Here is a rundown of my efforts in contribution to this game:

March 19 – I first proposed the idea of using poker cards as the main form of play, placing them down on the table to form a unique kind of board and having the core gameplay involve flipping cards over and taking an effect/initiating combat/etc. based on the listed number. While we ended this day with multiple different ideas, the use of poker cards is something we latched onto moving forward.

March 21 – As we veered toward the direction of a detective cluefinding game, I proposed the idea of using the suit of the cards to determine the type of clue players are solving. So “club” cards, for example, would tell about the location. We continued brainstorming and I studied similar types of board games like Clue and Paranormal Detectives to help generate ideas.

March 26 – I designed half of our documentation sheets listing “location” options and “motive” options, and wrote a handful of event cards which players would use to ask and answer questions. I also stayed for the first playtest and took notes on our feedback, citing how players found the core gameplay very creative and interesting but felt the AI should create some greater kind of conflict.

March 28 – Based on our feedback, I spent a lot of time considering various ways the AI could be enhanced. We playtested the game within our team for most of the class period and each took notes on certain places where we felt the AI should hinder progress, such as after a guess is incorrect or after a question is asked/answered too directly. I proposed ideas of (under certain conditions) having the AI cross off a number of items from the documents based on a dice roll, meaning that players would no longer be able to guess those options. Designing this part was easily the most challenging part of the process, especially since we found it difficult to put limits on questions to stop people from just asking “which card do you have?” But I also proposed using a 3-second timer for drawings which at the very least helped balance the game and make it more fair.

April 2 – The biggest success of our game was definitely the core gameplay loop of asking and answering questions which made for a lot of funny and clever moments. However, the biggest weakness was still the AI feeling somewhat weak and the lack of obstacles is something I wanted to focus on. I proposed a last minute idea based on my efforts with the component exercise to have two poker cards drawn at the end of each round, or after an incorrect guess, and the lowest numbered card is how many words players were limited to with their questions in the next round. Overall, I’d say our game came together fairly nicely and everyone on our team contributed a lot to make this all work.

Component Exercise:

With this exercise, I aimed to give the poker cards a greater purpose both thematically and in gameplay. Since players only draw one card at the start, the remaining 48 cards go unused which makes them feel sort of pointless. With my new idea, the “killer” in our detective game is the Joker card. It rests face up in the center and fulfills the role of the AI.

Solution 1 is at the end of a round, or after an incorrect guess, players will draw two cards from the remainder of the poker deck and place them face up below the Joker. The AI then selects the lowest numbered card to be the limit on the word count for all questions in the following round. Solution 1B involves a case where a face card appears, in which case that card represents a false witness who draws an additional card and crosses that number off all document sheets for the rest of the game.

Solution 2 is similar to the first, but in the case of drawing a face card, the default is to instead draw from the Joker’s event deck which all have negative effects such as “answer falsely” or “only draw half of the answer.”

Solution 3 is to place five poker cards face down in the center, similar aesthetically to an actual game of poker, but then having a player select two random cards to flip over, in which case both of those cards are crossed off all document sheets for the rest of the game.

This was a really fun project, and gave some good insights on how to expand on various existing mechanics while still maintaining the core of what makes the original game unique.

On our first day, our group collaborated a bunch on determining the core components of “Chutes and Ladders” which we determined to be the traversal and the upward progression. I pitched some different ideas about player movement and using two dice as opposed to one, and we landed on an idea where one die could alternatively move a chute or a ladder.

We ran with that idea for day two. I unfortunately had to be absent but we threw various ideas into a Google Doc about special “double” rolls and I pitched the concept of item or bonus spaces, similar to games like Mario Party which would incentivize players to not simply take the nearest ladder, and would also provide a negative feedback loop to players who fell behind as they may land on a beneficial square.

On day three, we began playtesting and designed some questions, as well as shifting our focus from one-way chutes and ladders to two-way portals which opened up a lot of new possibilities for players. I worked with my team to focus on constraining the portals’ reach as well as settling on the finer details of our movement mechanics.

