVENTURE TIME

The challenge of this level is to maneuver the character from platform to platform without touching the lava or running into enemy fire. The character (a penguin) can double jump and fire a wide range sonic attack to dispatch enemies and cancel enemy fire.

The camera mode is static, 2D.

The user interface is made of the keyboard keys that the user presses to control the character. Arrow keys allow it to move left, right, and jump. The space bar fires the attack power.

The goal of the game is to defeat all enemies and reach the "finish line" at the top left corner of the screen.

BEN 10 ALIEN FORCE

The challenge of this level is to maneuver the character to reach and neutralize enemies without touching them or their fire. The character can fly and hover while shooting beams of energy downward.

The camera mode is static, 2D.

The user interface is made of the keyboard keys that the user presses to control the character. Arrow keys move the character left, right, and holding the up arrow key allows it to fly. The space bar fires the beam.

The goal of the game is to kill all enemies and to collect all orbs. You also have to safely reach the finish zone at the top right.

BEN 10 GAME CREATOR 2

The challenge of this level is to maneuver the character from each platform without falling into the open space at the bottom or touching any of the electric charges. The alien can double jump and fire shots at enemies.

The camera mode is static, 2D.

The user interface is made of the keyboard keys that the user presses to control the position of the character (and whether it fires or not). Arrow keys allow it to move left, right, and jump. The space bar fires a shot.

The goal of the game is to collect all of the orbs and safely reach the circular portal at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Google sketchup

Perspective View:

This is the street level view looking at the library and some parked cars. It is a section of an
urban area where the operatives will begin infiltration of the local buildings. It is the
view that you will see as the player perspective.

Side View:

This is the view looking at the police station which has been taken over by terrorists. You can
see the overall scale of the level from this view. The player can map out the routes that
certain teams can take during the planning stage.

Right View:

This view is similar to the side view. It simply provides another angle view to the buildings.
Good for plotting the routes for your teammates.

Overhead View:

This is the view where the majority of the planning takes place. It shows the most detail about
the landscape which defines the boundaries of the level.

Pinball Playfield Exercise

Game 1: Short Circuit Pinball - Pinball play field

Colored playfield elements:

1. What is "good gameplay" when it comes to pinball game design?

This is a very standard pinball design with good mechanics and predictable game play. I don't see any  profound challenge to playing this game with proficiency after a couple of tries.

2. How do pinball playfield designers create exciting experiences?

They create them by providing goals that are not readily attainable in the first dry run at the game. This  one has some easy elements and some moderately difficult elements. But nothing stands out.

Game 2: Virus Pinball - Pinball Playfield

Colored playfield elements:

1. What is "good gameplay" when it comes to pinball game design?

This one is exciting because it has floating enemy elements that are only realized in a video game and not in a physical pinball game. It has an extremely straighforward design.

2. How do pinball playfield designers create exciting experiences?

They make a good pinball game like this - introducing new play elements that have not been thought of  before.

Collaborative Chess

Rules:

1. Begin with six pawns and a Queen in the Start position for each color. Each pawn moves

according to rules of Chess with the addition of being able to move diagonal forward by one space.

Queen moves according to classical chess with the ENHANCEMENT that it can "push" pieces of

the same color 1 space in any direction. However, if there is a piece blocking the pushed piece in

that direction, then the Queen cannot push that piece until the obstacle is moved elsewhere.

2. The pieces are never taken off of the board.

3. The pieces cannot "jump" over each other.

GOAL: Move the pieces in a manner that you achieve the symmetric start position (about the

center horizontal) in the fewest moves.

AWARD:

Respect from nubs. :)

High Concept Statement

My game contains the elements of a turn-based RPG with a science fiction theme. It uses Mass

Effect as model for the game mechanics and will have similar dialog options. The plot centers on

a mercenary group that abducts and holds the president of a country hostage. The antagonists

demand that the country relinquish most of their water and oxygen reserves. The planet that the

characters reside in has extremely limited quantities of oxygen and just barely enough water to

sustain the inhabitants of each country. The country that was targeted by the group had a stake

in one of the largest reserves of oxygen the planet has ever seen as well as ample supplies of water.

The mercenaries intend to sell the oxygen to the highest bidder in an underground auction. Your

mission is to rescue the president using various weapons and powers and recover the stolen water

and oxygen.

One sentence game idea

Deal five playing cards from a numbered deck for each player and determine how quickly the

player can add the five numbers mentally.

The player who gets the correct sum first gets one point. The next time that the player is dealt cards, that
player gets one less than 5 cards. The player has to get the correct sum quickest 3 more times before the
hand that is dealt goes down to three cards. If the player gets the wrong sum, that player loses a point. The
player who has the greatest number of points when the deck is exhausted is the winner.

My first blog post

popl;lokkll