Volcano Racers
Roles: Design, Balance
Tools: Pen, Paper, Lots of Cardboard :)
Volcano Racers is a tabletop "demake" of Mario Kart for 2-4 players. It was developed in a team of three over the course of four days for Sheridan's Design Week (formerly known as Sprint Week).
Our group achieved the shortlist of games after judges from Ubisoft Toronto praised the project for its ingenuity and creativity.
Check out our design video! ↑
Challenges & Solutions
When we started designing Volcano Racers, we first thought about what the core action or feeling was for Mario Kart players. Obviously it's a racing game, but we felt that wasn't truly the focus.
We decided to hone in on the aspect of using items and sabotaging opponents, while still always moving forward. We called this "social-competitive play". I designed the various items to be used (as homages to the original), and we balanced them through playtesting.
Another challenge we faced was the creation of the board. Initially we were working in a 2D space; we eventually felt that it was not only limiting to our design, but also that it didn't really convey the flavor of Mario Kart very well.
We made the decision to create a 3D board space to more accurately capture the dynamic of obstacles, pushing, and being able to fall off the ledge (a classic Mario Kart problem).
Takeaways
One of the biggest lessons I learned from this project was that things don't need to be complex to be fun. We spent a long time trying to figure out how to make "player movement" and "using items" work as two separate mechanics, yet in the end they worked better when simply combined into one.
Another takeaway from this project was that uniqueness can exist without originality. Almost all of our playtesters claimed that they could tell exactly which game Volcano Racers was modeled after, but still found new strategies and had fun in different ways. This is partially due to it being in a different medium (physical vs. digital), but I've learned that you can create a fresh and unique experience using an idea that's been done before, and that's okay.
Design Week Clarification
Each semester, students from the Honours Bachelor of Game Design program are given a specific challenge and one week to build a game with a randomized group. It is a chance to demonstrate what we've learned in class and work outside of our comfort zones.