On day four, I stayed behind to oversee the “blind playtest” and took lots of notes about not only our rule sheet and its flaws at the time, but how players were interacting with our game and how they went about strategizing. Our vision for the game was for players to seek a balance between hindering their opponents and benefitting themselves which the players certainly found. All of the answers to our initial playtest questions can be found in the document attached below, but the notes I took during the blind playtest were essentially 1) that if portals are to be color-coded to the different player pieces, players should get some kind of extra benefit for using their colored portal, 2) that players enjoyed using the portals immediately when passing by it rather than simply if they land on it, and 3) that details like the pathway on the board and the meaning of 2x spaces should be specified. I asked them about the strategic aspect, and you can see in the “questions” document, all of the questions that have two answers to them are answers we received from that second playtest. We took into account their suggestions, and while we didn’t come around to adding bonuses for color-coded portals, we did really enjoy the newly suggested mechanic of portals activating anytime a player even brushes past it, and added things like “arrows” to the board to clarify the path.

On the final day, we cleaned up our rule sheet and got some great finishing feedback about different caveats in our rules which needed clarification. I quickly cleaned those up and we all left satisfied with the game we’d created.

Play Test Questions Rules

Attached above are the (admittedly jumbled) list of playtest questions, and the rule sheet. As far as the questions go, the “next time” section at the bottom proved a bit redundant as our initial questions were still largely relevant to the second playtest.

On day 1, I pitched the initial proposal for doing Metroid, and pitched the basis for structuring our analog game as a 3v1 dungeon crawler. I discussed some possible mechanics and alternate ideas with my group members and we ended up leaning towards a similar approach to “Betrayal” with its room building. I began designing our rule set at home based on those core concepts, and came in the next day with tons of ideas.

On day 2, I drew mock card designs on Procreate for the three main locations: Brinstar, Norfair, and Tourian. I also pitched the rule ideas to my group, making tweaks and changes based on their suggestions. We discussed good playtesting etiquette and devised some questions focused on player enjoyment and ease of understanding.

Our questions were roughly: At what points (if any) was the game reaching a complexity which broke enjoyment? Did the 3v1 system feel balanced or sway towards either side, and why? And did each team (Samus and the Pirates) feel like they had enough agency during play, or was any team feeling restricted or weak?

On day 3, I made major contributions to our rule set and designed 19 cards, including our character cards. During the playtest, I noted how players generally took one or two rounds to get into a groove. Some players felt the rules were too deep or too complex, while others appreciated the complexity and simply felt there was a learning curve at the beginning. We got great feedback to create a “legend” to denote certain special gimmicks like door types, hazard types, etc. We also initially gave each player their own separate decks, but in not being able to label the backs due to the integration of item rooms, we decided to have all players draw from one big deck for simplicity’s sake. One final thing is that some players felt combat was too weighted against Samus, so rather than giving both parties a d6 die, we gave Samus a d6 and enemies a d4. All in all, our players really enjoyed the experience and gave some great answers to our questions.

On day 4, it seems the playtests went much smoother, though there was some slight confusion about Pirates being able to place rooms *and* use an ability on the same turn. The misunderstanding about Pirate play left some players feeling a lack of agency, but we resolved that issue for our final playtest. Overall, our feedback was even more positive the second time around and I am proud of how well we could design a game which stays true to the original while having a unique spin.

Photo 1 showcases the character cards I created alongside the starting map and the item rooms. Photo 2 was taken just before our first playtest to show the basic gameplay system. Photo 3 was taken before our second playtest, showing off some improvements we made like including a “legend” and designated spaces for easy card drawing.

Pictured is a snapshot of a sample setup. Players work as a team to advance up the grid, battling or evading the enemies guarding the boss up top. Upon slaying the boss, the player team wins. The blue token also serves as a medbay to heal wounds, and the orange token is a shop to convert enemies into allies.

