My Thesis Project: “Tinkerers” Card Game
In “Tinkerers”, players take on the role of one of several inventors vying to become the Queen’s official Court Inventor by constructing large, outlandish, impressive steam-powered contraptions. Players build their contraptions by laying out parts drawn either from a shared deck of cards or from the “junkyard” of discarded parts, and cards can also be played that steal cards from other players hands or contraptions. Machine parts have point values, and points are also given for complexity (size of completed machine).
The game has a distinctive Victorian style, with the art on the cards and other materials reminiscent of ninteenth-century colored woodcut illustrations, if perhaps a bit more whimsical in style than their inspiration.
Deliverables:
-The deck of game cards, estimated between 70-90 cards(perhaps 25-40 unique illustrations required, plus 1-2 card backs)
-A game board, with places for the deck and the “junkyard” as well as a scoring track, so players can see how they’re stacking up against the competition
-The instruction booklet for the game
-Game pieces for each player, possibly with individual characters
-The box for the game to go in, with internal structure to hold the deck and the other pieces properly in place
-A retail countertop display/storage box for shipping copies of “Tinkerers” to games stores
Audience:
Steampunk aficionados and board-game geeks (and steampunk aficionados who are also board-game geeks). I’ve done some market research on boardgamegeek.com just to insure I’m not stealing anyones’ idea for a game, and will post more; I plan on doing a good amount of playtesting/focus groups to make sure the game is both visually interesting and fun to play.
(Image semi-related: the Steampunk Dalek is similar to art style I’d like to use. A bit more color, though.)
