The Mind Game Mod
The Mind Challenger
After I had fun playing in class several card games, the mind caught my attention, so I decided to realize a further analysis of the game. I played the game 3 or 4 more times, but on these game plays, I was also keeping in mind to analyze the game’s mechanics and other details. Later on, it was time to create my game mod for the mind. In the following post, I will share with you my brainstorming of ideas, designs, new rules and finally test the game to see it’s pros and cons.
(If you don’t know the rules of the original game, check out my blog post , “The Mind Game Review” .
Why I Choose the Mind?
I had a fun experience playing the game. It was very interesting in many aspects such as: the design of the cards, they looked appealing to me, the colors. The game mechanics caught my attention, I didn’t imagine playing a card game where the players involved in the game were not my enemies. We practically had to defeat the game, but it wasn’t very easy to be honest.
This is why the mind, had to be moded. I wanted to last more, to advance more levels or else the game could turn out to be not as exciting as when I first started laying a few games. Another reason I choose to mod it, was because the game mechanics weren’t very complex nor too simple. I had several options I could look at to come up with new ideas with the game not having to make drastic changes to the rules and cards.
Brainstorming
I sat down with my computer, in a settled environment with some lofi music, waiting for that inspirational moment to come up so that I could start writing down random ideas. The moment has come so I typed and typed, corrected, deleted, a mess of ideas on my screen until finally, I managed to organize the best ideas so far. I deleted some that didn’t make sense, others that made the game too overpowered and others that nerfed the game.
Here is what’s left of the original brainstorming process for the new game rules and mechanics:
“I would like to implement some action cards which would change a few rules of the game and implement new rules according to the card used. Keep the lives. Get rid of the shuriken in a certain way. I’ll add some tokens which I would later explain its functions.”
Each level: +1 life +1 mystery card (not for each player).
Game pieces:
Tokens: the last player to play the card on the table, (highest card) would earn a two one point token. If you have at least 3 tokens, (3 points) you could use them to undo a move.
New cards:
Negative cards: the back would look the same as the rest of the main cards (1-100). If a player gets the card, he can subtract the amount the amount of the actual value of the card if someone puts a higher card than the highest card you have. If there is no need for the use of the card, you can save it for later. There will be 8 cards mixed within the deck with the following values: -2 ,-3, -4, -6. ( two of each value).
Wildcards: the back of the card will look the same as the rest of the main cards (1-100). You can choose any number you would like to use.
Mystery cards: There would be a pile of 12 cards throughout the game play, (you’ll be able to differentiate them). Here are the following functions: discard lowest card (5 of these), discard the highest card (5 of these), skip the current level (2 of these).
Design creation
I thought to myself “where could I create an appealing design for my cards?” An awesome website I’ve used before for other projects came in mind called Canva. you can use it for free with some things limited, but still there can be something made out of it or you can pay the premium but in my case, I used it for free.
I started to combine colors, images, position the layout, play around with the tools. I based the design on the brainstorming I did previously, which was very helpful and I finally managed to get the final design of the new cards. The new cards were totally modified from back to front. Actually there were some cards where I tried to make them look very similar on the back side with the mind logo (the back side of the original 1-100 cards). I also created a new cover for the game, now that the game’s name changed a bit “The Mind Challenger”.
Here are the new designs: The Mind Challenger New Cards
Testing
The game mod was finally ready for a game play. I asked in my classroom who wanted to be the first to test and evaluate my game mod of the mind. Four classmates volunteered, so my teacher and I set up the table ready to explain how the game is played. Luckily, they have already played the mind before so they knew the original rules, which made things easier to explain. After I set clear the new rules of the games, I watch how they played the game looking for things I could fix. My partners enjoyed the game, each one of them send their feedback about the game which made me realize that I had to change a few things.
