Abigail Scheidler
Those Who Seek Curses
A project for a system design class at DigiPen Institute of Technology. We were tasked with creating a table-top board game. Enter a haunted house and try to get into the spirit realm before your opponents!
System Design Team - 3 people
January 2024 - April 2024
Role: Character System Designer
My role on the team was to create and balance 4 different characters with 4 unique abilities based off of the element archetypes (Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind). This was a difficult task as I was not very experienced with balancing numbers.
However I found a lot of value in working with system designers to integrate the characters identities in their abilities. It was also challenging to balance good design decisions with the restrictions from the assignment.
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Haunting a House
Concept: What if the player's goal was to die?
Goal: Collect 3 Curses by running out of health and traversing the spirit relam.
1 vs. 1 each player controls 4 of the same characters.
Setting:
A Haunted House
Archetypes:
Fire ------------ Aggressive
Wind -----------Movement
Earth ------------ Defensive
Water ------------ Support
Players control 4 different character who each take a turn. On their turn they can roll a dice to move around the board. They can also collect resources and craft items. Character who craft their personal item gain access to their upgradable ability.
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When a character runs out of health, they have a limited amount of turns in the spirit realm before they are resurrected. In that time, they must land on a curse space to gain a curse. The first to 3 curses wins!
Element:
Fire
Health:
7 points
Ability
Deals damage at the start of their turn
(No movement bonuses)
Playstyle
Chase after your allies to kill and send them to the spirit realm as quickly as possible.
Element:
Wind
Health:
6 points
Ability
Move another character a number of spaces away
(+1 Movement Bonus)
Playstyle
As the easiest to kill and fastest, get around the map to die as quickly as possible.
Element:
Earth
Health:
8 points
Ability
Absorb damage any time another character is hurt
(-1 Movement but access to shortcuts)
Playstyle
As the slowest and hardest to kill, upgrade the ability to absorb as much damage as possible.
Element:
Water
Health:
7 points
Ability
Heal Enemy player's health
(+0 Movement Bonus)
Playstyle
Foil the plans of the enemy by healing them and preventing them from getting to the spirit realm
Reflection:
Our game ended up being very bloated because of the various requirements for the assignment it was originally made for. However, I would love to return to this project one day to refine it.
I loved working on something the required both narrative, ux, and system design to be accomplished. It was also fun to see how playtesters used and strategized with the characters.