Dearman

The Social Construct of a Deathly Board Game

Marissa Dearman

ERWC, Period 4

October 14, 2016

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Table of Contents

I. Part One: Description.......................................Page 2-3

II. Part Two: Research.......................................Page 3-5

III. Part Three: Reflection.......................................Page 5-6

IV. Part Four: Works Cited.......................................Page 6

V. Part Five: Annotated Bibliography.......................................Page 6-8

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I. Part One: Project Description

For my senior project, I am designing the artwork for a board game that my brother

invented several years ago. At Santa Susana High School, I have taken Basic Design, Graphics

and Pubs, Graphic Design ROP, and I am currently taking Yearbook. The skills I have learned

from these classes will help in the creation of my project. From the process of completing the

project, I expect to learn about working with a client and the process of designing the artwork.

Completing this project will prepare me for the future because it will give me experience in

creating something for someone else, which will be helpful in a career in graphics.

The board game is about trying to escape from a collapsing coal mine before you get

caught in it and die. My client has told me that his game is a Classic style board game which

means it will have a road such as the Game of Life and Monopoly. I am thinking of creating the

design based on elements from games such as these but incorporating coal mine aspects.

The first thing I need to do to start the project is get the components of the game so I can

start thinking about designs I can work into them. Then I have to find out what the dimensions of

the board and cards are. I will start by laying down the basic path of the board. Then Ill start

designing it and showing it to my client for his opinions throughout. I have skills in using Adobe

Illustrator and this will help me in completing this work because it is a program that can be used

to design artwork. Some difficulties I anticipate is working with my client and finding the right

dimensions for the board. To overcome these difficulties, I can consult the internet or someone

who would know about board game dimensions.

For my project, I need to research several things. I plan to look up how game boards of

different designs look. I also plan to look at how different types of board games look. By doing
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these, it will help me gather the ideas and the knowledge needed to design a board game. I also

plan to research the dimensions of the board so that I can design the artwork to the correct

dimensions. This is important because if I do not have the right dimensions, it can either mutely

affect the design, or greatly affect it. I also need to look at the designs of the cards and how they

compare to the look of the board. I need to look up/find out what the dimensions of the cards

need to be.

II. Part Two: Research

For my senior project, I am designing the artwork for a board game. I decided to look

into how social skills and board games relate. I wanted to know if social skills could be taught by

board games. If so, board games should be taken into consideration to be used as a method for

teaching social skills.

I came across an article called Social Skills: Promoting Positive Behavior, Academic

Success, and School Safety. The important pieces I took from it were the list of social skills and

what each skill entails. The first skill it listed was Survival skills which includes listening [and]

following directions... The second skill is mentioned was Interpersonal. This includes sharing,

asking for permission, joining an activity, [and] waiting your turn. The third skill was about

Problem-Solving. This is asking for help,... accepting consequences, [and] deciding what to

do. The last skill the article mentioned was Conflict Resolution which is dealing with ... losing,

accusations, being left out, [and] peer pressure (Social).

All of these skills can be taught by playing board games. To start, one must ask to join in

the game. Once in the game, players must wait for their turn. In a board game players must listen

to each other and play by the rules of the game (following directions). In the board games that
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rely heavily on strategy, players oftentimes have to ask each for each others help in completing

tasks. Another heavy part of strategy games is deciding what play to make and dealing with the

consequences of the action. In games such as Mafia or Werewolf, players must deal with other

accusing them of being something in the game. Also in Mafia/Werewolf, others will have to

handle the peer-pressure of choosing a certain player to eliminate. At the end of a board game, or

any game in general, players must resolve their feeling after they lose.

During my research I came across an article entitled The Benefits of Board Games.

This article went through and listed several sets of skills. The first set of skills it talked about

were number and shape recognition, grouping, and counting. The next set was letter

recognition and reading. The third set of skills the article mentioned were visual perception

and color recognition. The last group of skills it mentioned was eye-hand coordination and

manual dexterity (Benefits).

These skills can easily be taught by board games. In the game Qwirkle, there are a bunch

of tiles, each with a different color and shape on them. The game is played by grouping them

together by color or shape. Players must count how many tiles they put down in the line to get

points. With any board game, it requires reading the rules/game cards and moving pieces across

the board or moving around cards.

Last, I came across an intriguing article called How to Learn Board Game Design and

Development. In the article, it talked about several different types board games and gave

examples of each. The genres it lists are: Classic/Family, Euro-Style, Deck-Building, Abstract

Strategy, Strategy, and Card-Based Strategy. Examples of Classic/Family are Sorry, Snakes and

Ladders, and Candyland. Examples of Euro-Style are Settlers of Catan and Carcassone.
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Examples of Deck-Building are Dominion, Thunderstone, and Nightfall. Examples of Abstract

Strategy are Chess and Checkers. Examples of Strategy are Risk, Twilight Imperium, and

Arkham Horror. Examples of Card-Based Strategy are Munchkin, Bang, and 7 Wonders

(Silverman).

