Version 11 | Opportunities at a Startup come with Different Costs and Benefits!
What’s in a name? Well, if you’re starting a new business, it’s everything. Your company name is the first thing people will see, and it’s what they’ll remember.
Having a good brand name is very important for today’s entrepreneurs. It should be unique, memorable, and reflect the company’s personality.
Imagine this scenario — 2 founders talking at a networking event, and 1 founder says, ‘Hey, I have heard the name before. Is there another company with the same name?’
While it could be taken in multiple ways, the familiar feeling after that conversation would be less fulfilling.
Since my game is themed around innovation, risk-taking and creativity (read entrepreneurship), giving existing startup names to players to build did not make sense. Previously, all the players (read founders) were given Minimum Viable Product Cards (also known as Objective Cards) from which they got to know their objective and had to fulfil the requirements to win the game.
Essentially they were building the MVPs of certain existing startups! While these worldwide recognised brand names certainly gave a feeling of startups since they have been associated with the same, this was different from the feeling of building your brand in the game.
Hence, here is an update.
Update on MVP Cards
I have decided to remove the MVP cards and give a common objective for everyone to fulfil. I will talk about the updated objective, but before that, it is essential to understand why the MVP cards are not fit.
This update comes from 3 reasons:
- Psychological. As explained above, the adrenaline rush of building a new brand is much greater than building an existing brand. Since this adrenaline rush will always return to the game and theme, I wanted a more incredible feeling of ownership and achievement for the players after winning the game.
- Thematic. Building out already-built brands makes less sense. Building something new is the core essence of entrepreneurship and even more thematic.
- Game Depth. The MVP card required one to collect certain cards from a division. With this, it was a simple card collection game with all Work Cards having the same value and benefit. To bring in more game depth, these cards can also be of different costs and benefits that introduce a strategic element and increase the game’s replayability.
New Objective
I wanted the game to be replayable and connected to startups as much as possible. For this, I renamed the 4 divisions:
- Research and Development
- Business Development
- Marketing
- Technology
Then, introduced specific metrics in all the 4 divisions, such as customers in marketing, downloads in technology, and revenue in business development.
The updated objective of the game was to reach a certain amount of metrics in any of the 3 division’s objectives. The first founder to complete 3 divisions wins gets to celebrate first.
Now, I intend to give players their player boards with their unique startup names and work towards making their startup complete any of the 3 objectives!
Update on Opportunity Cards (Previously Work Cards)
Since I wanted to add a strategic element to the Opportunity Cards, too, I have decided to try the game with different kinds of Opportunity Cards. There would be 3 different kinds of Opportunity Cards in every division, and each card would have a different cost and benefit. This allows the founders to strategise what type of card they want and conduct a cost-benefit analysis.
Update on the Player Board
The player board brought the much-required balance to the game between time and money! This provided a solid engine builder mechanic and a use case for money resources. I would have to fine-tune the maths behind the values; otherwise, the option to use your money to hire employees that reduce the cost of your Opportunity Cards is a good addition. Why did I not think of this beautiful mechanic earlier?
The recent playtesting sessions have been beneficial, and I am getting closer and closer to the final version of the game, and cannot wait to complete the product so that people can play and have fun while playing!
If you want to playtest Startup High, please join this Whatsapp Group. I update this group with regular playtests for everyone to be a part of it!
To all the people reading this without reading the previous articles, I am in the middle of making a startup-themed board game. I am documenting my progress as I move forward. I keep discussing the various roadblocks, the attempted solutions and my next step through these articles.
The game aims to get entrepreneurship and startup into the mainstream; board games are an excellent way to do it. If you like the idea or want to contribute, please visit entrepi.world and contact us!
