Project 3 — Vines and Watering Cans
MDA Analysis
Chutes and Ladders (Retro Series 1978 Edition) is a 2 to 4 player board game produced by Hasbro, targeted towards “little people”, ages 3 and over. To garner the attention of their main target audience, Hasbro describes their creation as “An exciting up and down game for little people” and depicts a colourful scene of happy children playing on a slide, reinforcing the concept of the Chutes and Ladders within the game. Being a game that is designed for children to play and enjoy, the mechanics of the tabletop game are short, simple and straightforward.
Each player will start by each placing a token on the first numbered square. Everyone then takes turns spinning the numbered spinner, the player with the highest number will be the one to start the game, followed by the player with the second largest number. Players move their tokens the amount of spaces, in ascending order, shown on the spinner once spun. The objective of the game is to be the first player to successfully reach the 100th square on the board. The player who reaches this square wins!
Adrenaline and excitement is evoked when players watch their opponent land on either a chute, or ladder. This dynamic helps to evoke a sense of challenge as they can be used to very easily turn the tide of the race. Suddenly a player about to reach the end could end up all the way back down and vice versa. Chutes and Ladders is a game based on chance, meaning that players are unable to use strategy to smite their opponents. Due to there being a chance based competition, this changes the dynamics to be a more calmer, less thought through play.
The aesthetic of the original Chutes and Ladders uses the concept of cheerful and exciting play amongst children. A common mentality amongst groups of children is that they want to feel included in the excitement around them. The art used for Chutes and Ladders shows a group of happy kids playing together, using the mentality of inclusivity, Hasbro specifically selected this art in an attempt to draw in the attention of a younger demographic. The aesthetic makeup that gives a fun experience to Chutes and Ladders are fellowship and challenge components. Fellowship in the sense that the game creates a social setting where players are able to be competitive amongst friends and peers. The challenge component comes in the form of the obstacle course nature of the board as players try to avoid chutes, while using ladders to beat one another to the finish line.
For our modified game of the original; Chutes and Ladders, we will be trying to appeal to a slightly older demographic by changing the overall theme, dynamics and adding some more mechanics. To do this, we will first focus on the mechanics. We have modified the flow of the board by having the players start in opposite ends and work to take a ‘flag’ to the enemy’s starting location. In this sense we have modified the mechanics of the game to be reminiscent of a capture the flag type of game. Adding competitive and strategy aspects along with the original element of chance, will introduce an extra layer of complexity to the originally basic mechanics. These mechanics will then change the dynamics into being a competitive and serious game rather than having a neutral stance in regards to the competition. One new dynamic we have added include the addition of event cards that can alter the movement or location of players. These modifications constructs an aesthetic that is more focused on the challenge component as players now have to think about how they can sabotage each other. As such the game evokes a much more competitive nature from players that give them a better sense of dedication in the game. The changes made to the theme will try and appeal to not only children, but also try to get the attention of parents too, making the game family friendly while introducing the concept of competition to children in a healthy manner.