Project A: Part 4 - Final by Megan Cary

Coffee Shop Hero

PROJECT A Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project A: Final | February 8, 2011

DESIGN STATEMENT

Coffee Shop Hero is a board game where, in the spirit of Monopoly, your goal is to climb the corporate ladder. In the game, all players would start as a Barista in a coffee shop and work their way up the ranks - shift manager, assistant manager, manager – until ultimately, the winner gets their own franchise. It would be a traditional dice based board game, where the players would take turns rolling the dice and would move their game pieces forward on the board. In turn, players would land on certain squares where they would draw a card from one of two piles - Luck or Logic. The square the player lands on in the game would determine which card they would choose. Luck cards would be based on chance - the players have a 50/50 chance of drawing a positive or negative card. For example, Player 1 rolls a 5, moves forward 5 spaces and lands on a “Luck” square. They would then choose a “Luck” card from the top of the pile and read the instructions - “You just spilled coffee on a customer, Joe the shift manager is not happy. Move back 3 spaces.” In contrast, a player who lands on a “Logic” square would draw a logic card that contains a trivia question about the coffee industry. As the players move through the game, they would pass certain milestones in their career, until ultimately the first player who reaches the finish would become the “Coffee Shop Hero.”

AUDIENCE AND CONTEXT

Though it is a traditional board game, Coffee Shop Hero would have a modern edge in its subject matter, wording and design - at its heart, it is traditional with a twist. Because of the subject matter and level of difficulty, the audience of the game would be ages 16-34. There would be no lewd or violent content. The game could easily translate as a party game, as contestants would have fun competing to be the big winner.

MOTIVATION

I’ve always loved board games and party games, particularly games like Monopoly, Life and Trivial Pursuit that have a goal and promote fun, healthy competition - but also make you think. I believe that is what will draw my audience to this game. While game design is not my focus, graphic design with a focus on interactive design, however, is. So I think creating a game design would be a good way to push myself out of comfort zone, have a little fun and be creative.

Project A: Part 1 (Proposal) Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project A: Final | February 8, 2011

Project A: Part 2 (Visualization/Conceptualization) Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project A: Final | February 8, 2011

Project A: Part 3 (Prototype) Megan Cary | ITGM 705-OL | Project A: Final | February 8, 2011

Revised Proposal DESIGN STATEMENT

Coffee Shop Hero is a board game where, in the spirit of Monopoly, your goal is to climb the corporate ladder. In the game, all players would start as a Barista in a coffee shop and work their way up the ranks - shift manager, assistant manager, manager – until ultimately, the winner gets their own franchise. It is a traditional dice based board game, where the players take turns rolling the dice and would moving their game pieces forward on the board. In turn, players land on certain squares where they draw a card from one of two piles - Luck or Logic. The square the player lands on in the game would determine which card they would choose. Luck cards would be based on chance - the players have a 50/50 chance of drawing a positive or negative card. For example, Player 1 rolls a 5, moves forward 5 spaces and lands on a “Luck” square. They then choose a “Luck” card from the top of the pile and read the instructions - “You just spilled coffee on a customer, Joe the shift manager is not happy. Move back 3 spaces.” In contrast, a player who lands on a “Logic” square would draw a logic card that contains a trivia question about the coffee industry. During the process an additional challenge was added to enhance gameplay, – there is a slight chance the player may land on a Drive Thru square which would put them on the fast track to win. However, it there a risk for the player on the fast track as they could end up where they started. As the players move through the game, they pass certain milestones in their career, until ultimately the first player who reaches the finish becomes the “Coffee Shop Hero.”

AUDIENCE AND CONTEXT

Though it is a traditional board game, Coffee Shop Hero has a modern edge in its subject matter, wording and design - at its heart, it is traditional with a twist. Because of the subject matter and level of difficulty, the audience of the game is ages 16-34. There is no lewd or violent content. The game could easily translate as a party game, as contestants would have fun competing to be the big winner. Team play is also accomodated in the rules.

MOTIVATION

I’ve always loved board games and party games, particularly games like Monopoly, Life and Trivial Pursuit that have a goal and promote fun, healthy competition - but also make you think. I believe that is what will draw my audience to this game. While game design is not my focus, graphic design with a focus on interactive design, however, is. So I think creating a game design has been a good way to push myself out of my comfort zone, have a little fun and be creative.

SUMMARY

Overall, this project remained true to my original proposal. While there were several enhancements made to the gameplay (primarily the drive thru addition), this is the same game.