My Board Game - Design Document

HARLAN ROULETTE

Game Design Document

1.       GAME OVERVIEW

1.1. Hollywood One Sentence Pitch

1.2. Game Concept

2.       GAMEPLAY AND MECHANICS

2.1. Gameplay

2.2. Progression

2.3. Mechanics

3.       CHARACTERS

3.1. US Marshals

3.2. Criminals

4.       LOCATIONS

4.1. Kentucky

1.   GAME OVERVIEW

1.1.  Hollywood One Sentence Pitch

You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.

1.2. Game Concept

Harlan Roulette is a 2 to 4 player game that takes the basic concept of cops and robbers and incorporates it into the genre of board games, allowing players to take on either sides of the law and see if they have what it takes to surpass their opponents.

This game is intended to take players into the heart of Kentucky’s criminal underworld, where theft and violence run rife. As the player, you will have the opportunity to pick a side and work your way to the top, either as a low-down, thieving criminal, finding your place in the environment and building your crew to become the boss of the Kentucky underworld, or as a diligent US Marshal, working to take down this vicious crew and keep your county safe.

This simple premise leads to some entertaining gameplay, with players embodying the role of their character and feeling all the more that they need to win the game to either keep the threat of crime at bay, or to ‘stick it to the man’ and feel like king of the hill in their own little criminal empire. Because of the ambiguous nature of the pieces given in the game, there’s no strong design of what gender you’re playing, meaning you can use your imagination that the character is your own gender, or the opposite if the player feels that would be truer to the story they have created for the game, this in turn makes the game feel more their own and does not pander to stereotypical theories that cops and criminals have to be men.

At its core this is a game about property acquisition, where the player must work against their opposition to get the most amount of money and property before the other, and keep these resources away from their opponent for as long as possible. In doing so the opponent will gradually lose more money, as well as the ability to build their own empire, resulting in their eventual loss of the game.

The idea of Harland Roulette is taken from the television show ‘Justified’, where a criminal forces another into playing Russian Roulette, only to trick and kill him anyway. I used this title to symbolise the dangers of crime and how there is a chance that the criminal character in the game should be careful. Also because of this I chose the setting for Kentucky, of which Harlan is a part of, for the sake of poignancy.

I chose the US Marshals in this board game instead of the usual idea of cops and robbers because US Marshals are in charge of asset seizure, taking property that runs or has to do with criminal enterprises. They are also in charge of the hunting down of fugitives, which will in this game be the opposing team of criminals. This gives the opportunity to add elements of property acquisition and defence to the game, opening it up for more levels of strategy and adding more importance to the ability to build up money and gain property.

While conducting research on different board games I spent much time looking at the mechanics and economical side of the game Monopoly, at which point I decided this would be an interesting element that adds a more competitive way of playing in my mind than other games, and decided it would be interesting to include in my own work. As such, the property management portion of the game could be considered rather similar, but I feel I put my own spin on it sufficiently well to make it unique and interesting to the player, and not just a copy of the original.

2.   Gameplay and Mechanics

2.1.  Gameplay

The main goal of the game will be to move around the board, landing on squares with shops and businesses on and trying to get money through them any way you can. For the criminals, the easiest way to do so is simply to rob them. This gives them a small amount of money and allows you to build up your immediate funds. Following this action, the next step is to purchase ‘crew members’ and start offering ‘protection’ to businesses. Following this step, after players have acquired more money still they will be able to buy businesses outright, which will allow them to invest in future businesses and stop other players from purchasing or doing the same to said buildings, and therefore give them more of an opportunity to win.
At the same time, US Marshals can do similar in order to gain money by ‘protecting’ the property from criminals, as well as recruiting ‘additional forces’ and setting up ‘safe houses’, which will result in the same amount of money being accrued and the game overall being more fair for people playing on either side.

2.2. Progression

As players progress through the game they will have to acquire the most money in the game, either working as a criminal against other criminals and the US Marshals, or as a Marshal trying to keep it out of the hands of the criminals. They will progress in this way by purchasing property to withhold from the opponent. The final goal of the game will to have enough property that your opponent is unable to acquire more, leaving them without money to acquire more and therefore winning the game yourself.

