Witch’s Brew

Description

Witch’s Brew is a board game that I have created within 10 minutes (give or take), as a part of the Ludology and Gameplay module. The board takes the player through an enchanted forest and a small village where at the end, they must defeat a giant that lives in the mountains.

Pictures of the Game Board

Items Needed

• The Board Game (Can be drawn on paper)
• Cards (Can be written on paper)
• 1 Dice (Can be obtained online: https://www.random.org/dice/?num=1)

Game Objective

Defeat the boss! There is an evil giantat the end of the board game, 10 potions are needed to kill him! The first person to get 10 potions and reach the boss wins!

Rules & Explanations

• Potions: Potions are used to fight the main boss (Dragon) and the mini-bosses (Banshee, Centaur and a Werewolf).

• Black Cat: If you pass the black cat you may take another turn.

• Cauldron: Once your character lands on the Cauldron tile or moves past it, you can choose to deposit your potions. By depositing your potions, your opponent will not be able to steal them from you.  

• Execution: You were seen by a civilian, you now are lynched. You miss a turn and lose a potion (if no potions on your person, one is taken from your cauldron.

• Pandora’s Box: Whenever you land on the “Pandora’s box” tile, you get to pick a card from the deck, this can offer player advantages. Some advantages are:
  
  • Broomstick! – Fly to the next potion game tile.
  • Spell of Prosperity! – Deposit your potions immediately.
  • Curse! – Steal 1 of your opponent’s potions.

• Boss (Giant): Once you reach the boss, you need 10 potions either on you or in your cauldron to defeat him.  If you reach him and do not have enough potions, he will spit you out to the start of the game board.

How to Win

To win you need 10 potions (either on your player or in your cauldron), the first person who makes it to the boss with 10 potions wins.

Reflection

Playthrough Description

My finished game is called “Witch’s Brew”, it has a range of positive and negative feedback and a game goal. At the start, you and your opponent roll the dice and whoever gets the highest number can have the first turn. Each player takes turns on rolling the dice to navigate your way through the board. While playing the game you might encounter items on game tiles, some positive (Potions, Black Cat & Pandora’s Box) and some negative (Execution).

Best Features

Theme – Personally, I enjoy the spooky theme of the game. I think there’s a lot of things I could do with it being a witchy game, plus the game world exists outside the realm of reality so there’s a lot of freedom when it comes to thinking of ideas for it.

Event Tiles – I like the event tiles within the board game, I think it adds dynamic to the game. The player can have negative or positive feedback from landing on them, such as looping around the forest or escaping executions.

Playthrough Problems & Potential Fixes

Problem – Placement of Items

During my playthrough, I noticed that some of the item placements need adjustments. Some items are too close to each other and some items don’t make sense to be there.

Fix – Make More Game Tiles & Adjust

If I were to add more game tiles (20 board tiles or more) it would allow me to distribute the game items in better ways.