first
CIRCLE
First Circle is an innovative card game which brings the interactive elements of the card game into the players' real lives. This game is based on Dante's Inferno and uses gothic themes. This project was awarded the the Peak Experience Summit Grant Award and was showcased at the 2021 Boston FIG digital convention.
This project was made in Figma, Adobe Photoshop, and Illustrator. In collaboration with Kieran Sheldon (Game Designer & Producer) & Beatrice Tolan (Artist)
NUMBERED CARDBACK
NON-RESHUFFLEABLE
NON-NUMBERED
Each card back has a different meaning to help players differentiate what stack they belong in. Each of these signify whether or not you can reshuffle the card back in, the deck number, or if it is a special non-numbered card.
Card design
ADVERSARY
STORY ADVERSARY
ADVERSARY
Adversary cards act as the challenges that players face along their journey which they must defeat before proceeding. To reflect this, they are red-colored, which is often associated with action.
LOCATION
STORY LOCATION
PROGRESS LOCATION
The second type of card in the deck are locations. These cards create the board which players can explore. To show where players can and cannot go, borders are added to the card which makes it more clear. These borders are bright blue to contrast the deep purple of the card art.
EXAMPLE BOARD
CRISIS
STORY CRISIS
CRISIS
Crises are cards which negatively effect the player when invoked. These are card are designed as a wild card to change the players' current circumstances. These cards are a bright green color to represent both disgust and greed. After a crisis card is invoked, it immediately disappears into the discard pile.
ITEM
ITEM CARD BACK
ITEM
Item cards are consumable which players can gain through scavenging or defeating some adversaries.
GRACE
FAULT
Dice & Symbols
One of the main mechanics of this game involves "good" and "bad" dice rolls. The grace symbol represents the "good" while the fault represents the "bad." My goal was to make these symbols similar so they look like a set. The grace symbol is in the shape of a swan to represent the grace, elegance, and overall bring a good feeling. The fault symbol has a devilish tail and loops like a snake to represent the evilness of a "bad" roll. During user testing, users rated each of these symbols the highest in either"benevolence" or "evil." I also asked players what words they most associated with these symbols to ensure that they truly felt like a "good" and "bad" symbol.
