Writing Recipes for Instructions

 Yahtzee vs Lifeboat Comparison

Yahtzee Can you tell how many players are necessary to play?  No Can you identify the game goal?  To get as many high numbers rolls as possible and fill in all 13 category boxes. Do you understand how to win?  Player with the highest grand total wins Can you tell what you need to do to get the game started?  Player with the highest dice roll starts off the game. Could you follow how to play the game with other players?  Yes If the images of the dice and score sheet were not included, would you still know how to play?  No Are the rules clear on the constraints and obstacles that players must overcome?  Yes Now, ask yourself were these instructions clear? Would you classify these as good or bad?  They were clear.

Lifeboat

1. Can you tell how many players are necessary to play? 

1. 6

2. Can you identify the game goal?

1. No

3. Do you understand how to win?

1.  No

4. Can you tell what you need to do to get the game started? 

1. Cards

5. Could you follow how to play the game with other players? 

1. No

6. If the images of the dice and score sheet were not included, would you still know how to play? 

1. No images included in this set of instructions. 

7. Are the rules clear on the constraints and obstacles that players must overcome?

1. Somewhat, a lot of terminology that I do not understand.

Writing out and Testing on Tic-Tac-Toe

It sounds simple enough but when you start to write down instructions, you realize how many small details you need to include for it to all make sense. You are trying to create a mental picture so that they are able to picture it (if you do not include any diagrams or examples).

Writing your games instructions

1. How many players are needed for your game? (does this vary?)

1. 2-6 players

2. What is the objective (game goal) for your game?

1. Interview all of the game characters first and make it back to the factory to propose the solution before your opponents!

3. What is the background information about your game? (setting, characters, history, or other details that give the player a sense of what the game will be about)

1. This game will require cards, a board, dice, and detective figures. The player figures will be people and 12 game characters (who do not move, they stay at the same spot on the board the whole time) will be cats. All the players will begin at the center of the board (a factory), where there are many different paths to take to reach each game character. Each roll, you will get to move in whichever direction of your choosing, closer to one of the 12 game characters you want to interview. Each game character will have certain cards laying on top of them (depending on which problem card was chosen at the beginning of the game). Once you reach the game characters, you will get to read the card independently and record down what they shared with you. Game characters:

1. The mechanist- They provide you with information regarding how the machinery runs. In example, this machine requires feathers, bells, string, etc. and a diagram of the machinery with labels.  

2. The supplier- They provide you with the materials needed to create the product for the machinery. 

3. The custodian- They provide you with a clue as to what went wrong with the machinery. For example, “When I was cleaning the vending machine, I found a bolt laying in the coin deposit.” 

4. The shift manager- They provide you with another clue as to what went wrong with the machinery. 

5. The town gossip- They provide you with what they have overhead from the workers as to what went wrong with the machinery.

6. The sleuth- They never tell a lie; they will tell you if anyone else is lying. 

7. The worker- They provide you with their theory of how to fix the machinery.

8. The disgruntled consumer- They provide you with their theory of how to fix the machinery. 

4. Once you have visited all of the game characters, you will want to make your way back to the factory where you began the game. This is where you are able to make a statement regarding what went wrong, and the solution that you feel would work best for that problem in the machinery. To determine whether you were correct, you will have to pull the matching solution card for the problem card that was chosen at the beginning. If your statement was correct, you win that round; if it was incorrect, you lose that round. The goal is to be the first to complete all of the interviews and to be able to make the statement, so you have a chance at winning that round.

5. How is the game board or cards set up to play?

2. You will lay out the board game.

3. Pick out a detective figure for each person playing the game.

4. Choose an unsolved case file from the 10 that are available.

5. Game Character Cards: Lay out the corresponding case file number for each of the game characters.

1. In example, if case file number 10 chosen you will layout The mechanist #10 on top of the mechanist spot on the board game, The supplier #10 on top of the supplier's spot on the board game, etc. 

6. You will need to lay beside the board game, the solution card for the corresponding case file. 

7. You will need to lay beside the board game, the stack of megaphone cards (make sure to shuffle them well). 

8. Notepad for the players to take notes on as they progress through the game.

6. How is the first player selected? (this is incredibly important to establish — while seasoned gamers will automatically come up with a way if none are presented, novice players will not)

9. Roll the dice, whomever gets the highest number on the dice gets to go first. 

7. What steps (actions) does the first player take from the start of their round to the end of their round?

10. The first player will roll the dice.

11. Move as many spaces as they rolled.

12. You can move in any direction they want on the board game following along the provided paths. 

13. The main importance is you cannot back track or turn around once they are moving a certain direction. 

14. 
    

8. What constraints (gameplay rules) are presented as the player goes through their round?

15. If you land on a megaphone, you will draw from the megaphone stack of cards and do whatever it tells you to do.

16. You cannot turn around on the path you are currently on and back track.

9. After the first player, which player goes next? (if more than two players, do you use counterclockwise or clockwise to determine the order of players?)

17. If there are more than two players, you will work clockwise from the first player. 

10. How does the game end?

18. Once you have visited all the game characters, you will want to make your way back to the factory where you began the game. This is where you are able to make a statement about what went wrong, and the solution that you feel would work best for that problem in the machinery. To determine whether you were correct, you will have to pull the matching solution card for the problem card that was chosen at the beginning. If your statement was correct, you win that round; if it was incorrect, you lose that round. The goal is to be the first to complete all the interviews and to make it back to the factory to be able to make the statement, so you have a chance at winning that round.

11. How does a player win the game? (this is dependent on our 3 Cs of gaming — cooperative, collaborative, competitive)

1. Once you have visited all the game characters, you will want to make your way back to the factory where you began the game. This is where you are able to make a statement about what went wrong, and the solution that you feel would work best for that problem in the machinery. To determine whether you were correct, you will have to pull the matching solution card for the problem card that was chosen at the beginning. If your statement was correct, you win that round; if it was incorrect, you lose that round. The goal is to be the first (competitive) to complete all the interviews and to make it back to the factory to be able to make the statement, so you have a chance at winning that round. In the game, if you land on the megaphone some of the cards will make you miss a turn (competitive) or share what one of the game characters told you during an interview with your opponents (collaborative).