Here is some promotional material I'm giving out at Chicago Comic Con. We've had a fun 4 days! I narrowly missed meeting Wil Wheaton, but my hubby got to shake his hand and press one of these cards on him.
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About a week ago I received my first professionally printed prototype of the game from a print on demand game publisher called The Game Crafter. I discovered The Game Crafter about a year ago when I was just starting development on the game. My husband has a couple of books he has written available via a print on demand service, and I wondered if this kind of service exists for games. Apparently it does! Game Crafter is a company based in Madison, WI. They can print cards, boxes, rule sheets, boards, as well as put whatever pieces or dice you need all in one package. It looks great! The playtesting I've done with this prototype definitely adds to the experience of playing it, making it feel like it is a real game. Be sure to like and follow us here: twitter.com/marryingmrdarcy facebook.com/marryingmrdarcy www.marryingmrdarcy.com This is an Event Card from my upcoming Pride and Prejudice Card Game “Marrying Mr. Darcy." It is meant to reflect the time in the book after the Netherfield Ball when Mr. Bingley unexpectedly leaves Meryton for London, mostly due to the influence of his sisters and Mr. Darcy. How devastating this card is depends on when this card appears in the deck. If it turns up early in the game, chances are good a Party Card will be drawn and Mr. Bingley will return. However, if it appears late in the game, it could be a huge blow to some of the ladies who were hoping to marry him at the end of the game. Of course if the player who draws a Party Card decides it is in their best interests not to invite Mr. Bingley to the party (Caroline) it is possible he might stay in London for the rest of the game. Be sure to help spread the word on this upcoming game! Be sure to follow us for updates and more info and be sure to check us out here: www.marryingmrdarcy.com twitter.com/marryingmrdarcy facebook.com/marryingmrdarcy So I just drank a Red Hook Wise Cracker WIT beer for the first time. (Very tasty by the way- a little hint of ginger.) I was pretty amused by the bottle cap, an orange circle that has WIT stamped right on it. The color on the photo above is a little bit off, but in the game “Wit" and the level of Wit you can add is represented by an orange circle. Beer + games: together forever. Be sure to help spread the word on this upcoming game and reblog and follow me for more news and updates! Also check us out here: twitter.com/marryingmrdarcy facebook.com/marryingmrdarcy www.marryingmrdarcy.com Jane Austen refers to “cunning" in Pride and Prejudice and her other works. In my upcoming card game “Marrying Mr. Darcy," how Cunning a character is, and how they use Cunning during the game is a key part of the strategy of the game. Cunning does not earn you any points at the end of the game. However, it can be used to your advantage in two ways. First, looking at the top of the card, you may blemish another players character by forcing them to discard a card they have played, in this case beauty. This causes the rival character to lose points, but also might affect which Suitors are interested them. If you want a particular Suitor to yourself, this could be a good strategic move. The other way you can use Cunning is to play it on yourself, facedown. The Character who has acquired the most Cunning points at the end of the Courtship Stage of the game, will be the first character to roll for to see which Suitor proposes in the Proposal stage. This is a huge advantage, since there will be fewer Suitors available as the Proposal stage goes on. These are some notes that I took scoring a 6-player test of “Marrying Mr. Darcy." For this test, I actually played all 6 Heroines myself. I was checking to see if I had enough cards in the deck, how many points verses cards might be played by the end of the game, and trying out one or two cards that I hadn’t played with before.
