Narwhals: An Epic Game for an Epic Animal
One game I really want to make now thanks to the above video is Narwhals!!! It's an action programming game to collect points. You, the player, will play as a Narwhal, the greatest animal to have ever lived. You start out swimming in the ocean with the goal to collect items in said ocean. You collect and store items with your kick-ass facial horn. After a set period of time unfortunately the game ends. I haven't determined the end game yet, but it could be points, a deck that runs out, or a number of rounds. I think it will be once the collectible items are getting thin the game will end in a certain number of rounds.
The Kick-Ass Facial Horn
The main part of the game will be collecting items on your horn. That means each player gets a horn to put their collection on to. The trick to the horn though is that each item will only be able to stack at certain spots on the horn. If you get a small item first, you would be able to collect anything below it. The small item will stop it from going down farther. You want to collect the larger items first so that you have more space to collect the smaller items. Like in my awesome Paint drawing(Left), the green item is large so it slides all the way to the bottom of the horn. The brown(great color choice Jon) is smaller so it falls into about the middle. The red is smaller still so it lands higher. Then the player collected the yellow. The yellow could go below the green but since the red was collected it can't go past it.
You want to collect what you can when you can, but you can limit your own points by collecting things in the wrong order. There will be options to move some things on the horn around as well as eat the top item on your horn. Doing so will give a special action during the game, like a speed boost.
I haven't decided if the horns will be on the table or worn by the players. It might make it more difficult if they are worn but it would be even funnier to play. You also would have to try and keep track of what is on your horn and if you want to use it.
The Game
The game will be played in rounds where players lay down actions simultaneously. It can cause some havoc where you run into other narwhals, sea walls, or items you didn't want to collect.
The board will be created at the start of the game using blue hex tiles because hex tiles>square tiles. There will be sea walls, item spawns and starting points on the tiles that players will place. The items will be round chits that will represent the larger tile that will go on the horn. They will be scattered around the board randomly. When a player passes through a spot they will grab the object and put it on his horn. These are going to be worth points at the end of the game. They may also give a special action. Also, a player can eat what is on his horn for a special action too.
A game round will start with players drawing Action cards that allow them to move their narwhals. They will all simultaneously play their cards for how they want their narwhal to move. Players will all move their narwhals and look for collisions and see if they collect any items. Before the move a player would be able to eat the top item on his horn for a special effect. If two narwhals ever try to take the same space, they must duel in epic narwhal combat!
I'm not sure how combat will take place yet, but either dice or cards that are one time use kind of thing where you get them back once they are all gone. The winner of the combat might be able to steal the top item from the other narwhal and knock them into a different space. I want the combat to feel like sword fighting but it might be too much to add to the game. Some sort of card combat that involves parrying and is fast paced would fit nicely. I want there to be some strategy in the fighting but I don't want the game to get bogged down it it.
Summary
The main part of the game will be to collect the items. I have yet to prototype anything so far but I am really excited about the stacking items on the horn mechanic. This will be the hardest part of the game to do. It will probably be card board chits cut out in to different shapes with varying holes in the middle. The size of the holes will determine where it falls on the horn. I'm not sure what the best thing for the cone will be yet. I could just make a cheaper prototype without the 3-D cone but I think it will definitely add to the game and make it more fun. 3-D is always better, just look at Camel Up.
I think it would be amazing to get the artwork from the video into the game. A game this silly deserves art to match it. It will be more of a light game with some light strategy. I can't wait to try it.
-Jonny
Play games. Always.
One game I really want to make now thanks to the above video is Narwhals!!! It's an action programming game to collect points. You, the player, will play as a Narwhal, the greatest animal to have ever lived. You start out swimming in the ocean with the goal to collect items in said ocean. You collect and store items with your kick-ass facial horn. After a set period of time unfortunately the game ends. I haven't determined the end game yet, but it could be points, a deck that runs out, or a number of rounds. I think it will be once the collectible items are getting thin the game will end in a certain number of rounds.
The Kick-Ass Facial Horn
The main part of the game will be collecting items on your horn. That means each player gets a horn to put their collection on to. The trick to the horn though is that each item will only be able to stack at certain spots on the horn. If you get a small item first, you would be able to collect anything below it. The small item will stop it from going down farther. You want to collect the larger items first so that you have more space to collect the smaller items. Like in my awesome Paint drawing(Left), the green item is large so it slides all the way to the bottom of the horn. The brown(great color choice Jon) is smaller so it falls into about the middle. The red is smaller still so it lands higher. Then the player collected the yellow. The yellow could go below the green but since the red was collected it can't go past it.
You want to collect what you can when you can, but you can limit your own points by collecting things in the wrong order. There will be options to move some things on the horn around as well as eat the top item on your horn. Doing so will give a special action during the game, like a speed boost.
I haven't decided if the horns will be on the table or worn by the players. It might make it more difficult if they are worn but it would be even funnier to play. You also would have to try and keep track of what is on your horn and if you want to use it.
The Game
The game will be played in rounds where players lay down actions simultaneously. It can cause some havoc where you run into other narwhals, sea walls, or items you didn't want to collect.
The board will be created at the start of the game using blue hex tiles because hex tiles>square tiles. There will be sea walls, item spawns and starting points on the tiles that players will place. The items will be round chits that will represent the larger tile that will go on the horn. They will be scattered around the board randomly. When a player passes through a spot they will grab the object and put it on his horn. These are going to be worth points at the end of the game. They may also give a special action. Also, a player can eat what is on his horn for a special action too.
A game round will start with players drawing Action cards that allow them to move their narwhals. They will all simultaneously play their cards for how they want their narwhal to move. Players will all move their narwhals and look for collisions and see if they collect any items. Before the move a player would be able to eat the top item on his horn for a special effect. If two narwhals ever try to take the same space, they must duel in epic narwhal combat!
I'm not sure how combat will take place yet, but either dice or cards that are one time use kind of thing where you get them back once they are all gone. The winner of the combat might be able to steal the top item from the other narwhal and knock them into a different space. I want the combat to feel like sword fighting but it might be too much to add to the game. Some sort of card combat that involves parrying and is fast paced would fit nicely. I want there to be some strategy in the fighting but I don't want the game to get bogged down it it.
Summary
The main part of the game will be to collect the items. I have yet to prototype anything so far but I am really excited about the stacking items on the horn mechanic. This will be the hardest part of the game to do. It will probably be card board chits cut out in to different shapes with varying holes in the middle. The size of the holes will determine where it falls on the horn. I'm not sure what the best thing for the cone will be yet. I could just make a cheaper prototype without the 3-D cone but I think it will definitely add to the game and make it more fun. 3-D is always better, just look at Camel Up.
I think it would be amazing to get the artwork from the video into the game. A game this silly deserves art to match it. It will be more of a light game with some light strategy. I can't wait to try it.
-Jonny
Play games. Always.