Team Size: 1 | Role: Designer
Responsibilities:
– Sole developer
Command is a 2 player print and play board game which offers a simplistic version of the war game experience. Players draft unique armies from the game’s 3 troop types and configure formations on a hexagonal board allowing for many strategies as well as high replayability.
This was a solo project of mine. Although it the least technical of all of my presented projects, the process of making this game grew my scope management skills.
Using self imposed time restraints, this project was a personal design challenge. To properly scope and manage the project considering other commitments. Also it was to make a game with less being more.
Example Playtest Notes
Playtest Notes 2/8 – User questions & responses:
Did rule changes add setup time?
- Dev note: No rule changes made for this version
What seems unclear?
- A sheet of rules and images would help
- Health tracking and piece identification
Likes
- The combining of the pieces gives the game variety and a level of replayability, and I think it’s balanced.
- “Clashing” is a cool mechanic
- This game seems like a chess meets warhammer vibe. While this game has the simplicity of chess and pieces like checkers, it has combat like warhammer.
Dislikes
- Archers are OP
User Suggestions
- Put a d6 on each piece to track health
- Have different colors/”outlines” to identify which piece belongs to who
- Nerf the Archer… its range is op for the size of the board, and it should only be able to fire if it didn’t move that turn. (You can fire, then move)
- Create a bigger and hexagonal board with a printed out rule sheet.
Playtest Notes 2/8 – Dev Summery & Next Steps:
Takeaways
- The core systems of the game function and work to be fun
- There is a balancing issue with ranged attacks in the game
- There is a need for a more concise written instructions
- The board could be set up better by using hexagonal tiles
Next steps
- Experiment with the archer’s stats to balance the piece
- Create a board game style rulebook detailing the game’s systems and including printable versions of all game objects