The Great Ant War
Board Game | Dual Combat Procreate
This is a two-player board game that explores a strategic battle between humans and ants, each with distinct objectives, set within a home environment. I conducted extensive testing and iterative development to refine the gameplay, resulting in a fully developed board game manual and the complete design of all game cards.
Concept
I drew inspiration for the game from my own experiences with ants invading my room, incorporating this into the design process. My goal was to capture the everyday confrontation between humans and ants, presenting it in a way that reflects their interactions in daily life.
Reference
Hearthstone:
Exemplary turn-based balance design that curbs excessive board control through mana cost systems and action economy constraints.
Yu-Gi-Oh:
Chain-based card interaction system enabling real-time responses and complex combo execution throughout all phases of a turn.
Pokemon Trading Card Game:
Persistent "Pokémon Tool" mechanic, offering a unique model for designing item cards with ongoing, target-specific effects.
Gameplay
Map
The game map is made up of multiple
rooms and plots, providing a varied and dynamic playing field.
Tile Effects
Certain tiles have special effects that influence a unit's attack or movement.
Players must strategize their actions based on the unique characteristics of the terrain.
Unit Movement
Movement requires fee, with each unit having different mobility capacities and movement fee. Players must carefully weigh these costs when deciding their movements.
Unique Terrain
Walls on the map block unit movement, though certain cards enable special interactions with them. Players can also deploy Worker Ants to destroy these obstacles, creating layered tactical choices.
Avatar Units
When a player plays a Unit Card, they place the card in front of them and position a corresponding unit avatar on the map.
Battle
Combat Process
Players select a target and pay the attack cost.
Defenders (adjacent to the target) join automatically without paying a fee.
Both sides roll dice, and damage is resolved based on the outcome.
Combat includes a high degree of randomness.
Dice Rolling:
Units gain dice based on attack power. Both sides roll, and the higher total wins. A lower total means the attack fails.
Battle Result:
Successful attacks remove or flip over enemy units(enter a wounded state) and damage the opposing lord. Failed attacks punish the attacker’s lord based on involved units, encouraging strategic play.
Special Effects: Unique effects, like Insecticide for multi-target attacks, enhance combat variety.
Cards
Card Draw
Players draw one card at the start of each turn.
Fee System
Fee pools reset each round, allowing players to play cards within their limits. Unused fees do not carry over, requiring strategic resource management.
Card Types
Includes Unit, Action, and Buff Cards, each offering unique tactical options.
Hand Adjustment
Limited hand size, with cards like “Toilet Paper” enabling swaps to optimize strategies.
Playtest and Iteration
Test 1
Focused on maps, victory conditions, general game loop. I found that the human side was more defensive. Because the gameplay relies on traps, it lacks the ability to attack. The ant side has many types of characters, so it is more aggressive.
Findings
1.The human side was weaker as the ant’s victory condition (defeating the house owner) forced defensive play.
2.Cards like Pest Spray were underpowered.
3.Frequent ant attacks made defense overly challenging.
Fixes
1.Changed the ant’s victory condition to having at least one ant in every room.
2.Improved “Pest Spray” to “damage ants in the cell and adjacent cells” to strengthen defense.
Test 2
Focused on the battle mechanism, further modified card effects, test the new victory conditions.
Findings
1.The card “Toilet Paper” often became stuck in the player’s hand, limiting its usefulness.
2.The battle mechanism was highly random, with higher attack power cards gaining a significant advantage due to more dice.
Fixes
1.Added a new effect: players can discard the Tissue card to draw a new card, improving flexibility and preventing cards from being stuck.
2.No changes were made to the battle mechanism, but its randomness and high attack power
advantage were noted for future adjustments.
Art Production
