Topper Knocker
Topper Knocker is the result of seven years of dedicated effort, evolving into a dynamic and competitive board game meticulously crafted from inception to completion. Through extensive playtesting and design refinements, including multiple major redesigns and adjustments, I ensured an optimal gameplay experience, recognizing the importance of user experience principles in creating an engaging game and accompanying website.
Goals
My goals for this game were first to be accessible enough for anyone to play. For me this meant being fun and easy enough to learn for my littlest brother who was 8 at the time a started in addition to my parents in their 40’s.
My second goal was to make a game that was replayable. This was really important because it means that players will come back to it over and over. It also means that beginners have a fair chance against experienced players.
Challenges
The biggest challenge in gameplay was to keep it quick and simple. I loved the idea of having a game that had endless complexity and simple rules similar to the way chess functions. Structuring a game like this however takes a lot of trial and error.
The second largest challenge was finding a successful method to sell and market the game. This meant appropriately advertising what the core features of the game are in addition to visually communicating the feeling a player has when they play it.
User Testing
Testing was by far the most effective method in getting feedback on the interaction of the game. This informed me on how players would break rules, interact with one another, and what methods they would use to interact with the physical game itself.
What interests me the most was the disparity between the logical system I had built and the mental model that players had of the game. I often found that the mental model players had was very different than that of the game.
The goal of testing was to bridge the gap so that what players expected was married with the rules and function of the game.
2022
2016
2019
Creating a Visual Identity
Creating the visual identity for the game was informed by gameplay functionality principles, accessibility concerns, and inspired works. Such as Uno, Risk, and Settlers of Catan.
Over 6 years the design became more refined and unique. Bright vivid colors were always a strong part of the game since the start, as you can see below in the design evolution of the game.
2021
Selling an Idea
Once the game was thoroughly tested it was onto the final step which was to get the game into the hands of others. At this point if you wanted to play the game, you would need to know me, and that is not ideal.
I put this game front at center as my senior project, developing a website for it to perform a limited edition sale of 100 copies to everyone interested. It launches on the opening of my senior classes exhibition date, Feb 17th 2023.
