"What if a board game map could be borderless?"
Overview
"Ronghua" / Velvet is a 2-4 player card-strategy board game. An infinite canvas will be the playground as it implements a 3D environment, a 2v/3v geodesic sphere that contains 80/180 grids in total, into the gameplay. Players will ideally have a thoughtful experience competing and cooperating throughout the gameplay using cards and character skills to conquer as many grids as they can with their chosen color. When the available grids are all conquered, players with the most grid points would win. Each grid will, by then, grow a 3D velvet flower according to the previous result, hence the players are working together to create an art piece each match on this infinite earth.
Featuring the "Four Noble Ones", "梅" Plum Blossom, "兰" the Orchid, "竹" the Bamboo, and "菊" the Chrysanthemum, Velvet aims to create a colorful journey for its players, highlighting the traditional virtues and the unique craft culture of "绒花", The Velvet Flowers, in China.
Card Design and Special Territories
Hand
Territory-wise:
Lock your current grid (2)
ATTACK - Unlock a locked grid (2)
Blossom at your current grid (2)
ATTACK - Clean 1 grid for others (2)
ATTACK - Occupy 1 grid anywhere (2)
Movement-wise:
control your dice count this round from 1-6 (2)
Teleport to a grid within your territory (4)
ATTACK - Teleport any player to a grid within their territory (4)
ATTACK - To any player, their movement will be half the dice count next round (2)
Gameplay-wise:
Cleanse/invalidate another player's hand (*use this in someone else's turn only) (2)
Pick one more hand from the hand deck and place an unwanted one in the discard pile (2)
Pick one hand from another player (you can only see the card back), and give back an unwanted hand of your own (2)
Venue
Territory-wise:
Movement-wise:
Gameplay-wise:
Character Skills
Special Territories
LOCK: whoever
Map Design & Iterations
Playable Prototype
Playtest 11/06/2022
Meeples and Minis
Visual Design
Accessibility Design
Velvet is a game that feasts aesthetical pleasure during the gameplay since colors work as an essential part of this game. Therefore, we take into consideration of the underrepresented group that has difficulties reading the colors.
We used the ColorADD Codes to represent each color in a recognizable shape. For future designs, we will also take a black-and-white version/touch/hear assistance into account if applicable.
Inspirations and References
Mei, Plum Blossom
Lan, Orchid
Zhu, Bamboo
Juu, Crysanthemum