2.3. Mechanics

As the player progresses throughout the game they will acquire more property and money, both of which they will have to aggressively protect from the other team.  Movement will be dictated via a dice roll, with the player moving that amount of squares per go.
Protection – This is when a player has three recruits. If they land on a neutral building they can declare ‘PROTECTION’, placing their three recruits on the building and gaining a sum of money for every five goes. This is applicable to both sides so players will have an equal opportunity to gain money.
Repossession – As the criminals, you will have to be wary of the US Marshal’s ‘repossession’ mechanic. If the Marshal lands on a square that is owned by the criminal player, they will have the option to announce “REPO” to the other players. At this time a mini dice-rolling game will be initiated, where by both players will have to roll a dice, with the winner decided by the highest roll. If the Marshals are successful the property will once again become a neutral, meaning that the criminals will lose control and be up for grabs for both sides once again.
 Turf War - If a Criminal has 3 'Crew Members' and lands on a location that is in the control of the US Marshals, either under protection or set up as a safe house, they have the option to start a Turf War. This will be initiated by the Criminal player announcing "TURF WAR". In this instance both players will roll a dice, with the highest roller winning. Similar to Repossession, if the Marshals are unsuccessful the location will be freed up, allowing players to once again compete for it, and the Marshal player will be sent to the "Marshals Office" square, but if Criminal player is unsuccessful, they will be transported to the 'Big Sandy', this time for 3 goes.
Big Sandy – Big Sandy will behave as the prison for the game, only being applicable to criminals. They will be sent there in the event of a failed dice roll in the dice rolling mini game, where they will have to stay for 1-3 goes. However they will have the ability to buy themselves out of there after spending one go here.
Marshal’s Office – This will serve as the prison for Marshal players, effectively. They will also be sent there in the event of a failed dice roll challenge.

3.   Characters

3.1. US Marshals

This side will start the game with $1500, with their primary goal of stopping the criminal player from buying property through the ability to set up ‘protection’ on shops and properties, by paying for additional forces, and setting up ‘safe houses’ in place of stores. These safe houses can be raided by criminals if they have the resources (a certain amount of ‘crew’ pieces), and even taken over, which will depend on the results of a dice role from each player in the raid, criminals will again end up in prison, this will last for just two goes, or less if criminals are able to bail themselves out. Likewise the Marshals can repossess property, taking a cut of gang money to fund efforts to stop the criminal elements. The US Marshal side will also have the ability to perform repossessions on criminal owned buildings, the result of which will also be determined by a dice roll.

3.2. Criminals

This side also starts with the standard amount of $1500 and just themselves as players. Their goal will to be to move up the crime ladder and acquire money by robbing stores. Stores can only be robbed once by the player, and will only be successful if they roll a four or up, with the amount of money they receive depending on how high they roll on their go. If they are unsuccessful they have the opportunity to try again after three goes, but if they are unsuccessful they will also be sent directly to Big Sandy (prison). After they gain more money they can recruit “crew members” (essentially the equivalent of hotels) to place on shops to signify that they are “in their protection” and therefore cannot be robbed by other criminals, if there are any in the game. The crew with members on buildings will receive a small sum every five goes to accrue money, giving them the opportunity to buy the property. When property is bought they will gain double the money from the property and this will stop other criminals from purchasing or offering protection to these places, giving the player the advantage. While this protects them from other criminals in the game, it does not protect them from the wrath of the US Marshals, which will be a constant threat and point of antagonism for them.

4.   Location

4.1. Kentucky

The game itself takes place in Kentucky, with players on the criminals side starting off in Bulletville, found in Harlan county, and the US Marshal players starting in the Lexington Marshals office in Lexington. This area is separated by the Tate’s Creek Bridge. These locations are all found in Kentucky itself (albeit Bulletville is actually spelt Bullitsville). I added these locations to add some authenticity to the board as, although the shops aren’t authentically named, the setting is.