About
Colony Cure is a social deduction boardgame with resource management aspects, in which there are two teams: the infected and normal settlers. The goal of the settlers to win is to complete the main missions while surviving the harsh new world. The infected have to spread their virus to the majority of the players while sabotaging the missions of the settlers.
Context
Type:
Role:
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Time:
Semester Project
Game Design, Rules, Playtesting
5 Team Members
~3 Months
Introduction
I worked on this project with 4 other students. The first idea was to make a social deduction game but with roleplaying elements, like in popular Pen & Paper games. This idea did not stick around however, as it proved difficult to implement and combine with classic social deduction game mechanics. In short, i was responsible for a good amount of the core game mechanics and the main gameplay loop.
Resource Management
I proposed the idea of combining popular social deduction game mechnanics together with resource management to the team. This was so we would not just be a run-of-the-mill social deduction game with the only difference being the setting, but so that our game would have a good USP.
It was my task to design the resources that the players would use. The following resources are in the latest version of the game: Food, Ore, Metal Scrap, Wiring and Fuel. More resources were originally developed, but I cut some to shorten game time.
Mission Cards
Resources and their use
Every resource was designed so that it has a use. Some resources have function of basic resources which need to be processed further so they can be used in other missions, like ore, which has to be made into metal scrap, wires and fuel which help progress to a victory for the settlers.
Food is the most essential resource. The settlers need to make sure they have enough food when a round ends, or they loose the game and the infected win.
These different resources open up a clear goal for every player to work towards. Settlers need to gather enough to survive and then complete the main missions to win, and the infected have many possible targets they can sabotage.
Missions / Tasks - Core Gameplay Loop
I was responsible for designing the tasks that the settlers need to do to complete the game. For this I used excel, so that the values could all be seen at one glance. The first step was to create some missions that would fit the setting of the game, and set some values that seem to work. These values were then adjusted and tested during and after playtesting.
I seperated the missions into two categories: Main Missions and Regular Missions. Originally I planned Bonus Missions as a third category, but cut them entirely to shorten game time.
I designed the Regular Missions to be the main gameplay loop. They are the main way to gather resources. All missions require a energy input, and some require resources to make other resources out of them. To add some risk and excitement, I made some variants of the missions which are riskier if failed because of higher resource investment (resources are lost when a mission fails), but give higher rewards when completed sucessfully.
Main Missions are the endgame goal for the settler team. To complete the main missions, the group needs enough resources for the specific main mission they want to complete.
Mission Design on a Spreadsheet
Conclusion
I personally am not that happy with how the game turned out. For me the game feels like it needed more polish. We sadly did not get a chance to playtest this with people other than our own group, I believe some outside perspectives would have been beneficial for development.
My take away from this project is that, depending on the team members and the size of the team, it is necessary to agree on one central vision or a vision keeper to not stray from the original concept too much, or to add too many features and ideas which then can not be finished or polished in time. Also I learned that genre-mixing has to be well thought out and refined, or it will feel off.