As far as my process goes, I went into this assignment wanting to make some cool character cards. My top priority was designing a system which promotes experimentation and unique playstyles based on the strengths and weaknesses of each character. The whole narrative structure is actually sourced from a TV series I’m solo-developing, so the biggest challenge there was converting the themes and personalities from that series into a micro card game. The “Scrapper” card, for example, is the game-y interpretation of my character Evelyn who is a pacifist, and who values others more than herself. To translate those ideas, I designed her stats to reward her for avoiding combat, especially having the lowest health of the 3 player characters, and her special ability serves to support her allies. This differs from the “Gambler” card, based on my character Finn who is much more reckless and self-serving, but can deal some big damage when taking charge.

I actually began with the game Inscryption as a template, especially in the positioning of player cards and enemy cards in a grid-like play area. The ability in that game to sacrifice your cards for currency to play higher-cost cards is something I also heavily considered, but of course being limited to 16 cards, I didn’t want any sort of sacrifice mechanic to leave the field dry and empty. Mostly, I wanted combat that feels sleek and simple but provides lots of freedom. In a similar fashion to other tabletop games, I decided players should have the option to move, attack, or use a special ability as the three main action types. But additionally, I felt that working in co-op forced some really cool strategizing. For example, a player can usurp a teammate’s square using their movement, but doing so pushes their teammate to another square which may be in the attack range of an enemy. So having a system where players must deliberate and make sacrifices for each other is something I really strived for, especially to emphasize the roleplay aspects.

I think the grid system also created a really good sense of tension and claustrophobia, since safe squares are few and far between, especially when trying to advance to the boss. The core gameplay is fairly simple, and my group all gave really positive feedback (especially about the depth and the artwork!) but I did find myself struggling to explain the rules in a simple manner. It certainly looks daunting when each card has unique abilities, and players are forced to think strategically in a game they’ve never played before, but after the first few rounds I was pleased to see everyone engaged and excited. I may have put too many layers into a game designed to last 5-10 minutes. That much I will admit. But the result is something I’m eager to continue playing with friends. It’s strangely kind of addictive to me.

So overall I’d say our game was a success. I’m glad I got to stay back and guide another group through the rules since I was actually excited to see how a full game would play out, and everyone had wholly positive feedback in the end.

It was a bit challenging that first class period not just getting acquainted and comfortable within these groups but also just figuring out a solid enough foundation to move forward. Bren had the great idea for a roulette spinner, and we all kinda vaguely landed on partnering that with a token system and some form of “abilities.” I ended up carving out a few hours that weekend just brainstorming different ways to add more depth and excitement to a game of tokens and chance spins, and ended up writing out a whole mock rule book which I then shared with everyone else for feedback. I even made good use of the little dot emojis to provide some visuals 🟠🟠🟢.

But I essentially honed in on those “gambling elements” we all talked about, while also trying to add some variety by making each token double-sided with a color on the back denoting a unique ability. My favorite of which is actually the red token, which when played acts like a hot potato where you must guess the color on the bottom of another player’s token, and failure makes you lose some tokens while success passes the hot potato onto them so now they have to guess.

The biggest challenge was most certainly the time crunch, but once we all came together for the second day, after having that weekend time to brainstorm, we landed on some pretty great ideas and the game turned out really fun. So much so that I’m actually considering playing it with my friends sometime.

• Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed.

1. 1. 1. My STEP Signature Project was learning how to play the piano with the assistance of a music teacher as my tutor. Throughout this time period, I took biweekly lessons with my instructor learning the basics and gradually moving onto the intermediate level of piano. Learning how to read rhythms and memorizing the notes were a few of the top activities I learned from this project.

• What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place.

1. 1. 1. Initially, when I first started my search for what to do for my STEP project, I knew I wanted to do some sort of musical aspect. I grew up loving music and played an array of musical instruments. It was a time and place I was able to be in my own world and get lost in the music. When I was searching I debated between guitar lessons or piano lessons. However, I then completely pivoted my whole idea and did not want to do anything in music although I loved it so much! I made the pivot because in my head I told myself it is something easily learned on my own time and I should just do something else as my project. However, what was transforming for me was the fact and went back and actually followed through with what I said prior. 
      2. Going through the whole process of deciding what to do, then completely changing my idea, and then going right back to it really did change my outlook. For a while, I would always tell myself I was going to do certain things but never got around to it; kept pushing things off. But with this STEP project, I was actually able to lock in and finally pursue my dream and journey of learning how to play the piano. I am overall, happy and transformed that I followed through with piano lessons and came out with some life-long lessons that I plan on continuing forward.

