A while back, we introduced our intern Amber. Amber is developing a game about archaeology, to give children a more accurate representation of the archaeological field. Read the progress below!
During the past few months I have been working on designing a board game with VALUE that in the end will educate children on the discipline of archaeology in fun and exciting manner. The original concept consisted out of the idea to make it an race based game in which children had to recreate an excavation that did happen somewhere in the world. The first one to successfully recreate the excavation would then win. But during the design process of some of the game mechanics and eventually the whole game concept changed.
During the design process it felt that the real aspect of an archaeologist job was not present within the game concept. Therefore the concepts changed to something that will now include the aspect of digging within a bord game. The new game concept will therefore be constructed in the following manner, the players will place down the artefact cards as shown on the puzzle cards. When the layout of the level is created the board has to turn 90 degrees before it is ready to play. Then each player uses the dice to determine what type of material they have to dig up from the board. If succeeded they can collect the artefacts on the card if not they have to put the card back implementing an aspect of memory.
When all the pieces of the board have been collected the game is over, the person that collected the most about of artefact cards wins.
By creating the game in this manner we are still able to show both how an excavation looks and teach what is considered a find within archaeology. To differentiate within the game levels will be stackable making it possible to find more than one time period within the excavation.
For now the design process is focused on creating the levels and working out the last few quirks within the mechanics, creating a finished concept for the game and starting to create a fully realistic prototype of the game with all its aspects and materials fully realized.
During the design process it is weird to see a game concept been brought to live. The guidance of my supervisor is such a big help when working on the game. Often while working the ideas keep bringing more doubts while creating aspects of the game and analyzing these ideas before prioritizing one single aspect of the design process for that specific moment really helps.
For now the design process will lead to the creation of levels making sure that by the end of December that is a concept available.
Hi! My name is Amber I’m a 25 year old student currently enrolled at the University of Leiden at the Faculty of Archaeology. Some of my hobbies include reading, designing clothing, crafting and of course gaming which was a big influence throughout my youth. Some of my favored series are the Legend of Zelda games and The Fatal Frame series which inspired my love for horror games. My goal at VALUE is to connect children more to the discipline of Archaeology through gaming in the hopes to inspire more children to dream of adventures beyond their gardens.