Different genres may teach certain social skills more prominently than other genres. For

example, Abstract Strategy games teach accepting consequences. In chess, one move could cost

you the game. Depending on the skills that need to be taught, someone could easily find a board

game that will cater to them.

Taking all of my research into consideration, I want to help my client with his board

game by designing the artwork in the best manner possible. Board games are a very good way of

teaching social skills. Since the board game I am doing the artwork for has been identified as

Classic, I have an idea of the art styles I should aim for.

III. Part Three: Reflection

I expect my project to go very well. Once I get an idea I get really into it. Of course there

will most likely be a lot of hardships to overcome but I expect to be able to complete it to my

satisfaction and to my clients satisfaction.

One problem I expect to encounter is struggling to come up with ideas for the artwork. I

can solve this problem by looking up in google examples of what I need. For instance, if I end up

struggling with coming up with an idea for some coal mine aspects, I can look up what coal

mines look like. To further help me come up with an idea, I can even look up drawn/graphic

images of or about coal mines that others have done for inspiration.
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Another problem I expect to encounter is working with my client. Already he is taking a

long time to make decisions on things. Until he makes those decisions, I cannot progress in my

project. However, my client has told me that he works better with a deadline. For example, I

have given my client until Friday, October 14 to give me the basic board map and the dimensions

for his game. This is the current solution that we have for this problem.

Overall, I feel like my project will be a success. I am not one to slack off on my work and

I absolutely abhor the idea of not getting my project done in time. I believe this will give me the

motivation to get my project done in time and with great work. I feel like doing my senior

project will help me even more with my goal to become a Graphic Designer.

IV. Part Four: Works Cited

Silverman, David. How to Learn Board Game Design and Development. Envato. 29 Nov
2013,https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-learn-board-game-design-an
d-development--gamedev-11607. September 21, 2016

Unknown. The benefits of Board Games. Scholastic, 2016.

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/creativity-play/benefits-board-games
. September 21, 2016

Unknown. Social Skills: Promoting Positive Behavior, Academic Success, and School Safety.
NASP, 2002. http://www.naspcenter.org/factsheets/socialskills_fs.html. September 21,
2016

V. Part Five: Annotated bibliography

Bremer, Christine D., et al. Preparing for Adult Life: Important Social Skills for High School
Students. Impact Volume 24 (2011): 28-29

The purpose of this work is to inform teachers and parents what social skills need to be

taught to kids with disabilities so that they will be prepared for the adult world. The intended

audience for the article appears to be teachers because it teaches them how to teach social skills
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to kids with disabilities. Although it gives a list of social skills, it is not really relevant because

they are not the kind of social skills that can be taught using board games. They are just

classroom/work related social skills.

Leaf, Justin B., et al. "Teaching social communication skills using a cool versus not cool
procedure plus role-playing and a social skills taxonomy." Education & Treatment of
Children Feb. 2016: 44+.Student Resources in Context. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.
This work is about how using a cool vs not cool procedure plus role-playing can help

teach/increase the social skills of people with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). The article goes

through the process/details of the entire study. The possible audience could be people who

interact with those who have ASD. Although the article is about teaching social skills, it is not

really relevant to my topic.

Silverman, David. How to Learn Board Game Design and Development. Envato. 29 Nov
2013,https://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/articles/how-to-learn-board-game-design-an
d-development--gamedev-11607. September 21, 2016

The purpose of this work is to teach people how to design and develop a board game. The

work starts off by describing the different board game genres before it goes into the actual

teaching part. When it is talking about the different genres, the work lists examples of each. The

audience are people who want to design board games. The work is relevant in the way that it is

about board games, though it doesnt mention anything about social skills.

Unknown. The benefits of Board Games. Scholastic, 2016.

http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/creativity-play/benefits-board-games
. September 21, 2016
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The purpose of the work is to inform parents, the audience, about how board games can

help their childrens social skills. The work is somewhat relevant. It lists specific social skills

that board games can teach. It lists specific board games and tells how each of those games can

help specific social skills. It does not appear to be very helpful.

Unknown. Social Skills: Promoting Positive Behavior, Academic Success, and School Safety.
NASP, 2002. http://www.naspcenter.org/factsheets/socialskills_fs.html. September 21,
2016
The work is written to inform parents and teachers, the audience, on what social skills

need to be taught. It lists the effects of good and poor social skills as well as their impact on

school safety. The work states ways to identify the social skill deficits and gives ways to fix the

problem. It is not relevant because it does not list any specific social skills nor can it be used in

tandem with board games.

Zipkin, Amy. "Using Card and Board Games to Keep Minds Sharp." New York Times 5 Dec.
2015: B4(L). Student Resources in Context. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

The main purpose of this work is to inform people that the older generations like to play

card and board games to keep their minds sharp. It also allows them to socialize with each other

when they go to tournaments. They play games such as bridge, chess, and poker. The article

contains mostly data about how many older people are playing in tournaments and some

quotes/personal statements.

The audience of the work are seniors citizens. This article is completely irrelevant to my

topic. It doesnt give any reason as to how or why playing board games helps social skills. A

possible bias that the author is older herself.