• What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation.

1. 1. 1. When I first started my search to find a well-educated and professional piano instructor, I only looked locally. Initially, I had thought I was going to be in person taking lessons and move on to virtual lessons once the academic year started. However that changed quickly, I met a very well-educated and lifelong learner of the piano who has been teaching piano in her living room for years. I learned a lot about the history of the piano and her backstory of how she came to be which was very fascinating. However, because of a lot of schedule conflicts and circumstances, I had to go searching for a different instructor.
      2. On my hunt to find a new instructor, I did not want to limit myself to just local instructors because I was open to the idea of having virtual lessons as well and I had an open mind about how there are plenty of highly educated and dedicated instructors everywhere in the world that offer online lessons. I ended up finally finding my instructor who resided in California, she offered lessons virtually and has been teaching for over 5 years now. I loved getting to know her and building a relationship with her throughout the whole project duration. She not only taught me the basics of piano and how to play. But she cared about all the tips and tricks of maintaining the ability to play piano and develop for years. 
      3. Overall, the project itself was so simple yet so life-changing. It was as simple as “learning how to play the piano”. It really was that! Growing a healthy relationship with your instructor is important. I learned that there is a lot of flexibility and patience involved with the art of music overall. I reminded her of my love and passion for music since I was super young and she kept that in mind through my whole journey. I found her and the whole project itself to be very eye-opening, deepening my love for music and being able to add another instrument I have been longing to learn into my reservoir.

• Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.

1. 1. Relating this project to my personal life, I found this to be my outlet. With the craziness of the world and not having enough time in the day, I finally was able to set times and schedules for learning the piano. I put it off for years and never got around to it like I said. And now I finally have and it is not going to stop!
   2. I value time a lot in my life and I use that as an excuse all the time to not get things done, however, it has always been an interest of mine. Whenever I have lessons with my instructor it takes me to a whole other world. I get to listen to her play, learn about the history, learn techniques, and a lot of other piano tips. I always love learning either academically or for enjoyment. So playing the piano and having it available for me when I kept pushing it off has developed me into a person who is more conscious about what I value in life and how I can achieve it.

For my STEP (Second year Transformational Experience Program) Signature Project, I got SCUBA certified through Columbus Scuba in Ottawa Ohio. I took pool courses in October and finished my open water courses in a quarry. I got my advanced open water certification, which opens the opportunity for more specialty courses. Certifications are for lifelong and never expire, since they never expire, it is encouraged to keep continuing with different SCUBA courses. 

Having never done anything like SCUBA I was a little nervous I was not going to like it. The people along with the opportunities for internships or jobs in the future. The people are helpful and willing to help with any questions you might have. While also giving you feedback on how to improve and find diving more enjoyable. The people there helped me become a better driver from the instructors to my buddy whom I met the morning of our first open water dive. 

My original goal was to gain more self-confidence while diving and I feel like I accomplished that. Even between the two separate certifications, I felt more confident in my abilities both while in the water as well as even on the surface with the equipment. Having amazing instructors and people taking the class was amazing. This aided in feeling more comfortable and gaining more confidence. 

Working with the people at Columbus Scuba was amazing their staff was super helpful and was more than willing to help by reexplaining or showing you again. Just making sure you felt one hundred percent confident in all the skills that were focused on. I worked with a couple of different instructors and all of them were amazing. I have always struggled with asking questions to instructors or even help with anything. These instructors answered so many questions with no hesitation and were just as happy to advise on how to improve. 

It was also nice to talk to people I normally would not. I met so many interesting people during my certification weekends. From nurses, lawyers, families, or even other college students. Everyone was nice and found things to talk about or ask each other. I was getting certified by myself so I would get buddied up with a stranger. Having never met this person until that morning was a little stressful, but we helped each other, checked gear, and even after we got certified we went on a dive together with another person we met that weekend. My second weekend was a little different and instead of a dive student, my partner was a dive master. Which originally made me nervous since I was still new and they were a good diver. That weekend I got so much feedback on things I did well and things to focus on for the next dive. I found this so nice, having the ability to focus on the feedback the next dive and grow. The people I met made diving a sport I want to continue in the future. 

