The Game

INTRODUCTION

Urban Hunt is a street game that is played in a enclosed area. This game is designed for 10-20 players to play. Its game play is somewhat similar to those of flag football. The way players are eliminated from the game is if their flag is stolen by other players. During the development of this game, we tested player experience with various scenarios. This meant rule changes, time limit changes, space changes and changes to elements of the game. Some elements include puzzles to intrigue players and distract them from the basic steal each other's flag game.

ORIGINAL CONCEPT

You are a urban hunter among other hunters, you must eliminate the other hunters without losing your arm band to survive. By eliminating other hunters you will take on one more step to winning. As soon as you eliminate more than half of the hunters, the game is yours. However, you do not have to kill to win. If you are a smart hunter, all you have to do is protect yourself by hiding and being aware of your surroundings and solve the given puzzles.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT - 3 CONTROL SITUATIONS

We designed three different control situations that acted as distractions for the players while they tried to steal each other's straps.

Unscramble - Each player would represent a letter. All players will need to find all the letters and record them. Once all the letters are found, the players would need to unscramble the word to win that round. While finding each other and unscrambling the word, players need to beware of their straps.

Riddles - All players will be given a riddle sheet. All answers will be hidden within the play area. Once all answers are solved, the player would win. While solving the riddles, the players need to beware of their straps.

Murderer - You are either player or murderer. There is only one murderer within the players. The only way the murderer can win is by killing all the players within the time limit. There are two ways players can win. Either kill the murderer by stealing their strap or survive until the time limit is up.

As a result of these three control situations we decided to pick Murderer and try to improve the game play of it.

REASONS FOR PICKING MURDERER

- Based on survey results and player comments Murderer was the most fun for them.

- It is different from other street games because it involves lying and deceiving each other, direct communication with the possible enemy

- It involves different type of thinking other than solving a puzzle

- It allows players to be more flexible in terms of various ways to win the game

MURDERER CONCEPT

We changed the name of Murderer to Hunters and Prey. Hunters being the Murderer and Preys being the Players. We felt that we had to change much of the game concept when we were trying to improve Murderer. The game was not just about stealing each other's straps anymore, that became part of the game. Stealing each other's straps was the way to kill someone and a possible one step closer to winning. However, there is more, this time, it depended on who's strap you are stealing and which players you were avoiding. It was about judging each other or lying to each other. It was not about stealing as many straps as you can because when teams are formed, the player that had no team would be at great disadvantage.

If you are Hunter, you are roaming in a forest with other Hunters and Preys. Your objective for a happy life is to capture all the Preys and live a happy life without hunger. In order to do this you must seek out all the Preys who are camouflaged in the mass forest. However, the Preys know that you are coming but do not know if you are Hunter or Prey because you are also camouflaged. It may be easier to convince the Prey that you are also a Prey and make them feel safe, this way you can steal their life away. Another objective for the Hunter may also be finding the other Hunters. This way you can team up and catch the Preys. Hunters have two lives so if you want to confirm that they are Hunter, you can kill them. If they are still alive then they were not lying. You are also able to communicate to other people by marking your message on the message tree. You are able to leave a message for the people you want to team up with but everyone is able to read the messages that are posted on the message tree.

If you are Prey, it might be dangerous for you to disguise yourself as a Hunter. You only have one life, therefore your best bet is to stay hidden and try to find out who are the Preys and who are the Hunters. For gathering people or to find out whether someone is Hunter or Prey you can use the message tree. This may create a large number of Players to surround the message tree so be careful, there may be a lot of killing surrounding the message tree. It is up to you to survive and if possible, kill the Hunters.

RULES & INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORIGINAL CONCEPT

- Preparations are first made for each player outside the play area

- Preparations include handing out straps that represent the players' lives, attaching letters for the UNSCRAMBLE game and handing out riddles for the RIDDLE game

- Once preparations are finished, everyone will head to the play area

- Everyone has 3 minutes to spread out until the game begins

- Anyone who is eliminated must meet outside the play area at a designated area

- When the time limit ends, everyone must meet outside the play area at the designated area

- Stores are not included in the play area

- All players must remain in the play area at all times when playing the game

- Body contact other than the arms are not allowed

RULES & INSTRUCTIONS FOR FINAL CONCEPT - HUNTERS AND PREYS

- Preparations are first made for each player outside the play area

- Hunters and Preys are picked based on random draw of paper notes in a hat

- Once preparations are finished, everyone will head to the play area

- Everyone has 3 minutes to spread out until the game begins

- Anyone who is eliminated must meet outside the play area at a designated area

- When the time limit ends, everyone must meet outside the play area at the designated area

- Stores are not included in the play area

- All players must remain in the play area at all times when playing the game

- Hunters are secretly given two lives while Preys are only left with one

- Hunters may leave the playing area to attach their second strap after their first strap has been stolen

- Hunters may steal the opponent's strap immediately after their first strap has been stolen but need to prove with their second strap that they are Hunter

- When the Hunters lose both lives, they must contact the referees immediately

- The message box is for everyone's use and can be used at any time

- Players may remove previous messages as they like or keep them on for the next readers

- There is no limit to the amount of messages that can be left

- Communication between players is a major part of the game

- Body contact other than the arms are not allowed

Based on documentation and reactions of the first test, we changed some rules that would also change the game play. During the first test of the Murderer, we realized that the players did not have enough chance to actually lie to each other because the lying started when there was three players left on the field. We limited the size of the playing field and lengthened the time limit of the game. Furthermore, we added what we called the message box this allowed players to contact each other. We were thinking about using cell phones as communication devices but held back on that idea due to possible privacy issues. The message box was designed to be in a specific area that everyone knew about. Anyone could leave a message contacting other players to meet up or to differentiate the Hunters from the Preys. This is where we expected most of the fun to be. We envisioned everyone talking to each other and accusing each other of being hunter or everyone surrounding the message box and trying to steal the strap of the person who will post something on the message box.

OVERVIEW MAP TEST 1 & TEST 2

During the first test we decided to stay in Level 1 of Eaton Centre. Due to the amount of players we decided to limit the play area to Level 2 of Eaton Centre during the second test. The green circles that indicate areas of obstacles provided players with opportunity to hide within.

GAME ELEMENTS & MECHANICS

The basic game structure at first was mostly about stealing other people's straps. At first these straps were attached to the back pockets of the players. During the second game test we decided it might be more challenging if we tied the straps to the players' arms. Either way, it would pose a challenge for the male players when they tried to steal from the females. The only way to fix this problem was to make the straps longer.

We created puzzles and riddles during the First test because we did not want stealing straps to be the entire game. Puzzles such as UNSCRAMBLE forced players to find each other and possibly solve the word or steal each other's straps. RIDDLES encouraged players to move around the play area to find the riddles instead of camping in one stop to survive the round. MURDERER forced the murderer to deceive everyone that they are not the murderer, thus causing confusion and chaos between other players.

In the final game design, Murderer changed to Hunter and Prey. In Hunter and Prey, we have the basic game play from the original design. Everyone's lives were represented by a green strap. The Hunters would have two. An additional mechanics called the message box was added to the final game to encourage more communication between players. We expected more chaos among the players while using the message box. Players are able to use the message box to their advantages. Whether by leaving a clever message or by using the message box as a bait to capture other players, the game would be more interesting. The message box and the play area limitations encouraged a different type of street game where strategy is more diverse and is a major part of the game rather than physical energy.