DECO2300 Creating my Kickstarter Video

My task for this week was to dedicate myself to a final idea for my game mashup video prototype.

Interestingly enough, my decision occurred on an unusually cold winter night. I was mashing potatoes in the kitchen until I was alerted by a skype call, a tune audible at even the lowest of decibel levels. I began to walk towards my computer when I suddenly noticed a landmine in my path. I altered my path to avoid the mine, but one of my housemates appeared walking in the opposite direction, I was obstructed. I walked around my friend, consequentially stepping on the mine and causing a blinding explosion. I awoke at my desk to the loud skype tune buzzing at me, blinking furiously as I tried to digest the events of my dream. I rejected the call and began working, I had chosen my idea!

This is the sound of failure

My game idea involved combining elements from the hit Windows classic Minesweeper and everyone's favourite paper based game, 'Obstruction'. I wanted to turn Minesweeper into a competitive affair, but a mere time challenge would not suffice, so I spliced elements of Obstruction into a top down Minesweeper race-track to create Minestructor. Players would begin at the bottom row of a grid-like minefield and attempt to traverse the deadly mines and reach the end of the minefield. Players will take turns moving over a space in the minefield and will each possess the ability to place an obstructing shape in their opponents path. A player can only place an obstructing shape before they complete their turn and will own a limited selection of shapes.

You better watch your step!

Each section of the field can host a limited quantity of obstructive shapes, for this prototype I have aimed at a minimalist set up. Each player will possess 4 particular shapes and be able to allocate 1/2/1 shapes accordingly to the game-boards sections. Each shape will function similarly as they would in Obstruction, blocking access to the adjacent tiles surrounding the source of the shape. This means that placing a 1x1 obstruction block in your opponents field will subsequently render 9 tiles in-accessible. A player will win if their opponent activates a mine, or reaches the end of their minefield. I believe this game concept to be simple enough to understand through a short 1 minute introduction, yet complex enough to require hours of game play to master. Further complexity can be achieved through increasing the quantity of deploy-able shapes, the size of the playing field and allowing shape customization.