Space Run: A Board Game Development Project

Space Run! A Neighborhood Delivery Board Game By: Margaret Lewallen

‘Space Run’ is a game of racing against your friends to make your way around your futuristic neighborhood to make the fastest deliveries! Roll the dice and draw a card to make your moves, zap your opponents, and race to your goals.

Rules:

Setting Up the Game -Set the board out so everyone can get to it. Place your tokens at the starting area. Next, everyone draws three (3) delivery cards, and three (3) power cards.

First Turn First player is decided by the highest roll with the 2 six-sided dice. Turns go clockwise from there.

The first player rolls the 2D6 and direction dice to see where to go. The 2D6 give you the number of spaces, and the direction dice tells you which direction to move in. (Forward, backwards, left, right, or diagonal.)

If desired, a power card may be played. These can be helpful or harmful to either yourself or the other players, depending on the card.

After a power card is played, you cannot draw a new one until your next turn.

Extra Rules EX:

Power Cards Power cards can be either helpful or harmful, depending on the card. Cards are self explanatory in their descriptions. You can adjust your movement, another players movement, and so on.

There are also cards that allow for defense against attacks.

Game Goal Your goal is to make three successful deliveries and make it back to base! The first person to successfully make all deliveries and make it back to base wins the game.

Cards

Defense Card

Delivery Card

Card Backs

Concepting the Game

The original idea for Space Run was a sort of ‘galaxy hop’ delivery game, making odd deliveries through the solar system. The second idea for the game was a bit more earth oriented, set in a neighborhood. When we were presenting our concepts, the suggestion was made to combine the two – and thus we have Space Run in its current form.

The board design, just like the theme for the game, went through a few different changes. I had begun with a generic rectangle board design. With the idea of doing a space setting, the suggestion was also made to try for a more circular board set up.

With the original space idea, I had wanted to create a more 3D board using Styrofoam, plaster, and toothpicks. I tried to carry over the idea of a 3-dimensional board to the more neighborhood-theme. Unfortunately, I had some concerns with the whole set up being to bulky for game play. Hopefully with a bit of tweaking and looking at different materials, I may yet be able to build the 3-dimensional board.

The current board set up is circular, with various paths through the board. The idea of a grid had been thought of, but passed up for a bit more control on where the players could go.

Concepting the Board, con’t.

Board layout concepts.

Original 3D design using Styrofoam.

Second 3D design, probably using wood.

Final 2D board design.

And viola! My full prototype board game.

Game includes: -

Board 2 sets of cards 2 six-sided dice A key to the map 4 tokens

Thank you for reading!