This is a mockup for a two-to-four-player card game. The goal of this project was to develop a game themed around Prom and using the mechanic of multiplayer card drafting. During the development of this game, I went through several specific design iterations to find the mechanic and card design that best unified the gameplay with the theme.
It’s Prom season at Westview High School, and Riley Bennett is far and above this year’s most desirable date. However, Riley has some… interesting criteria for any possible dates-to-be. Can you win Riley’s affection before your competition dances away with the prize?
Gameplay
Basic Gameplay Loop
The goal of Duel for the Dance is to collect a set of four Prom components to win over the heart of Riley Bennett. All players draw 1 card from the deck to setup the game. The oldest player goes first. The first player draws three cards from the deck. Of these first cards, select one and add it to your hand, setting the other two aside. Then, play one of the cards in your hand into either your set pile or your ability pile. Resolve any abilities that were activated by playing a card, then pass the two set-aside cards to the next player. That player then draws one card from the deck, adding it to the two they just received, and the play loop continues.
Card Layout
Each card has a few components. In the top right corner of the card is a symbol denoting the card’s aesthetic type – Hollywood Glam, Regal Ball, Glitter Shine, Color Pop, Blooming Flower. In the top left corner of the card is a number from 1 to 8, corresponding to the type of item shown on the card. Each card also has an ability description along the bottom and a colored border – either red, blue, yellow, green, or purple.
An example of a card.
Playing Cards
As previously stated, the goal of the game is to build a set of four Prom components. Sets can be built in two ways. Firstly, a set can be made up of four cards with matching aesthetic symbols but different colored borders. Alternatively, a set can be made up of four cards with matching colored borders but different aesthetic symbols. Regardless of which way the set is constructed, all four cards must have a different number. Sets are constructed by playing cards from your hand into your set pile. Cards in your set pile should be played so that the top bars of previous cards (i.e. the color, number, and aesthetic symbol) are visible above the most recently played cards. Note that you can play a card into your set pile even if it does not seem to directly contribute to the set your are building. Your set is complete when either of the aforementioned criteria are completed by any set of four cards anywhere in your set pile.
Alternatively, cards can be played into your ability pile. These cards do not go towards the set you are constructing. Instead, the ability written on the bottom of your card goes into effect, and should be resolved before the next player begins their turn. The possible abilities by number are as follows:
1 - Discard the card in your hand and draw a new one from the deck.
2 - Select an opponent and view the card in their hand.
3 - You are immune to any opponent’s abilities until the start of your next turn.
4 - Select and opponent and trade hands with them.
5 - Select an opponent and compare hands. The player whose card has the smaller number discards their card and draws a new card from the deck.
6 - Select an opponent. Take their most recently played card from its pile and play it onto either your ability or set pile, resolving any ability that may go into effect as a result of doing so.
7 - Draw two cards from the deck. Out of the three cards now in your hand, select one card to keep and discard the other two.
8 - Select an opponent and guess one of the five aesthetics. If the card in their hand matches the aesthetic you guessed, they must discard it.
The game ends when one player completes a set of cards, fulfilling Riley’s admittedly odd criteria and earning themselves a date to Prom!
Development
The gameplay of Duel for the Dance was inspired by two games. Firstly, Love Letter, as the numbers and abilities associated with each card inspired the game’s primary form of player-player interaction. Secondly, of all things, Card Jitsu, a minigame from the online game Club Penguin. This game inspired the set-collection mechanics of the game, as well as the specific rules for doing so – namely the “matching symbol but different color or matching color but different symbol” idea. The most difficult part of the game’s design was determining how to split the cards into sets. Originally, the aesthetic sets were going to denote types of items related to prom, such as outfits or flowers, and colors were going to denote aesthetic, while numbers were effectively arbitrary and included only for abilities. However, I felt that I couldn’t come up with enough distinct set types to fit a variety of items in. Instead, I made the set types the aesthetics, had the numbers correlate to the types of items as they felt more important to the functionality of the cards, and made the color arbitrary to the item itself, remaining a component purely to diversify gameplay. The player also initially needed to play five cards to complete a set, but this was lowered to four for a variety of reasons. First, to encourage the player to play a more diverse range of cards that could complete sets in various ways, making opponent actions less predictable. Second, to make the game a bit quicker paced. And third, in order to give players a greater range of cards to play in the late-game after I determined that the max number a card could have was 8 and included the “no repeating numbers” rule.
I came up with the basic gameplay concept before determining a specific narrative concept. Once I determined how the set-building would work, I decided to make all the players competing for the affection of one individual with peculiar date criteria, as it provided a way to quantify a winner of an event (Prom) which does not typically have winners or losers. After this narrative concept was determined, it gave me a frame with which to develop some of the specifics of the game to ensure that it remained consistent to the overall story being told. I also deliberately chose a gender neutral name for the individual being fought over for Prom and did not specify pronouns. Although one would expect a game about Prom to be marketed towards a young, female audience, I wanted to ensure that the game was equally accessible for any players. As such, it is always possible for Riley to be a member of any player's preferred gender. That is also why I specified that both tuxedos and dresses are included as outfits in the game.
Development Notes:
