Kebab It!
concept Kebab It! is a five player co-op game where 4 chosen chefs create a 4-food skewer for a customer who just won't say what they want to eat.
instructions The game begins with each chef preparing their kebabs by sliding an assortment of shark, chicken, shrimp, and/or fish pieces onto it. The customer does the same but does not reveal their combination until the chefs match it exactly. Each turn, chefs take off one piece from either end of their kebab and serve it to the customer to critique. The customer's judgement is depicted using green and yellow indicators. Chefs must continue guessing what the customer wants until either the customer gets full (at turn 8) or the chefs are able to guess the correct combination. There is an animated version of these instructions beside this text paragraph.
branding This game's audience is mainly children ages 10-15 as well as their families. This game is inspired by another board game, Mastermind, which was one of my favorites as a child. Unlike Kebab It!, though, Mastermind is a more serious-looking single player game without a focus on cooperation. With this new target audience and focus on cooperation in mind, I thought it would make more sense for Kebab It! to be cuter, more colorful, and include fun characters and shapes. The motifs I chose are all based around a heart shape created by one square and two circles that have the same diameter as a side of the square. The fire, typography, and pieces are made from variations of these same squares and circles. Using this method was helpful in making certain aspects of the design, like the fire and the shark, less scary.
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Hanabi: Redone
concept Hanabi is one of the most popular games among my family. You can watch a video of how to play here. An issue we ran into as we introduced it to more family members is that some of them, especially the older generations, had a hard time differentiating between the cards as well as telling what colors or numbers were depicted. I redesigned the cards to help everyone play together, so far this has been incredibly effective.
changes The main change I focused on was the readability of the cards. I found that the members of my family had issues differentiating the suits from each other because the shapes of the fireworks are so similar, the fireworks are too small, and the numbers and suits can be unreadable from a distance.
color Each firework has its own unique shape in the deck I created. While this also is true in the original Hanabi, I accentuated this for my version. You can see the way I created each firework under the card displays. I gave red firework thin, semicircle shaped branches. Each branch of the yellow firework received a thick droplet shape, almost like a sunflower. Green fireworks are a wavy thin-to-thick outward-stretching shape, with more of a variety of color. The blue fireworks are pretty basic straight branched, with a slight curve. For the white fireworks, I went with an alternating curved line & straight line pattern, layering a smaller version of the main firework on top of itself. The last firework, the rainbow one, is special, so it is curly and bright. Each color firework also has a corresponding border reflecting the color of the firework it corresponds to.
number The fireworks appear much larger in my cards than in the original Hanabi, as well, the cards I created have a much clearer trail. This way, people who try to read the cards can clearly count the fireworks or the trails to figure out how many fireworks there are on the card. This change makes the number readable in multiple ways on the card. The color is also readable in multiple ways. Since implementation, our games have gotten a lot faster since people don't misunderstand the cards as often.
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Firework Creation / Red Cards / Yellow Cards / Green Cards / Blue Cards / White Cards / Rainbow Cards
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Todomeki
concept The Todomeki is a customizable coin sorting machine based on my experiences in Japan. Often, when I paid at businesses, they did not take credit cards, cash only. This would not normally be an issue, but everything under $10 (¥1000) returned coins. I ended up with so many coins, it became difficult to pay for items. This sorter is my solution to this issue. It comes in many different colors with special seasonal colors. The colors are each named after a pun. Those interested in the product can purchase a hook to attach the Todomeki to backpacks or purchase a lanyard/sash to carry it like a purse.
customization In this iteration, the Todomeki had 10 different colors and 1 seasonal color, mint. There are six different customizable parts, the top, the wells, the sides, the front, the door, and the handles & knobs. Those who customize a Todomeki have the option to name it and display it on the home page on the "Recent Customizations" tab.
branding As mascots are popular in Japan, Todomeki also has a mascot named Odo. He is a green monster that eats coins, similar to the Japanese legends, the Todomeki, that stole so many coins they were punished to have bird eyes all over their bodies. The amount of eyes is reflected in the logo.
3D Model This 3D model was created in Sketchup. Coins are inserted in the sloped bottom and then fall into the wells at the flat top. Each slot is custom designed to fit a certain coin. There is also a compartment to store 6 credit cards and paper money.
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Jam's Home
instructions This was created as part of the Spring 2019 Global Game Jam. Participants have 48 hours to create a game as well as a trailer. My team worked on the game Jam's Home, which focused around a dog protecting its home from "threats" before its owner returns. The instructions are shown before the player begins the game. It explains the mechanics of the game, each threat must be properly dealt with by using the correct keys. The more correct actions are performed, the more points the player gets. The player can also receive points by pressing space when the owner comes home. The ultimate goal is to achieve the most points, if they do not score high enough, they lose.
icons Since this game is focused around a dog waiting for its owner to come home, the icons reflect "dangers" it may see outside the home. These include squirrels, mailmen, other dogs, and cars. When the player sees one of these threats, the player presses the matching icon. The button responds to the user's input by moving slightly and increasing points. You can hover over the displayed icons to see how they would move in game. I was also responsible for creating the menu buttons. Each button has a resting state and pressed state with lightning bolts to inform the player of when the game acknowledges an input.
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Astrorabbit
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background This is a clicker game about a rabbit who gets trapped in space and must communicate with mission control to restore machines to get back home. Everything in this game requires volts, which the player can obtain through clicking on the treadmill or restoring the machines shown in the background. When a machine has volts, the player can collect them by clicking on the lightning bolt icons. Each machine gains volts at a different rate, making later game machines more valuable than those gained during the earlier part of the game.
chat The rabbit is able to talk to mission control to hear its next set of instructions when the satellite has a strong signal (reflected by the teal emanating from its tip). Talking to mission control also uses volts, but it tells the player how to unlock the next machine through a mini-game. The interface for talking to mission control as well as the satellite states are seen to the side of this text. When the rabbit talks to mission control enough to gain back control, it can go home and the game is over.
icons Both the rabbit and mission control (purple haired astronaut) have different facial expressions in order to indicate the tone of the dialogue. In order of left to right, neutral, happy, sad, upset, and questioning are the five facial expressions I designed. All elements follow a set color scheme and illustrative "bouncy" style to keep the game cohesive. There is no possible way to lose this game unless the player decides to stop playing and not return.