Gaining confidence can be tricky, especially if you are new or having issues with getting into something. It is helpful when the people around you are nice and share a common love for the interest you are trying to get into. From asking about other courses and who knows a lot about that topic and pointing you in the right direction. The people in this community that I have met so far have all been extremely helpful and amazing. 

I still am unsure what I want to do after graduation, but this helped narrow it down a bit. Even if I end up doing something that does not require SCUBA, I will be able to continue. Since the certifications I received are lifetime certifications, I can still go diving and just have fun with it. Being comfortable in the water was my main goal. I gained the confidence for diving and learning how to improve and what I need to work on was the many focuses. This has also opened the door for the opportunities to do some internships. While trying to pick my project at the beginning of the program, I originally was looking for an internship but could not find one I could do without scuba that sounded fun. Now with the certifications, I could try and work for one of those and learn more about what career path I want to go down. 

For my signature project, I enrolled in a 2D animation course with Elite Academy. The course is about the principles of animation. In a typical session, there’s a summary of what I learned in the previous one and then we move to the objective of the day. I learn each principle as I work on my projects.

Going into the project, I wanted to explore other forms of art and improve myself as an artist. I think animation is amazing and I wanted to learn more about it. My assumption on art and the process of making them are always fun, creative, and enjoyable, don’t get me wrong, they are however not at all times. I knew my project would be challenging but I think I underestimated how much it would be.  I realize the importance of passion in whatever one’s career path. I discovered that I am more interested in visual representational art than I thought. 

One of the processes I had to go through during my project was redrawing my character for a change in its movement. It was tedious for me and a bit challenging. It then occurred to me that animators, especially traditional animators, have to go through the same process and draw the same figure as accurately as the previous figure and have seamless transitions too; it was a lot of work. It took me 4 hours or more to finish a project and the result was less than 10 seconds in total. 

I can barely imagine how long it takes to animate a short film or a whole movie; It will take a huge dedication of time and energy to get through. It takes one to be really passionate about animation to continue in that field and yet enjoy it.

One thing that I understood about myself is that I often enjoy seeing the end result of a project and because I do, I am motivated to continue learning. I think the lesson I learned from this is that when a product or service is satisfactory, that satisfaction often outweighs the difficulties encountered in the process because hard work pays off. I think this lesson is applicable to all disciplines of life. 

I like to introduce myself as someone who likes to learn something new. New doesn’t mean easy, it’ll be difficult and probably discouraging at the beginning, but it is all part of the learning process. Moving on, I’ll learn to enjoy the process of learning. 

I think this realization is an important one to me because for a long time, I have always wanted to have a career that of course will be financially freeing, but a lot of times, I consider my interest just hobbies because I enjoy them. Every step in one’s career or work of interest may not be enjoyable, but I now understand that being passionate about what you do is what will get you through the hardest times you may have, doing a job you love. 

I am inspired to take my “hobbies” that I have the passion to do, pursue them diligently and have a successful career in that. I still care to be financially stable, but I want to have that doing what I love.

I commend myself for giving animation an opportunity because now I know what it takes. Overall, I would say I get to appreciate the work of art and the effort that goes into media entertainments especially in cartoons and comics.

I’m grateful for this opportunity STEP provided.

Every morning for seven weeks straight, my silent alarm would go off beside me, I’d get out of bed, turn the lights on, and wake all 138 members with a loud and cheery, “GOOD MORNING SPARTANS! The time is now 7 o’clock. You have 5 minutes to meet me outside for morning stretch!” to which I was always met with grumbles, good mornings, eye rolls, or smiles as they rolled off their air mattresses or sleeping pads. I can’t blame them; after sleeping on a gym floor or bus every night for seven weeks it’s hard to get up in the morning. The rest of the day would consist of rehearsal and performance preparation. As head drum major, it was my job to ensure the happiness and cooperation of members which usually entailed being the liaison between them and staff. I worked closely with our corps director to make each day run smoothly. But that is just the behind-the-scenes work. My main job was to lead the ensemble through rehearsals. From my podium at the front of the field, I would call instructions, motivate the members, and communicate back to staff. It is impossible to sum up all that being a drum major entails. I was a counselor, physical trainer, instructor, motivational speaker, and more, but above all, I was their friend, and they will always be my family.

