Devlog #2

We reached out to several experts this week (including a contact at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago), which resulted in a change in species focus from zebra mussels to sea lampreys on the basis that zebra mussels cannot actually be removed from an environment once introduced, and we want to make removal an achievable goal for our players.

Gameplay considerations for this week include how to balance the cooperation strategy for different numbers of players and if different players can take on different roles / special actions. We are looking into a board game called Endangered, which gives players a limited number of turns to convince countries to vote on species protection measures (based on meeting certain conditions on the board). Player roles in Endangered include Zoologist, Philanthropist, and Celebrity. 

Additional online resources we were referred to this week:

• Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant - educational resources
  • Nab the Aquatic Invader Game
• Aquarius Mission 2007 If Reefs Could Talk - Education References - Changing Coral Reef Community Game
• Great Lakes Invasives: Sea Lampreys | Shedd Aquarium - sea lamprey info
• Sea Lamprey Control - more sea lamprey info
• https://www.michiganradio.org/environment-science/2019-10-24/after-70-years-the-fight-to-get-sea-lampreys-out-of-the-great-lakes-continues

Experience Goals

• Players will feel motivated to cooperate with others to achieve win conditions
• Player will experience the challenge of managing environmental and economic needs

Game Mechanics

• Players move around a board and can take actions each turn to manage the spread of invasive species in the region
• The board spaces start with certain numbers of species that increase or decrease based on player actions and random events

• The game ends after a certain number of turns

Possible Audience

The possible audience for this game is adults who enjoy cooperative board games such as Pandemic or Endangered.

Game Board Progress

Map with annotations showing lock and canal construction that allowed lampreys to spread

Simplified Map With 5 Regions for Prototype #1

Early draft of player cards/actions