Marrying Mr. Darcy - the Card Game
Visit us!
  • Home
  • About
    • About
    • How to Play
    • Expansions
    • Reviews & Press
    • FAQ
    • Kickstarter Backers >
      • Emma Kickstarter Backers
      • Custom Card Backers
    • Blog
  • Downloads
  • Contact
  • Shop

The Emma Expansion is coming along...

7/9/2014

6 Comments

 
Picture

Picture
I've been working on the promised Emma Expansion on and off since we hit the $40,000 stretch goal of our Kickstarter campaign last October. I promised backers that I would complete a Beta test version and make it available to them by October 2014. (I figured a year was a pretty reasonable timeline.) I've been chipping away at it and have started to finalize some of the cards which you can see in the picture. Here's a brief outline of my process so far:

1. Research
So this basically involves watching every TV, movie, web, adaptation I can get ahold of, as well as reading online summaries, notes, and of course the original source material. For adaptations I've watched the 1972 BBC mini-series, the 1996 movie staring Gwyneth Paltrow, the less well known 1996 TV movie staring Kate Beckinsale, Clueless, Emma Approved, and my personal favorite the 2009 TV mini-series staring Romola Garai. 
2. Brain storming
I have a bunch of notes of random ideas for various cards and character powers. This was significantly easier than brainstorming the original game. Since I decided early on that Emma should be an expansion/companion to Marrying Mr. Darcy, several of the mechanics were already in place. 

3. Writing/organizing
Eventually I started writing cards into my spreadsheet (picture above). I actually started by creating the left hand column which gave me an idea of what event cards were in MMD (like party cards, scandal cards) as a rough guide to what to include in Emma. It is definitely not going to be exactly the same- for example there are not as many scandals in Emma, but there will be much more Meddling. So there are some new mechanics that go along with gossiping, meddling, "helping" your friends, and my favorite - match making. I'm still writing cards for the beta test but as of today I'm about 2/3 of the was done. 

4. Making "cards" 
I had my husband set up a file that I could transfer my written text into a card size text box in a document that will eventually become the PDF Print and Play. I probably should wait until all the cards are written in the spreadsheet, but seeing it look like an actual card is really motivating. These are about 1/3 complete. We're keeping them very simple and art free until we've got the game play and text finalized. 

That's where I am at this point! Once I finish I'll do some in-house alpha testing, make revisions, and then send the files out to Kickstarter backers. I am optimistic that we would be able to eventually Kickstart a print run of the expansion and make it available in stores. 
6 Comments
Kit
7/9/2014 05:44:18 am

This is so exciting! I'm glad it's coming along. Your research-phase sounds fun, hehe.

It sounds a little like Emma is going to be more of a standalone game than an expansion, is that right? I imagine we'll keep the same character cards, but it sounds like it's going to be a complete game that one can play with just Emma characters and just Emma events - or are you considering that there may be some "crossover" potential, as it were? I can easily imagine Elizabeth and Mr. Knightley getting along famously, for example.

In either case, I'm really looking forward to this game! :D Keep up the good work!

Reply
Erika
7/9/2014 10:18:07 am

Yes, Emma is going to be a stand alone expansion with its own Event deck and Heroines and Suitors. You'll reuse the Character deck from Marrying Mr. Darcy (wit, beauty, etc..) I'm going to figure out a way that people can mash-up the two games, but they will be stand alone.

Reply
Joshua
7/10/2014 04:38:55 am

Sadly, I wasn't a backer, so no beta test for me, but I really enjoyed reading about your research and design process. Hopefully, the Kickstarter to print this expansion will be as successful as the one for Marrying Mr. Darcy.

Did you watch the other Emma YouTube Series, The Emma Project, for your research?
http://tinyurl.com/qyrs3l8

Reply
Erika
7/15/2014 03:40:46 am

Thanks for the note Josh. I didn't know about that Emma Youtube series! I'll have to check it out.

Reply
Dave Roe
5/5/2015 07:57:52 am

Really hope you get your mojo back to finish this. Just finished playing our third game with my two girls, and they love it. Looking forward to Emma.

Reply
Erika
5/5/2015 10:31:42 am

Hi! the game design is about 95% there. Graphic design is started and I'm hoping to launch a kickstarter once our stock is replenished. Hoping it will only be a month or two at this point!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Erika Svanoe

    Musician, conductor and game designer. 

    Archives

    November 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Categories

    All
    Cards
    Emma Expansion
    Game Design
    General News
    Pictures
    Reviews

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly