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Brainstrom24
Project goal: Create an interactive design that engages players into reaching into the depths of the mind and think outside the box while achieving a flow that keeps the players wanting to play more.
When I started the process of designing this game, I began to think about my favorite games and why they were special. Two of the games that came to mind were ‘Trivial Pursuit’—testing personal knowledge against others and ‘Taboo’—the challenge of thinking outside the box to keep from saying words that are normally associated with the answer word. By combining both of those ideas and throwing in a component of 24 second timer (NBA shot clock time)—I came up with Brainstorm24.
During my research on game design, I found a “rule”, “the obvious choice should not always be a choice.” I tweaked this a bit in BrainStorm24. You can choose the obvious answer, but it won’t necessarily get a player points. The idea behind Brainstorm24 is to come up with as many creative answers to the subject that is shown on the card versus what someone might think of as obvious.
Another component to the game is clever and reasonable debate between opponents. This encourages interaction between rounds and keeps players engaged throughout the game. I also wanted the game to be ultra portable (fits in a small box), colorful (bright, fun, playful colors), modern, and attractive design for the game and packaging. And although the game has specific rules and number of rounds, I envisioned it being played ‘on the fly’ (similar to the way one can play ‘Trivial Pursuit’ with cards only) in just a matter of minutes. This portability aspect was central to my design with the distinctive, brightly colored box which included all necessary game assets.
I went through many iterations and user testing designing this game. Even after turning it in for class I made revisions, but that is part of design, you can always make improvements. For this portfolio project, I added new modification cards to the game (adding new colors and icons to the mix). Even after playing the latest version of the game at a real party, I found areas where I can make improvements, such as adding expansion packs, making versions of the game for specific demographics, and rewording some of the questions to be more specific.
Test your knowledge under pressure and see how your brain stacks up against others in this group speed trivia comparison question and answer game.