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Card and Board Games. Todd Kerpelman Creative Director, EA/Pogo. Card n’ Board Games – The Unsung Heroes!. If you look at Pogo's 20 most popular games… Six are Card and Board Games Eight if you include the Bingo games Twelve if you include Solitaire games More than any other category.
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Card and Board Games Todd Kerpelman Creative Director, EA/Pogo
Card n’ Board Games – The Unsung Heroes! • If you look at Pogo's 20 most popular games… • Six are Card and Board Games • Eight if you include the Bingo games • Twelve if you include Solitaire games • More than any other category • Poppit! • First Class Solitaire • Tri-Peaks Solitaire • Word Whomp • Scrabble • Mahjong Safari • World Class Solitaire • Mahjong Garden • Monopoly • Canasta • Yahtzee • Everyone Wins Bingo • Hog Heaven Slots • Bingo Luau • Spades • Lottso! • Jungle Gin • FreeCell • Sweet Tooth 2 • Jigsaw Treasure Hunter • Poppit! • First Class Solitaire • Tri-Peaks Solitaire • Word Whomp • Scrabble • Mahjong Safari • World Class Solitaire • Mahjong Garden • Monopoly • Canasta • Yahtzee • Everyone Wins Bingo • Hog Heaven Slots • Bingo Luau • Spades • Lottso! • Jungle Gin • FreeCell • Sweet Tooth 2 • Jigsaw Treasure Hunter • Poppit! • First Class Solitaire • Tri-Peaks Solitaire • Word Whomp • Scrabble • Mahjong Safari • World Class Solitaire • Mahjong Garden • Monopoly • Canasta • Yahtzee • Everyone Wins Bingo • Hog Heaven Slots • Bingo Luau • Spades • Lottso! • Jungle Gin • FreeCell • Sweet Tooth 2 • Jigsaw Treasure Hunter • Poppit! • First Class Solitaire • Tri-Peaks Solitaire • Word Whomp • Scrabble • Mahjong Safari • World Class Solitaire • Mahjong Garden • Monopoly • Canasta • Yahtzee • Everyone Wins Bingo • Hog Heaven Slots • Bingo Luau • Spades • Lottso! • Jungle Gin • FreeCell • Sweet Tooth 2 • Jigsaw Treasure Hunter
The Golden Rule • The #1 rule for creating Card and Board Games is… Give players what they expect Making a chess game? Make the bishops move diagonally
Wait a Sec… • “I paid $799 to hear that bishops should move diagonally?” • No refunds. • You need somebody to tell you this
Pressure • Your peers • You • Marketing folks Hey, I need three bullet points to show what’s great about your new chess game. Every game has diagonal-moving bishops. How can we turn this design on its head? I gotta show the world I’m an innovative game designer!
Different Value Sets Not looking stupid in front of other people Originality Fun Originality Us Our Players
What You Imagine Holy cow! Non-diagonal bishops! What a unique and original game concept! I’m going to give the developer all this extra Google stock I have lying around!
What You Really Get Okay, I’m going to move this bishop diagonally… I feel stupid and embarrassed. This game sucks! Error. Illegal move. Go back and play the tutorial.
Don’t Forget the AI • Again, maybe something we don’t value • We prefer the craftiness of a real life opponent • But they offer a lot to a new player • They can learn to play in a judgment-free environment • The empty dance floor problem • The sore loser problem
Okay, So How Do I Stand Out? • So if the big rule is to make the game people are expecting… • …how do you stand out among the 30 other chess games where bishops move diagonally?
What Would Apple Do? • New features of the original iPod… • It came with a solitaire game • (This space intentionally left blank.) • Traditional games are, by nature, very complicated • Pogo’s “Three bullet points rule” • Good luck applying that to Monopoly • So spend time on interface work • This is work you should be doing anyway • But might not be because you’re too focused on game design
Take Advantage of Your Platform • Badge, ranks, and tokens were Pogo’s Blue Ocean • For a while, anyway • Facebook games have defeated the “Internet Dickwad” problem!
Why Scramble (Boggle) Works… • It’s tough to make an online Boggle game • So easy to cheat • But who would cheat with their friends? • Or who wants to let their friends know they’re a cheater? • So Scramble actually works!
Facebook as a Platform • Yes, Facebook has high score lists and viral features… • …but it’s also got an honor system. • Make games you couldn’t do without it! • Balderdash • Scattergories • Wise and Otherwise • Trivia
Facebook as a Platform, cont’d • And maybe one day, a Pictionary game where people don’t just spell out the freakin’ words. • Maybe that’s just a pipe dream