We made board games in one of my classes (CGT 115 – Intro to Games). It was a really fun project! I was in a group of three: a lead designer (me) in charge of card text and the board; lead producer in charge of formatting, typing out rules, and general aid; and lead artist in charge of drawing the cards.

This was my group’s submission (pictures near the bottom):

Rules Sheet

Premise: 

Oh no! You and your kitty friends were out exploring when the bridge collapsed!! In order to get home, you’ll need to take the long way… Be careful! Who knows what dangers you’ll have to overcome. At least you can count on looking fabulous while doing so! 

Getting Started:

• This game is designed for 2 to 4 players. 
• To begin, select a cat player card from the designated kitty cards. Each kitty has its own spread of starting stats, so make sure to choose wisely!
• Place your corresponding game piece at the START tile
• Sort the item decks into separate piles based on item rarity. This is indicated by the color (green, blue, purple, orange).
  • Shuffle each deck and place each face down.
• Repeat the previous step with the obstacle cards (green, blue, purple, orange rarity)
• Draw one obstacle card of the corresponding rarity and place face down on the respective event space on the game board.
• To determine who moves first, have each player roll one six sided die. The person with the highest value rolled moves first
  • To break ties, have the tied players each roll again. The higher number rolled moves first.
  • After this person takes their turn, turns should continue clockwise until the game ends.

Clothing and Kitty Stats:

Throughout the game, your kitty will find and pick up a variety of cool and interesting clothing items they can wear and enjoy! Most importantly, these items help boost your cat’s abilities, which is crucial to being able to overcome obstacles and get home safe!

• The stats are as follows:
  • Chonk: The strength, bulk, and physicality of your cat
  • Sneaky: The stealthiness and dexterity of your cat
  • Nyoom: The speed and quickness of your cat
  • Smarts: Your cat’s intelligence and ability to problem solve
  • UwU : Your cat’s cuteness factor and ability to charm others

Your cat has five open slots to wear clothing items, one for each different part of your cat’s body. You may only place a clothing item of the corresponding type in each item slot.

• These item slots are:
  • Head
  • Neck
  • Body
  • Tail
  • Paws

On your turn:

• Begin your turn by rolling one six sided die. Move your character forward a number of spaces equal to the number you rolled.
• Depending on the type of tile you land on, you can take the following actions before ending your turn:
  • Any Tile: You may equip, remove, or exchange one clothing item of your choice from your kitty
  • Clothing Tile: You draw one card from the deck corresponding to the tile’s color rarity. You may choose to either equip this item immediately or add it to your hand for potential use later.
  • Merchant Tile: Draw three cards from the deck corresponding to the tile’s color rarity. Choose one item to equip/add to your wardrobe, and shuffle the remaining two cards back into the deck afterwards.
  • Obstacle Tile: Once you land on an obstacle tile, you MUST stop to deal with the encounter. Any remaining movement you may have is lost. If this is the first time encountering the given obstacle, flip over the card to reveal the encounter. Compare the required stats to overcome this obstacle with that of your kitty’s. 
    • If you meet all required stat benchmarks, move the obstacle to the discard pile, drawing a new obstacle card and placing it face down in its place.
    • If you fail to meet all required benchmarks, move over one space to the “uh oh!” tile. You will now have to follow the path before attempting the obstacle again. Leave the obstacle card face up. The next kitty to land on the obstacle tile will face this card until the obstacle is “defeated.”
  • Special Tile: You draw one card from the deck corresponding to the special category. This item is added to your hand for potential use during obstacle encounters, where the card may be played as a guaranteed success against the obstacle, regardless of your current stats.

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A prototype map of our game board.

Prototype sketch of card.

Prototype sketches of two possible cat breads.

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Second iteration game board.

Third iteration (printed) game board.

An example of a player’s hand