Final Rules
The Mind Challenger
Description
No. players: 2-4 (best if there are 4 players)
Age: 8+
Duration: 20 min
Type: family, party
Category: card game, deduction
Rules
There are up to 12 levels in the game. The deck contains cards with numbers on them from 1-100. There are also wild cards, positive cards and negative cards within the deck. There will be other cards such as, life cards, level up cards and discard cards. At level one, each player would be given a card. According to the number of participants, the group would be given such amount of lives. The group will also be given a mystery card, since it’s level 1.There is no order for who throws first the card, but players must keep in mind, the cards played on the table must be played from lowest to highest number. Players must not speak about their card numbers, they can’t know which cards you have at the moment. If someone were to place a card on the table lower than the previous card played by any of the members, they all would lose a life and start over the level they were on. If they lose all of their lives, it’s game over for everyone. The level is finished when everyone has no cards remaining on them, so they pass to level two and this time everybody gets two cards. This means that in level three, three cards, until the players have reached up to level 12.
Negative and positive cards: (These are mix with the cards from 1-100). If a player gets the card, he/she can subtract or add from a card you are willing to set on the table.
Ex: if someone placed a 30 placed on the table and you have a 27, then you can use a +3 card with the 27. Now you would have 30 and it would be valid.
Ex: if someone placed a 90 and you have a 95 but you notice that there are two more cards to be placed by other players then you can do this… let's say you have a -4 card, your card can now be 91, now there are more chances for the other players to get it right.
Wildcards: You can choose any number you would like to use.
Life cards: These will be set on the table. The lives apply for everyone. If you use a life, the current level will be reseted.
Mystery cards: There would be a pile of 12 cards throughout the game play.The cards are set face down in a pile. For each level up, the players can pick one card that will apply for everyone if used. Here are the following functions: discard lowest card form all of the players, discard the highest card from all of the players, skip the current level.
Tokens: they are used differently depending on the amount of players.
-2 players: the last player to play the card on the table, (highest card) would earn two tokens. If you have at least 5 tokens, you could use them to undo a move.
-3 or 4 players: the last player to place a card on the table, (highest card) would earn two tokens. If you have at least 5 tokens, you can discard all of your cards.
Reflection
After this long process of playing the mind for the first time, making a deeper analysis about the game mechanics and other details. Then come up with new good ideas to mod the game, create the game mod, test with my classmates and reflex about all the steps that had to be done. Learned new things during the assignment, it was entertaining the fact that I had to make a design for the game with my personal preferences. My partners enjoyed the game, I was very satisfied with the first results. The changes that had to be made after the first testing of the game weren’t very drastic. I encountered some difficulties when I had to create the cards the same size as the original deck, it took me several attempts to make the cards how I wanted them to look like. Overall, I am very satisfied with the finished product.
After I had fun playing in class several card games, the mind caught my attention, so I decided to realize a further analysis of the game. I played the game 3 or 4 more times, but on these game plays, I was also keeping in mind to analyze the game’s mechanics and other details. Later on, it was time to create my game mod for the mind. In the following post, I will share with you my brainstorming of ideas, designs, new rules and finally test the game to see it’s pros and cons.
(If you don’t know the rules of the original game, check out my blog post , “The Mind Game Review” .
Why I Choose the Mind?
I had a fun experience playing the game. It was very interesting in many aspects such as: the design of the cards, they looked appealing to me, the colors. The game mechanics caught my attention, I didn’t imagine playing a card game where the players involved in the game were not my enemies. We practically had to defeat the game, but it wasn’t very easy to be honest.
This is why the mind, had to be moded. I wanted to last more, to advance more levels or else the game could turn out to be not as exciting as when I first started laying a few games. Another reason I choose to mod it, was because the game mechanics weren’t very complex nor too simple. I had several options I could look at to come up with new ideas with the game not having to make drastic changes to the rules and cards.
Brainstorming
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| Image Reference |
I sat down with my computer, in a settled environment with some lofi music, waiting for that inspirational moment to come up so that I could start writing down random ideas. The moment has come so I typed and typed, corrected, deleted, a mess of ideas on my screen until finally, I managed to organize the best ideas so far. I deleted some that didn’t make sense, others that made the game too overpowered and others that nerfed the game.
Here is what’s left of the original brainstorming process for the new game rules and mechanics:
“I would like to implement some action cards which would change a few rules of the game and implement new rules according to the card used. Keep the lives. Get rid of the shuriken in a certain way. I’ll add some tokens which I would later explain its functions.”
Each level: +1 life +1 mystery card (not for each player).
Game pieces:
Tokens: the last player to play the card on the table, (highest card) would earn a two one point token. If you have at least 3 tokens, (3 points) you could use them to undo a move.