The game took a little over an hour (12:06-1:12 at the top of the page). In this game Georgiana managed to win by marrying Mr. Bingley, but what won her the game was that she built up a lot of points improving her character. Poor Lizzy didn’t do very well. She took a risk and married Mr. Darcy when he appeared with an early surprise proposal (as happens in the book.) She accepted, but for less points than if she had waited to see if he would propose again later in the game. This decision probably cost her the game. Lydia didn’t do very well either, though she happened to elope with Mr. Wickham, who is one of Lydia’s best Suitors. He was bribed to propose to her (thanks to a high roll of the dice), but alas, Lydia’s character was not high enough to win the game. And dear Mary. Old Maid Mary. A bad roll of the dice with Mr. Collins and he didn’t propose. But Mary did ok as an Old Maid, adding 8 points to her score. Be sure to contact me for more information on my upcoming card game “Marrying Mr. Darcy." Check out our social media to help spread the word! Thanks everyone! There are 8 Heroines available to play as in Marrying Mr. Darcy: Elizabeth, Jane, Mary, Kitty, Lydia, Charlotte, Georgiana, and Caroline. Each Heroine has a different bonus or power, so the experience of playing each one will be a little different! While Kitty might not be the most powerful player in the deck, I think her player power fits her personality the best. In Pride and Prejudice, Kitty is easily influenced by her sisters, particularly Lydia. She follows Lydia’s lead and is quite the copy-cat! Instead of drawing an Event Card as usual on her turn, if Kitty likes what the last player just did, she may draw the top discarded Event Card instead. Be sure to follow for more information about the upcoming card game “Marrying Mr. Darcy." Please reblog to help spread the word! Thanks! I didn’t know much about game theory or what is was, but since I was designing a game based on Pride and Prejudice (and I enjoy academic things) I thought Michael Chwe’s book “Jane Austen: Game Theorist" would be a good one to read. When I got stuck re-writing Event Cards in one of the later revisions, I went to the book and drew a lot of inspiration from various P&P scenarios that Chwe points out and how they relate to strategic thinking. Several cards were inspired by the book. Excellent read! You can read about it here.
These are some notes that I took scoring a 6-player test of “Marrying Mr. Darcy." For this test, I actually played all 6 Heroines myself. I was checking to see if I had enough cards in the deck, how many points verses cards might be played by the end of the game, and trying out one or two cards that I hadn’t played with before. The game took a little over an hour (12:06-1:12 at the top of the page). In this game Georgiana managed to win by marrying Mr. Bingley, but what won her the game was that she built up a lot of points improving her character. Poor Lizzy didn’t do very well. She took a risk and married Mr. Darcy when he appeared with an early surprise proposal (as happens in the book.) She accepted, but for less points than if she had waited to see if he would propose again later in the game. This decision probably cost her the game. Lydia didn’t do very well either, though she happened to elope with Mr. Wickham, who is one of Lydia’s best Suitors. He was bribed to propose to her (thanks to a high roll of the dice), but alas, Lydia’s character was not high enough to win the game. And dear Mary. Old Maid Mary. A bad roll of the dice with Mr. Collins and he didn’t propose. But Mary did ok as an Old Maid, adding 8 points to her score. Be sure to follow me for more information on my upcoming card game “Marrying Mr. Darcy." Please reblog and help spread the word! Thanks everyone! In the second and final phase of “Marrying Mr. Darcy: the Game" all of the Heroines see which Suitors propose to them by rolling the dice. I had to decide how many points each Suitor was worth to each Heroine. I tried to do this based on how happy I thought these characters would actually be if they got together in the book. (There was actually some math and spreadsheets involved as well, but maybe that is for another blog.) Characters can get married for a total somewhere between +15 points (total bliss) to +5 (pretty miserable but hey, you are married). So for Georgiana: #1. Col. Fitzwilliam: 13 points - Yeah, they’re cousins but that was pretty common back in the day. I imagine Georgiana growing up admiring the Colonel, and she’s rich, so he digs that. #2. Mr. Wickham: 11 points - Well, as dastardly as he is, he loves her money, and she’s pretty naive. Probably would have worked well in the short term anyway. #3. Mr. Bingley: 11 points - Mr. Darcy’s trying to get these two together, or Caroline’s hoping that is the plan anyway. I think they would have been fairly happy together since they are both so agreeable. #4. Mr. Denny: 8 points - Mr. Denny is one of the officers in Meryton. The book doesn’t say too much about him, so I just had to make some things up in my head here. I think the unhappiness basically comes from Mr. Darcy most likely opposing the match. Also Denny seems a bit too gregarious for Georgiana. #5. Mr. Collins - 6 points: Yeah, Mr. Collins sucks. This combo would be a disaster and it would likely never happen. Georgiana can’t marry her brother, so that gives her one less suitor possibility from the other players. Her high dowry does help with other suitors however. Illustration by Erik Evensen. (Georgiana’s appearance inspired by Allison Paige.) Follow me for more information about my upcoming game “Marrying Mr. Darcy" |
Erika SvanoeMusician, conductor and game designer. Archives
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