Crisis Metamorphosis

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  Our card game mascots!

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  Example of an ecological crisis card

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  A scenario change action

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  An attack action card

Team status: HYBRID (in-person work + events, online submission + presentation)

Inspiration

Ongoing current events in our world, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, economic strain, and war have dominated headlines and made it easy to forget the pressing ecological issues we continue to face and threaten our lives and well-being. We sought to, through a relaxed medium, create an educational platform to help people gain a greater understanding about the causes and consequences of ecological destruction impacting their lives as well as present existing solutions to the crises.

What it does

The objective of the game is to obtain four solution cards specific to the ecological crisis. Each ecological crisis–droughts, flooding, deforestation–has an unique effect on the gameplay, changing the restrictions or circumstances the players must face. • Drought: Players play with the number of cards in their hand reduced to 4 at all times • Deforestation: Players play with their hand revealed to other players • Flood: Cards are drawn at the end of each player’s turn Alongside the ecological crisis are their respective attack and solution cards which each carry a special effect when played. Attack: • Drought: Force other players to discard a card of their choice • Deforestation: The order of play is reversed • Flood: Take a random card from another player Solution: When played, the card is put in the discard pile • Drought: Gain a card • Deforestation: Look at the top three cards of the deck and select one to put into the hand after skipping the turn in which this card is played • Flood: Player chooses a card to exchange with a random card from another player Players must mix and match the solution cards they keep and the solution cards they play and discard. But be careful! At any point in the game a “Crisis Metamorphosis!” card may be drawn which alters the gameplay and the solution cards the player must collect.

How we built it

We created unique designs and art for the cards using art software "procreate" and a card making platform called "dulst". We iterated on the game mechanics through research on the structure of existing card games (exploding kittens, coup etc), and we researched various causes, consequences, and solutions to critical ecological crisis's. To incorporate these into our game, we undertook several brainstorming sessions followed by a proof of concept through testing our prototype with hypothetical cards to achieve optimal playability.

Challenges we ran into

Developing the graphic design for the game was challenging as we had not done this before, as well as designing the game mechanics and incorporating the ecological theme with the game structure.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Developing a good-looking ad professional graphic design and cards, being able to adapt to the theme of ecological crisis's and incorporate into a workable card game.

What we learned

We advanced our understanding of ecological crisis facing our world, their causes, consequences, and solutions. We developed new skills in graphic design and in creating cards in the Dulst software. Additionally, we furthered our knowledge in game design and mechanics in order to create a working game structure.

What's next for Crisis Metamorphosis

Potentially implementing an app or software platform that allows us to automate the card actions for users, as well as experimenting with a physical copy of the game.

Built With

• dulst
• procreate