Analysis of Game 'Set'
Game info:
Set is a game that consists of 81 cards varying in four features: number (one, two, or three); symbol (diamond, squiggle, oval); shading (solid, striped, or open); and color (red, green, or purple).
1. Start: (Clear)
One person takes the deck and lays out twelve cards face up.
2. Goal: (Clear)
In each round, to be the first person to spot a set collects those three cards.
In the end, to be the person who has the most cards.
3. Obstacle: (For those who are not sensitive to the color)
Set is not a colorblind-friendly game. It is difficult for them to distinguish different colors. Sometimes, even normal people feel a little bit hard to distinguish the green one with the purple one when they have open shadings.
4. Decisions: (Not much)
To me, Set is a speed game, there is not much strategy involved.
5. Rules: (Simple)
The rules of Set are summarized by:
Each feature (amount, color, shape and fill) should be the same or different on all three cards in the set. If you can sort a group of three cards into "two of ____ and one of ____", then it is not a set.
Find sets!
6. Interaction: (Not much)
For it is a puzzle game, there are not many interactions in the game itself.
The interaction between players is interesting. There was a dramatic moment that I found four sets and my friend couldn’t get the hang of shouting stop when she wanted to claim something but she didn’t find any valid sets anyhow.
Optimal Game Design:
1. Rules:
It is very easy to understand the rules since I can summarize the rule in just one sentence, so there is no need for my friend to learn the rules in an hour. However, it was hard if you want to play really well in this game and find a set quicker than your friends. The fast pace and racing against your opponent, combined with the long silence while you both frantically search for a set, make it a good game.
2. Interaction:
It has very simple items but when you play this game your eyes cannot stop searching from row to row. It is a immersive game in some way though it doesn’t have fancy appearance.
3. Opposition:
- Balance:
It is a competition game but it doesn’t bring people into direct conflict.
- Skill:
Because of acknowledging the rules at the very first beginning, I played better than my friend. Since my friend was familiar with this game after a few rounds, she had a chance to win while I got a challenge: for a while my friend was in the lead. When it was all over and my friend said that “with a bit of practice I can bit you”. We both thought we should play it again some time when we both have a clear mind at that time.
So Set is a game that requires skills to play and it is true that practicing more will help you better win the game.
4. Goal:
The goal is really clear that you should find a set as soon as possible.
There was a dramatic tension when in the near end we got very close amount of cards. When I found a set and shouted out one second before my friend, I felt the satisfaction I have never had before. I couldn’t imagine that we played this puzzle game for 40 minutes.
More analysis based on the MDA framework:
Set also shows some aesthetics as discussed in the MDA framework.
1. Sensation: Four simple features but create 81 different kinds of cards. Simple and nice.
2. Challenge: Lots of possibilities of combinations to get a set. There are (81 2)/3=1080 sets and also the average number of available sets among 12 cards is (12 3)/79 = 2.78. Different ways of thinking affect the efficiency. Achieved by the cycles of learn—> practice—>test.
New idea about Set:
We came up with a very rare event that there did not exist a set within the 12 elements on the table. It was a frustrating moment when we spent almost 8 minutes trying different combinations to find a set because we both thought it should be at least one set in it we just did’t find it.
So I came up with a idea to solve this problem. It may add a bit more of interaction between the players and adds more risk/ reward to decisions.
Whenever there seems to be no sets among the cards, one of the players (proposer) may yell “NO SET”, the other player has 3 seconds to decide whether or not to accept his statement. If the person (accepter) who accepts, he should give 1 card to the proposer. If the person (challenger) who says “no” means he thinks there is at least one set in it. Then if he actually finds one later, he can get extra 3 cards from each those who think there is no set. Then if he cannot find sets later, it means that his challenge fails, he should give 3 cards to the proposer.