Art 200: Introduction to Art and Design for Games

Project 2: Paperman: The Game

Overview:

Work in groups to make a physical board game based on an animated short; ours was Disney's Paperman.
Capture the theme and the animated short's feeling.
Iteratively build the board game using tools like playtests and design documents.

October 7 - October 29, 2025

Disney's Paperman Short Film

Final Board Setup

Action Cards

Window Cards & Player Pieces

Rules

Board Design

Constraints:

Our game had to be physical, match our Disney short, and be done within a three-week time limit.

Tools:

I used Canva to design the board, cards, one-page design doc, and rules.

Design

My team brainstormed extensively about which scenes we wanted to recreate in our game. We were between the window scene and the scene where the airplanes are bringing George and Meg together. Our ideas included moving the George and Meg pieces and making the game team-based. We also liked the idea of taking inspiration from Chutes and Ladders, with the board between George and Meg's buildings, where airplanes could enter different windows on the way down. Our challenges with these ideas were the time we had, so we decided to make a board game based on the window scene that included Chutes and Ladders mechanics.

Playtests:

In our first iteration playtests, we learned we wanted a game that:

Played for a longer time
Had more strategy (it was only luck/die roll to move across the board)
Engagement with other players

From these playtests, we:

Made the board longer
Added cards(action and window)
Removed die roll and implemented different ways cards could help you move and sabotage other players

In our second iteration playtests, we learned that we wanted:

Better design for the board
Cards were confusing without descriptions.
The employee card's "skip turn" did not make sense in our game.
Pacing issue with our card ratio
Players did not often land on window tiles.
Players liked the card comboing idea and wanted more ways to combo cards.

Based on this feedback, we:

Used a printed digital version of the board and made sure theming was consistent across the rules and cards
Changed the employee card's ability to swap cards from three in the deck
Added more card combo opportunities
Changed the placement of our window tiles so players would land on them more

Next Steps:

If we had more time, we would continue playtesting with different card abilities and researching other card games for inspiration. I would also like to iterate on the board's design further to improve the artwork.

Paperman Iterations:

First Iteration (10/15)

This was the first board for the game, created in Google Slides. We wanted to recreate the window scene from the animated short. It includes a Google script for a die roll and a second slide for the three different cards players could roll for.

First Iteration Cards (10/15)

One Page Design Doc (10/20/25)

Board (10/22)

Board (10/7)

Project 1: "Dead End" Board Game

Overview

This project is a reimagined version of Viva Topo!, refined through three iterations to enhance gameplay. It introduces a zombie theme layered over the original framework, along with new mechanics such as revival, randomized cave entry, and an aid point system.

Constraints

The guidelines for this project were to give Viva Topo a twist by changing its mechanics, theme, and board. I had to playtest with 2 groups for each of the three iterations. Finally, I had to name and write down instructions for the new game. The project lasted a total of two weeks.

Tools

I used Canva for the design of the board and instructions. I used Google Slides for coding scripts for the turn die and event die.

Design

For my design, I chose to make a zombie apocalyptic-themed board. From this theme, I chose to create mechanics inspired by it. For example, there is a revival feature that allows players to spend aid to revive after being bitten by a zombie, which would otherwise kill their player. The various events are also themed around the apocalypse theme. I was inspired by shows like The Walking Dead to make this theme.

Some challenges with this design I encountered were a long runtime. In the original Viva Topo board, there were many more spaces than in the final version, which significantly lengthened gameplay time. A longer board meant more joker spaces and more opportunity for players to randomly be sent to the beginning of the board, and players had to wait longer to end a game. To solve this, I shortened the board length, along with the number of joker tiles, to reduce the overall length. However, I didn't remove the tunnel or joke tiles, as they were unique gameplay mechanics that players found exciting during their playtests.

Playtests

In my playtests, there were numerous iterations of gameplay mechanics. Originally, the tunnels served as hiding spaces in Viva Topo, where players would be trapped in that space for the rest of the game. I knew I wanted to add more randomness to the game and decided to have the player randomly emerge from one of the caves. With this change, I made an event die. I found that players appreciated this change, and I also added a Joker tile to introduce more randomness. This joker tile would use the event die for a series of different events that could happen to your character. During playtesting, I found that the placement of these tiles was important so that a player wouldn't ever immediately land on a joker tile after leaving a tunnel.

Next steps

If I had more time with this game, I would like to further iterate on the board. Given the time constraint, I wanted to focus on the game mechanics more than the look of the board. If I could, I would like to redesign the look of the 'smiles,' aid, and tunnels to create a more cohesive and recognizable design.

Game Board

Instructions

Assignment 2:

The Prompt: Brainstorm a Game Idea with the Theme “Lost and Found”

Our Brainstorming began with listing different places the game could take place, different things that a player could find or be looking for, types of games, and genres of games. Some of these brainstorming ideas were “Garbage,” “Multiple Rooms,” “Where’s Waldo,” and “Point and Click.”

Picking an Idea: After reviewing our list of ideas, we decided that the most interesting option would be a game set at the airport, where the player would assume the role of a TSA Agent. We drew inspiration from point-and-click games, such as Papers, Please, and the Netflix movie Carry On. Some of the challenges here were deciding on the kind of gameplay we wanted our player to have; we were torn between having multiple rooms and searching for interactive objects, a narrative-driven story, or puzzles, among other options. We decided that a point-and-click with a searching feature at the airport seemed the most interesting, and we wanted to have new people to search through. Together, our final idea was to create a point-and-click story game with an inventory and game mechanics of searching through carry-ons and interrogating people.

Paper Prototype: On our paper prototype, we included a hotbar with an inventory, including a walkie and a metal detector wand, a ui screen with the owner of the carry-on, the carry-on in the middle to inspect, and the X-ray view of the carry-on in the right, along with a chatbox screen. Another idea we had was the ability to steal items from the carry-on and add them to the hotbar of items. My role in the paper prototype was designing the UI screen and placement of characters and items; my partner came up with the gameplay elements, such as interrogating the carry-on owner.

Playtesting: In our playtesting, we had players say that it immediately reminded them of the game 'Papers Please,' and they were interested in the game idea. Some ideas that players had were non-humans trying to get by, having an ending to the game, adding in a story for the agent or characters, and the ability to collect items like a lie detector to use on new carry-on owners.

Iterate: Three things that I would change moving forward with this idea are a storyline of what the agent's goals or wants are and how to win the game, I would decide on if this airport is in a fantasy world or a semi-realistic world, and I would add fun features like quirky items players can confiscate to stay interested in the game's mechanics. These features would address issues such as, not knowing how to win, not being engaging enough, and not understanding the environment. I am confident that our target audience will be able to quickly grasp this game, given their previous experience with similar games.

Paper Prototype

Brainstorming Ideas

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