The First Notes (2021/05/23~27)

Main idea: I want to make a game where players [open boxes], that evokes feelings of [being a cat]

Selected ideas are bolded

[ Story ]

Ben’s Idea

• Singleplayer
• Combat-puzzle TTRPG

• Player will accumulate different cats that come with abilities/tools

• A player will be represented by a token
• Each ability has to be mastered to accomplish an end goal
  • Each ability will be unlocked
  • Each ability is gained through levels
  • Each level introduces a different tool/ability
  • Each tool/ability comes on a card with a description
  • Each tool has a limited amount of uses
  • The player can have up to 4 NPCs
• The final level will require the player to use all their accumulated abilities
  • The Final ‘boss’ will be the box that needs to be opened
• Each level will be a ‘region’ or a room
  • Each region has an NPC cat representative of the region
  • Will be on a map
  • The player moves through the map by rolling dice
• Card deck
  • NPC and obstacles mixed into the deck
  • As the player moves through the map/grid, they pull out a card

• A card could either be an obstacle, or an NPC
• Once the NPC is pulled, the level is over
• The final boss is the main objective, but the actual focus is on the journey it takes to get to the ‘boss’
• Obstacles can be anything (a house rat, cockroach)
• No narrator

Sumin’s Idea

• Multiplayer
• Storybuilding

• Players can determine the mood of the game
• There will be a narrator to determine the story
• Players move through a map
• Everyone rolls a die and moves according to the number
• Players who encounter the obstacle pulls a card from the obstacle deck to decide what the obstacle is
• They then pull a card from a question deck
  • Players take turns answering the question, which will determine how well they overcome the obstacle
• Players roll a die to determine the effectiveness of the answer
  • Their specialties could also bring buffs or debuffs to the answer (roleplay component)
• If the players on the obstacle spot cannot get through, the obstacle is then handed to the next player behind them
• The next player rolls a die to move forward, then works on the obstacle
  • This player will have to answer the same question
  • This player will have an additional buff going into the obstacle so that they have a faster/easier time passing through
  • If this player overcomes the obstacle, they will continue their remaining steps
• If all players fail to answer the question, they will discuss together how to solve the question
  • They can then bring the suggestion to a narrator, and have a second chance to roll the die

• Luck rolls*
• By the end of the game, the map should look like a messy room
• Mix question cards, which ask the player about the final box, within the scenario deck

• When you pull out the Final-box-question-card from the deck, you don’t encounter any obstacle or event. You just need to answer the question regarding the final box.

Iris’ Idea

• Could be multiplayer or single-player
• 3 decks

• One for player roles

• Eg. a fat cat has more strength, a tall cat can jump higher places
• Players do not have to draw from this deck and can choose which role they would like to play
• One for prompts/scenarios
  • Eg. there is a cage to get out of, there is a ball of yarn you want to knock off the table
• One for the tool/abilities to acquire
• Players go around in a circle to draw from the scenario deck until reaching the final scenario, which is the box
  • Players roll a die to determine how effective their plan to overcome the scenario is
  • If the players fulfill the needed conditions, they acquire a tool from the 3rd deck
  • If they fail, the scenario is passed to the next player onwards until someone succeeds
  • The player who fulfills the conditions takes the card
• Final scenario
  • Players take their accumulated tool cards, and roll the die to determine how effective the tool is in opening the box
• Cat roles and the tools/abilities should encourage players to think of how to overcome scenarios in different ways
• There could be a limit to how many tool cards a player can hold
  • Players can discard tools by using them to aid the player in a scenario (players can only use one card per scenario)
  • Players could also choose to put a card in the discard pile in favour of another newly acquired card

[ General ideas ]

• Inventory
• Various cat roles for the player to choose from

• This deck is used prior to starting the game
• The player can choose from any of the roles, or they can choose at random as well
• Each role is different and should encourage the player to solve the puzzles the way that role would solve the puzzles
• This also ensures that in future playthroughs, the player will have to come up with different solutions to solve the same scenarios
• The player progresses through a grid (the map) and draws from the scenario deck
• Each scenario has 3 prompts to use to overcome or solve the scenario
  • The player can use any of the 3, but they cannot use anything else
  • Eg. the player encounters a sleeping dog, the prompts are a table, a ball and a tube. the player then tries to use as many of the 3 they like to solve this scenario
  • The player must come up with a scenario, then roll a die to determine how effective their strategy will be

[ Mechanics ]

• Puzzle game
• Chaotic
• singleplayer
• The player can choose from various cat roles
• Inventory

• Limited inventory
• Mapped out regions for the players to visualize the journey
• 1 card deck for roles
• 1 deck for inventory
• 1 deck for obstacles/enemies
  • Roll die for whether or not the cat can overcome the obstacle
• Luck rolls*
  • Roll 4 and above, you succeed and gain points
  • 3 and below you fail and lose points
  • if you get 6 you would succeed and get extra item 4 and above, you just success doing that 2-3 you fail to do that and 1 you would make a mess

[ undetermined ]

• One room? Multiple rooms?

• Paper layouts in grids

• Each sheet is a room
• Maybe different grid layouts for different rooms?
• Each grid box we roll a die for placement of obstacles
• Go through the grid in a certain pattern
• Once you reach an obstacle you make a plan on how to go around it, roll a second die for how well you achieve it
• Narrator?

- Cooperative

• The Player states their plan to solve the obstacle, rolls a die to determine the effectiveness

- competitive

• Point system?
• Whoever has the most points by the end wins
• Go around in a circle, every turn a player can use their points to sabotage another player or solve their obstacle