Time Currents and Infinite Arms
One of the projects we had to do for our first assignment was to create a board game based on either Snakes and Ladders, or Chinese Checkers.
I went with Snakes and Ladders, mostly because I felt I could have more fun with it.
So behold, planning and such!
For starters, a theme. In all the awesomeness of creating my own Snakes and Ladders, I used my graphic novel, Dreamspace/Splash, as a theme. As you can see, the above reference to one of the pages in the first chapter, the protagonist, an as yet unnamed dolphin in terms of having a dolphin name, is influenced (unbeknown to him) by the Ocean Star. This causes the character (who introduces himself with the alias Splash), is somewhat "outside of time", and from the outside observer, his movements are either insanely fast, or undetectable. I used this effect and referenced them as "Time Currents" in the game, which takes the place of the traditional ladders.
Towards the end of the Splash series of Dreamspace, the main plot will introduce what is only known as "Infinite Arms," which takes on what appears to be dark tenticle-like tendrils reaching from outside of space and time. These have taken the role of the snakes.
I also had to make sure I had a base for the game. I was dead set on a full 100 square game, much like the version I enjoyed as a child:
The trick of course then is to place the positive and negative squares in place, and while I wanted them to be spread out somewhat evenly (with a few exceptions to psychologically challenge the player), and then add the additional apparent difficulty by mounting more of the Infinite Arms squares as you get closer to the end, and having less of the Time Currents.
These are the Time Current squares. Upon landing on one of these squares, the player moves up the Time Current to the destination square, each tile above in order from the first to last of this line.
In order from left to right:
"Make a Friend" - An image of Orcy.
"Ranha Screws Up" - Mako's lacky, Ranha, messes up once again.
"Mako's Plans are Foiled" - Image depicts Mako stopped by Coral, Anteia and Swift.
"Super Rainbow Quacker Duck Musical Accompaniment" - Depicts the Super Rainbow Quacker Ducks breaking out in song.
"Treasure Ship" - Depicts a sunken treasure ship full of treasure.
"Splash Saves the Day" - Image depicted by the protagonist, Splash.
"Help from a Dolphin Pirate" - One of the Dolphin Pirates, Sapphire, assists.
The above tiles depict the Infinite Arms squares. The reverse of the Time Currents, landing on these squares will require you to follow the tendril down to the destination square.
In order from left to right, from earliest to last:
"Moray Ambush!" - Depicts the villain siblings Mor and Ray.
"Mako Takes the Ocean Star" - Depicts a grinning Mako.
"Dolphin Pirates Arrive" - The Dolphin Pirates enter the story and cause trouble.
"The Ocean Star Disappears" - The Ocean Star mysteriously vanishes.
"Spritz is Kidnapped" - Depicts a crying Spritz.
"Ghost Ship" - Depicts the evil Ghost Ship.
"Dark Tide" - Shows an unprecedented ocean swell, drowning entire lands, towns, people, etc., with the Ghost Ship riding on top of the surge.
The final board looks as such:
I made it so the destination squares either had a white-blue spot, or red-black spot (depending on Time Currents or Infinite Arms), so it would be easier to know where to land.
In addition, it would be quite ideal that any playing tokens created especially for this game be of various characters from the story.
Ideas for this included:
Splash, Cascade, Caley, Spritz, Mako, Ranha, Sapphire, Ocry.
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