New cards:
Negative cards: the back would look the same as the rest of the main cards (1-100). If a player gets the card, he can subtract the amount the amount of the actual value of the card if someone puts a higher card than the highest card you have. If there is no need for the use of the card, you can save it for later. There will be 8 cards mixed within the deck with the following values: -2 ,-3, -4, -6. ( two of each value).Wildcards: the back of the card will look the same as the rest of the main cards (1-100). You can choose any number you would like to use.
Mystery cards: There would be a pile of 12 cards throughout the game play, (you’ll be able to differentiate them). Here are the following functions: discard lowest card (5 of these), discard the highest card (5 of these), skip the current level (2 of these).
Design creation
I thought to myself “where could I create an appealing design for my cards?” An awesome website I’ve used before for other projects came in mind called Canva. you can use it for free with some things limited, but still there can be something made out of it or you can pay the premium but in my case, I used it for free.
I started to combine colors, images, position the layout, play around with the tools. I based the design on the brainstorming I did previously, which was very helpful and I finally managed to get the final design of the new cards. The new cards were totally modified from back to front. Actually there were some cards where I tried to make them look very similar on the back side with the mind logo (the back side of the original 1-100 cards). I also created a new cover for the game, now that the game’s name changed a bit “The Mind Challenger”.
Here are the new designs: The Mind Challenger New Cards
Testing
Final Rules
The Mind Challenger
Description
No. players: 2-4 (best if there are 4 players)
Age: 8+
Duration: 20 min
Type: family, party
Category: card game, deduction
Rules
There are up to 12 levels in the game. The deck contains cards with numbers on them from 1-100. There are also wild cards, positive cards and negative cards within the deck. There will be other cards such as, life cards, level up cards and discard cards. At level one, each player would be given a card. According to the number of participants, the group would be given such amount of lives. The group will also be given a mystery card, since it’s level 1.There is no order for who throws first the card, but players must keep in mind, the cards played on the table must be played from lowest to highest number. Players must not speak about their card numbers, they can’t know which cards you have at the moment. If someone were to place a card on the table lower than the previous card played by any of the members, they all would lose a life and start over the level they were on. If they lose all of their lives, it’s game over for everyone. The level is finished when everyone has no cards remaining on them, so they pass to level two and this time everybody gets two cards. This means that in level three, three cards, until the players have reached up to level 12.
Negative and positive cards: (These are mix with the cards from 1-100). If a player gets the card, he/she can subtract or add from a card you are willing to set on the table.
Ex: if someone placed a 30 placed on the table and you have a 27, then you can use a +3 card with the 27. Now you would have 30 and it would be valid.
Ex: if someone placed a 90 and you have a 95 but you notice that there are two more cards to be placed by other players then you can do this… let's say you have a -4 card, your card can now be 91, now there are more chances for the other players to get it right.
Wildcards: You can choose any number you would like to use.
Life cards: These will be set on the table. The lives apply for everyone. If you use a life, the current level will be reseted.
Mystery cards: There would be a pile of 12 cards throughout the game play.The cards are set face down in a pile. For each level up, the players can pick one card that will apply for everyone if used. Here are the following functions: discard lowest card form all of the players, discard the highest card from all of the players, skip the current level.
Tokens: they are used differently depending on the amount of players.
-2 players: the last player to play the card on the table, (highest card) would earn two tokens. If you have at least 5 tokens, you could use them to undo a move.
-3 or 4 players: the last player to place a card on the table, (highest card) would earn two tokens. If you have at least 5 tokens, you can discard all of your cards.
Reflection
After this long process of playing the mind for the first time, making a deeper analysis about the game mechanics and other details. Then come up with new good ideas to mod the game, create the game mod, test with my classmates and reflex about all the steps that had to be done. Learned new things during the assignment, it was entertaining the fact that I had to make a design for the game with my personal preferences. My partners enjoyed the game, I was very satisfied with the first results. The changes that had to be made after the first testing of the game weren’t very drastic. I encountered some difficulties when I had to create the cards the same size as the original deck, it took me several attempts to make the cards how I wanted them to look like. Overall, I am very satisfied with the finished product.
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