I often had to hold myself back from calling the members my children because they were so much more mature than that. However, I spent the summer leading them and learning from them, and over time, I got to watch them grow into the world champions they became. By the end of the summer, I felt like a proud mama and I am physically and mentally stronger than I ever have been.

This experience was a rollercoaster. There were days when I felt I didn’t deserve the position I was in, and others when I felt completely alone and unappreciated. I now have more confidence in my beliefs and capabilities than ever. As I continue to explore the possibilities of my career, I can now say for certain that I want to work hands-on with disprivileged youth. Although that still sounds broad, I have spent years not knowing where I wanted to take myself after I graduate. This summer helped me rekindle my passion for working with students and I hope to take my degree to do just that. I now firmly believe in the power of kindness and knowledge. I will expand more on this at the end, but as a criminal justice major, I learn a lot about our prison and court systems where the focus is punishment. Although my summer was not entirely comparable to crime in our country, I did witness firsthand the impact that kindness and teaching can have on individuals, and is is a positive one.

We had three different kinds of days on tour: rehearsal days, show days, and free/laundry days. Rehearsal days were far and few once we got on the road, but they were crucial to our success and my personal transformation. These days were long, hot, and exhausting. From 7 AM to 8 PM, we were outside making our show as perfect as possible. Every toe point, every note, every flag toss had to be perfect, and you had to do so on minimal sleep after weeks of the same thing day in and day out. Show days always began with rehearsal bright and early in the morning, but by 8 o’clock at night, we were in full uniform and makeup performing to hundreds of people under stadium lights and competing against other groups. Four out of the fifty days on tour we got to do our laundry. It might not sound important, and you might be wondering why I included it, but it is these days that you have time to be a normal human being and bond with friends, and for many of our younger members it is a great experience that prepares them for college and beyond. Rehearsal days are what showed me my strength after feeling broken down. Show days are what reignited my passion for working with young people. Laundry days taught me to be myself and to be human even through exhaustion and frustration.

There were days when I thought I couldn’t do it anymore and many where I didn’t want to. It was the people around me that made it all worth getting out of bed in the morning. Something that was important to me going into the season was mental health. I made it very clear to the members that they could always come to me with any issues. Although managing the problems of 138 members was not easy, I was thrilled any time someone felt comfortable talking to me about something. These interactions really made me see how important communication is and made me excited to work with kids like them in the future. I learned a lot about ways to best help them which is directly applicable to where I want to take my career.

The other interactions that transformed me were those with staff. Specifically, our corps director Jared and assistant director Leah. These two individuals were new to their jobs this year and set the Spartans off on a new and promising path for the future. Each morning, Jared would stand amongst all the members and take us through some meditative breathing. He taught me the importance of tranquility. Leah always knew just what to say, and I hope that someday I can be like her. She inspired me to be a better person every single day. They taught me to be kind even when you feel you can’t and especially when you feel a person doesn’t deserve kindness. They taught me the importance of listening, respect, and friendship. I hope they don’t mind me saying that they are two true friends and mentors, and I would not have been the drum major I was without them.

As I enter the field of criminal justice, I believe that we can do more to prevent crime than to just punish individuals for their actions. My strengthened belief in kindness and friendship will be extremely valuable in my life. By shifting crime prevention to a more community-based model, we can help more than hurt the community and those convicted. We can teach inmates and students coping mechanisms for their mental health problems rather than punish them with no remorse. This summer, I watched high school and college students battle through some of their worst days, but they were able to get through it because they had a family and people lifting them up rather than tearing them down. The power of kindness is strong, and I have every intention on using that power every day for the rest of my life. This experience truly was the summer of a lifetime.