Scotland’s Yard
Theme –
. Mystery/Detective work.
. Strategy based.
. Location in London, Set in a modern era (1960’s – 2000’s)
. Police Investigation.
History –
. Scotland’s Yard is the headquarters for the Metropolitan police force in London.
. “The New York Times wrote in 1964 that, just as Wall Street stamped its name on the New York financial world, Scotland Yard did the same for police activity in London” Quoted from Wikipedia.
. Relation – Scotland’s Yard is famously known for it’s policing activities across the city of London, relating to the concept of detectives hunting for an escapist/convict. Using similar devices and tactics to find the criminal, but to also following up clues and movements that could progress into a capture.
Plot –
. Capture an escapist (convict) known as Mister X (opponent)
. Play up to 5 detectives to capture the opponent by plotting his whereabouts by given clues in the game play.
Game play –
. Only rotate round the board clockwise by using up to three modes of transportation (Bus, Taxi and the Underground)
. Presenting a ticket for each service enables the use of transportation.
. Detectives are seen on the board as coloured icons/figures, whereas Mister X is colourless.
. Detective players get a set amount of transportation tickets between them, once used, Mister X claims and reuses them for aid in manoeuvring around the board, which results in the opponent to move four times as much than the rest of the players.
. Once the detectives use up all their tickets, they are unable to move for the rest of the game. When all detectives have lost their tickets, Mister X as the opponent successfully wins (escapes) resulting in the other players to lose.
. Each location on the board is marked with a number that all players take position on.
. Mister X has to reveal in certain turns, his current location number to help aid the detectives the direction in which they should be heading. He must also reveal his mode of transportation in each turn, so that the other players can process the movement of their opponent around the board.
. This enables the other players to work together and figure out possible directions of their opponent, by logging his last known whereabouts and the transportation he has used to get to and from there.
Progression –
. Players (detectives) must work together as a team to pinpoint the location of Mister X, by logging his moves and positions regularly in his turns.
. To cleverly analyze the situation and develop theories of the escapists routes, through teamwork and close attention the maps proximities.
Target Audience –
. On the packaging states that this game in particular is suitable for ages 10-99.
. Due to the complexity of getting used to the rules at the start, it took effort to keep our attention span focussed on wanting to progress. In result from this, we came to the conclusion that persons under their teen years would be far from interested, as it takes time and patience to understand the guidelines.
. Text and imagery is very small, so anyone with a sight deficiency i.e. older people, it would be very impractical. So the age rating should probably be more considerate of that side of the audience, by either changing the design in some way or downscaling the target age to something more suitable.
. From the traditional board game, Scotland’s Yard has adapted to the digital world by developing it into as Nintendo DS video game. Within using this structure of designing it would appeal far more to a wider audience, as it takes up next to no space within your handheld system, has no messy pieces or parts, and also would include sound and better visual animations, which even in simple games makes a whole difference in game play entertainment. From this box art cover, we can determine what both the detectives and opponent looks like, which could leave us as the player more involved with personalities and appearances: This is another good way to broaden the focus of other audiences.
Pros:
. Compelling action/Exciting when realizing clues.
. Working together to capture opponent/Team based.
. Makes you think more tactically/feeling logical.
. Player cards/pieces are easy to identify and use within the structure of the game play.
Cons:
. Not very helpful for players unfamiliar with the game, rules are very complex and it takes time to understand them fully.
. Game play can become really slow.
. Board map is very busy and can be confusing to understand the routes you’re talking, (colour coded to mode of transport)
. Text and imaging is also very small, so the depth of field isn’t very attractive to the eye.
Overall –
To begin with our group had little patience in wanting to know how to actually play the game, which led to some motivational issues. After we dealt with the initial complexity of the rules, we began to notice a rhythm in each other’s movements and ideas, which lead to us working together to pinpoint the opponent. We began logging modes of transport and positions to help each other use our moves wisely. This led us to think tactically and use each other’s scenarios in order to corner the opponent where clues progressed, and in result of this we managed to successfully work out the whereabouts of the enemy and capture him.
Scotland’s Yard may seem daunting at first, but after some willpower…it was worth it. The compelling mystery aloud us to come and work together to win, which would appeal marvellously to many people as it brings everyone to join in together (connection)
Bibliography
.http://www.google.co.uk/images?um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1678&bih=865&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=scotland%27s+yard+board+game&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
. Scotland’s Yard Board game and rule book.
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