Witch Hunt - PnP Deconstruction

For the Deconstruction phase of the Tabletop Game Project we were supposed to find a print and play game to play with friends. After playing the game, we were then supposed to completely break it down and deconstruct the game-play.

I chose to play the game "Witch Hunt". Here's the breakdown:


Goal of the game - Witch Hunt is played over a series of rounds, the first player to reach 5 points wins the game. 

Core Mechanic - The core mechanic of this game was heavily based on luck. If you guess that a player is a witch and it turns out that they are, you get 2 points. The game ends when a player has 5 points

Space of the game - This print and play game is not played on a board but cards are placed in the center of the playing area (table, 2-dimensional space). I would assume the physical version of the game would be played the same way but on a board.

Objects, Attributes, States - In Witch Hunt, there are 18 cards: 6 Identity cards and 12 Rumor cards. The Identity cards are used by a player to decide whether they are a witch or villager. The Rumor cards are used to hunt for witches or used as defense against an accusation.


Operative Actions - On a players turn they may either accuse someone of being a witch or play their rumor card following its hunt! effect.

Resultant Actions (within reason) - If you are accused of being a witch, you can play your rumor card, following its witch? effect if possible. If you reveal that you are a witch, the player that accused you receives two points.

Notes about rules you notice - After playing Witch Hunt, I noticed that idea of the game was simple enough but the rules were not explained very well. The use of the rumor cards and there effects were particularly hard to follow.
 
Skills players learn - There were not really any skills you could learn for this game. There were not enough variables in the game-play.

The role of chance in the game - Pretty much just a 50/50 shot if you accused someone of being a witch. If they are a witch and have no useful rumour cards, they are out of the round and you get 2 points.

Tabletop Game: Exploration

For the first part of our Tabletop Game project we were instructed to explore different Print and Play games we found online.

The purpose of this exploration was to find what makes a good print and play game. Several factors go into making a PnP game fun to play. I felt that one of the most important thing about a good PnP was how easy it was to understand the rules and just start playing.

I found that some of the games we played had too many rules, therefore the learning curve outweighed the fun.

Here are some of the games we played along with links to where you can find them:



Bad Grandmas - http://www.goodlittlegames.co.uk/games/02-bad-grandmas.html

• One of the more professional looking games, from a visual standpoint. However, a little hard to understand and get into.

Bicycle Race - http://www.goodlittlegames.co.uk/games/11-bicycle-race.html

• Very simple game. Fun to play. Could have added some more variables to the game to extend the play time and keep players interested.

Zeppelin Derby - http://www.goodlittlegames.co.uk/games/03-zeppelin-derby.html

• Simple game. Somewhat similar to bicycle race by being a race to the finish. Unlike bicycle Race, this game had those added variables to make it more interesting. It had cards you could use against the other player, adding another element to the game.

Mapple - http://cheapass.com/freegames/mapple 

• Very quick and simple game but interesting enough to play a few times. Not enough variables and very easy to figure out strategy. 

Real World Observation

Check out my Real World Observation of a game mechanic!