Politico was the product of a collaborative effort by the class of Allen Turner’s Game Design Workshop, DePaul University, Fall 2009. The project assignment was to create a Facilitated Pen & Paper RPG, the result was a game driven by multiple mechanics, resources, humour, and of course FUN. The game has some similarities to traditional Pen & Paper RPGs, it’s duration varies greatly depending on the strategies and actions of players, the experience is enriched by (but not reliant on) the enthusiasm of the players, and refreshingly it all takes place in real life! The rules and supplies needed to play the game are quite extensive but are woven together nicely and result in game-play that is far smoother and easier to pick up than one might guess at first glance. Please download the Game Document below if you would like to see our (mine and my classmates’) work, and perhaps give it a play! Please comment with any questions you might have…
Game Document
Credits:
Production: Amanda Hoel-Green
Design: Tony Konstant, John Murphy, Alberto Harrison Sanchez, Jake Anderson
Aesthetics: Matt Voss (cards & pieces), John Bruggers (narrative), John Murphy (narrative), Tony Konstant (game board)
On a personal note, this game was a breath of fresh air for me. I worked on this game with 6 other people, the largest group I have developed a game with, and it was a great experience. I found that the group environment was a great benefit to my design process and production, sometimes a teammate may say some single word that gives you the spark you need to figure out a puzzling design problem, other times someone else might figure that problem out outright (selfishly I enjoy trying to figure out every single problem, but realistically the game itself doesn’t care who makes it work!). I led the design of the game-play and mechanics, laying the foundation of the idea and writing the final rules, however, the game wouldn’t be as fun without the contributions of everyone. Also working with real objects, building the board, playing with the cards, all of this was such a welcome change of pace from the computer development.
