The final physical version of my board game for my game design class.

Crazy Conductors: A Game of Twisting Tracks...

Although I've went through many versions and iterations of my board game, it's finally completed.

It's a slightly chance based strategy game which involves balancing the acts of reaching your goal and hindering your opponent.  If you want to play it, here's the download link, for the best printing results print it on double sided paper.

Crazy Conductors

Additional instructions for making the spinner.

Board Game Theme

Theme

The War of Ages, who will last?

Explanation

In The War of Ages the players compete in a battle of the minds.  The knowledgeable future uses an array of tactical positioning to shoot the opposing enemy while the savage past must charge into battle to strike the enemy.  The board is a grid like system that units can move in any direction depending on unit type, the center of the board will give negative effects to the opponent.  To win, the player must either capture the opposing teams 'essence' or hold the center of the hill long enough to destroy the opposing players region.

Research

Gain Ground, is a game of strategic placement.  It involves traversing each battlefield with a character and reaching the exit with all avatars or by defeating all the enemies on screen, whichever comes first.  There are twenty playable avatars in this game, each with a unique movement style and attack style.  I plan on using this game to balance my board game since even though it has a diverse play style range, it's still balanced.

Color Scheme

Here's twenty board game ideas for my game design class.

1. The player moves up levels in order to reach the highest level.
2. Each player takes turns rolling die in a battle to equal a high number in the hundreds, pick a card each turn for multipliers.
3. Player navigates a space in order to run from a monster, movement is based on die rolling
4. Jump over pieces in order to be the first to have no units, each time a unit is jumped over it is taken away.
5. Players compete to kill each other on a hill like board.
6. Take turns rolling dice and chose to move players backwards.
7. Take turns attacking object, whoever deals most damage wins.
8. A game with movement in height, all directions.
9. Take turns removing pieces from a object, last standing wins.
10. Pick up sticks without touching other sticks.
11. Movement is based on amount of pieces.
12. Movement is based on cards picked up.
13. Players stare at a picture and guess parts of it to move.
14. Players spell words to move.
15. Players solve math problems to move.
16. Players  do challenges noted on cards to move.
17. Players place blocking points and move to the end blocking the opponent.
18. Arrows depict where to move, rotate an arrow each turn then step on it to move.
19. Players move in L paths.
20. Players move in sine waves, must meet other players.

Penguins Night Out Deconstruct

• For my game design course I have to deconstruct a print and play board game, because of how much I enjoyed Penguins Night Out, I'm going to deconstruct it.
• Goal of the game
• The goal of the game is to gather your friends and return to your nest afterwards while avoiding the Polar Bear Gang. 
• Core Mechanic
• The core mechanic is the alteration of the board after each turn.  After each turn the player rolls a die and then is allowed to move the domino anywhere on the play field.
  
  
• Space of the game
• The game is played on top of dominoes, the layout of the dominoes is always changing.
• Objects, Attributes, States
• Objective:
• Each time a buddy penguin is collected, a chance of blocking the other player is available as only as they don't have as many buddy penguins.
• Attributes:
• The only attributes tied to the game are the numbers assigned to each domino.
• States:
• The dominoes are the only things that may change states within the game, everything else only can move locations.  The dominoes change states in the aspect that they can be rotated any way possible as long as the edges are flush with adjacent dominoes, ie, a 6:2 domino can be a 2:6 domino in the same space.
• Operative Actions
• The simple actions a player can make are the following:
• Roll the die
• Move their penguin along the domino path
• Collect their buddies
• Land on the Polar Bear Gang and become stunned the rest of the turn.
• Resultant Actions
• The complex actions a player can make are the following:
• Move dominoes on the field, thus changing the play field
• Stun opponents instead of moving dominoes
• Move the buddy penguins
• Trap opponent by having more acquired buddy penguins than them
• Skills players learn

• There aren't many skills that come from the game, it's mainly luck.  The game is setup in a way that one roll of the die can be the difference of a landslide victory and a close game.
• The role of chance in the game.
• Chance plays a huge role in the game, but it keeps it interesting.  With chance the playing fields were even throughout the games duration; with one roll of the die an apparent victory can turn into utter defeat.  Normally this would take some fun out of the game, but it keeps players on the edge when the die is being rolled for domino placement.

Recently I discovered an amazing print and play game called 'Penguins night out.'  The game is played on top of dominoes, and its strongest point is its ever changing board.  The goal is to collect your two friends and return to your nest while avoiding the polar bear gang in order to have a penguins night out at town.  It's a very odd take on a game, which makes it fun, I'll definitely be playing it again with my family.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/19502/penguins-night-out

3D Modelling Timeline

Two years ago I decided to switch my college major to Game Art and Design because I fell in love with modeling.  Over a segmented span of six months, I completed these models mainly using Maya, the first two models were in 3D Studio Max.  Although I have a long way to go, I'm going to work to create amazing creations that no one has seen before.

Lighting Study

Freshman Year

Value Study

I enjoy this trailer because it sets the mood for the game really well by telling future players how huge the battles will be.  I believe the trailer uses camera angles nicely to give hints on what will happen during the story.