Andrew Sacher

The second half of the game assignment, for those that don’t know, was to change some aspects of the classic werewolf game. Tracy Fullerton provided us with the details of this assignment that included enhancing game concepts like “meaningful choice”, “information structure”, “growing/changing consequences”, etc. We divided into four teams, of two people each, with Kellee Santiago and I forming a team. The most difficult part of this assignment was brainstorming and implementing the notion of “meaningful choice.” Kellee and my first brainstorming session was a bit frustrating, as we both felt a bit stumped. After a little warm up, and applying Bolas’ breathing exercises (or was it venting exercises?), we started getting more productive.

One of the directions we took had to do with a player’s emotional relationship to story. Making the narrative more immersive felt like a good direction. I personally find story and characters a good way to help visualize game play and players’ experiences. Adding “Ghosts” and “Mystics” as new game characters/roles seemed to create a rich and appropriate context. I found myself getting more interested in the game itself as we embellished narrative. It also helped us invent/modify the game rules and mechanics.

The original Werewolf game ends quickly for many players as they are killed off. I suggested to Kellee that we give the “dead” players a ghostly afterlife and the ability to be summoned in a townsperson séance. This could keep everyone more engaged throughout the game and, in theory, make the experience more meaningful. We decided that it would be best to limit the ghosts to non-verbal communication and the townspeople to one séance per game.

Balancing the game mechanic and/or "leveling the playing field” was also important. We eventually decided to give the wolves the opportunity to kill those noisy ghosts one time through the course of a game. The consequences of killing or having the séance too early, or late in the game, could help improve the consequences of these actions.

Bolas arranged for us to use the (now famous) Game Lab for the first time. Chris Swain joined the “play test” session and had some good questions and observations. Like the “Clue Game Mod", assigned in Peggy’s class, everyone came up with different solutions to the assignment. However, most of us felt that modifying the narrative was important. The far more challenging aspect of the assignment was evidenced by the varied game mechanics of each project.