Design Diary #1: Hydra Hunt Sequel - Step One: The Review

This month I am due to release Hydra Hunt: The Stygian Depths and I thought it might be interesting to some if I went through the design process step by step.

If I'm being systematic, then there is actually a step that comes before the review stage (the choice of game), but I'll skip that as on this occasion it is specifically about creating a sequel to an existing game. And that is a slightly different process.

The first step, in my opinion, when creating a new game, is to review the original. Play it again, and go through the rules slowly and carefully. Also consider all the components. It is astonishing what you think you remember about a game vs. what a game actually contains! So, in the review, I discovered that Hydra Hunt had:

• 17 cards (it's a pocket game)

  • 7 rule cards, 6 maps, 1 treasure card, 1 encounter card, 1 boss card and finally 1 character card

• 3 counters

• 4 dice

• 1 Case (into which everything fits)
  

This was actually a surprise as almost all the pocket games these days have 18 cards however I then remembered that at the time of designing Hydra Hunt, I wasn't sure if the cards and the counters would fit into the case together.

(To provide some context, this is a Pocket Quest game which is a series of pocket games that fit inside a business card case measuring less than half an inch in thickness.) It turns out you can add that 18th card with counters but that is the absolute max. Similarly, you can cram in 19 cards (but no counters) although I feel the case is a little overstuffed at that point so I try to avoid it. I then played the game a couple of times and reviewed the rules. The pro's and con's that struck me were as follows: Pros

• Portable rule system

• Each map had three rooms and a unique creature/challenge

• Location names were evocative

• Overall design was still solid (sometimes you come back to something and see ugliness where there was once beauty!)

• Very tidy range/melee combat solution

Cons

• All the map backs had a map key on them - immediately it strikes me they could be double-sided to create more maps!

• Encounter card layout could be tighter to save space

• Item treasure was fine but money wasn't meaningful (outside of keeping score) 

When designing something, you often get a raft of new ideas, or can see multiple areas where you might want to develop something. The trick to keeping momentum, and focus, is to narrow down your thoughts and address them in sequence (also write them down so you don't forget them.) In this case, the review gave me three key points to consider:

1. Condense/reword the rules

2. Make money meaningful

3. Use the maps more cleverly
   

To my mind, if I could condense the rules, then perhaps the map key from the map backs could be moved elsewhere, freeing up the backs on all the cards. The alternative would be to lose one full map card but gain five backs as you can see below from my notes:

Next Steps

Opening up Affinity Publisher (layout software) that I use, the first thing I did was convert the Candara font that I had been using previously to FS Alberto Pro which is, I feel, a superior font for small font sizes. It has an openness and a crisp roundness that works well and it now my go to font for card games. Don't get me wrong, I love Candara as a font but Alberto beats it for this use.

When you change fonts, you have to reposition everything, so it was a perfect time to then re-edit the rules and consider if/how I could condense the text without making it dull, or omitting vital points. Rules are intricate beasts. They have to be comprehensive, but not bloated. And fit the space you have! Five hours later, I finished.

And there are only 7 rule card sides! However, I've learnt, that taking your time with rules is vital. Rules have an immortality once published that you have to be conscious of at the design stage. And two great things happened during those five hours...

First of all, I gained that spare card side that I wanted! i will admit, that was a strong motivation behind the rule review however I was doubtful I could regain a full card but I did. I also think the new rules are sharper and clearer than that original, so that's a bonus. And secondly, the review revealed a flaw in the treasure mechanic. I must have been in a very charitable mood when I created the original game as I had left it up to the discretion of the players to not farm for treasure. Yes, I know, really! Normally, I build in a risk/reward balance so that if players want to farm they can do so but they have to accept that it is risky. In Hydra Hunt I hadn't done it. And that means I end the review stage in an extremely good place. By reworking the treasure and encounter mechanics (which are linked), I can fold into them new ideas about making money meaningful. Also, as that stage in the game will be functionally different, we have established a difference between the sequel and the original. I have nothing against a sequel that is 'more of the same', as long as 'the same' is of good quality and entertaining, but as a designer I prefer to evolve my games. Sequels should have something different about them. Points to Consider for the Next Stage

1. Rework the encounter/treasure mechanics (consider the money asset whilst working on this)

2. How do we best utilise that expanded real estate? (We now have up to six double-sided maps)

I'll cover how that went in Design Diary #2: Hydra Hunt Sequel - Step Two: Development. I hope you enjoyed this blog, feel free to drop a comment or message me at hello@thegrinningfrog.com Until next time, stay cool, and keep gaming. Stephen PS I also found some great art for the cover -- I'll show you next time!