Taboo Redesign

Redesign notes: Students who were very familiar with the games they chose to redesign were most adept at identifying emotional issues in the design, especially where players could be quickly overwhelmed and removed from a game while others were able to keep playing. This student removed some of the ways to lose points in Taboo to create what they deemed an overall less emotionally-taxing game where players could quickly fall impossibly behind in the game through losing points.

Exploding Kittens Redesign

Transcript of image text:
I choose to attack you!!

Redesign notes:In keeping with the idea of getting everyone to the table to play, students would often edit rules that allowed many players to gang up on a single player to remove them from the game. This student added a rule to Exploding Kittens that lets players choose the target of their card's effect in order to spread out some of the ganging up that can happen in multiplayer games.

Splendor Redesign

Redesign notes: This student noted they really enjoyed playing Splendor, but as part of the game you need to be able to bluff and read other players' emotions in order to play the game well. The student noted they had difficulty learning this aspect of the game and had much more fun when playing with others who were more relaxed and laid-back about playing the game, as opposed to playing to win. Although they didn't know how to address this issue in the game itself, they recommended players play with like-minded folks in order to make the game less stressful and more emotionally accessible. I share this example because I found it emblematic of the outside-the-box thinking my students employed to redesign these games for accessibility. Although you can't control all the emotional responses of your players to the game design-wise, it is important that players feel they can control some aspect of the game through house rules, mods, or the people they play with in order for all players to participate in and enjoy the game experience.