Design Values

GAME DESIGN VALUES

Tête-à-Tête

Rococo: frivolity, excess, foreboding, and self-interest.

Game: frivolity, excess, foreboding, and self-interest.

EXPERIENCE:

Through a series of dice rolls, pawn movements, and card draws, players will explore a Rococo palace (board), and get swept up in a life of sin as their character nears closer and closer to their unfortunate end as they explore every room.

THEME:

This game ultimately reflects art made during this time. Art was predominately made for and about either religious figures or members of aristocracy as they were able to afford it. The Rococo was frivolous and bright, a varnish to the dark underbelly of these people’s excess which was a detriment to the people in that society who were less fortunate. Gameplay is meant to feel ridiculous and light-hearted while exposing the dark, harsh reality that caught up with the aristocracy.

POINT OF VIEW:

The tangibility of a board game is important as this contrasts with a gallery experience. Players move pieces, roll dice, hold the pieces of art in their hands as they “admit” to other players what they have done. I am using art itself to tell the story.

CHALLENGE:

This game asks people to consider an art period that is often disregarded. It’s about not taking what’s at face value which is largely emblematic of this period. The aristocrats are “the bad guys” in the story. It’s hard to feel bad for what happened to them. Players will be them in the story of the game, and they’ll want what will ultimately destroy them at the end of it, much like the people in real life.

DECISION-MAKING:

Players will have extremely minimal choice in what happens to them, but more control over what they themselves do. This is a play on “you cannot escape fate” and “what goes around comes around”. This is a theme in the art period that I wanted reflected in the choices available to players. You’re asked to be self-serving, even when the opportunity of cooperation arises, since you want it to be in your benefit. You can choose where to move and what actions to enact.

SKILL, STRATEGY, CHANCE, AND UNCERTAINTY:

As previously mentioned, what happens to you is mostly by chance. What you do, is where strategy comes in. I want there to be a degree of uncertainty about where you will end up in order to increase replayability (more fates and pieces of life to explore).

CONTEXT:

This game is for 18+ (Mature) audiences due to some of the subject matter. I see it being played with a group of friends (family can get awkward) in a house after work/school or the beginning of a weekend. It’s not complicated to the extent that you have to be an avid board game player nor is the information presented in a way that you have to be a student in art history. It needs to be accessible, not intimidating.

EMOTIONS:

This game should feel ridiculous while playing, the actions and themes behind a lot of the artwork is. However, I want people to feel the weight of their actions through the chips they have to balance and the race to get to each room. This era was silly and light-hearted, but also somewhat prophetic in how it all ends. Players should have fun as they struggle to escape a violent fate.