What was the prompt of the project?

The prompt for this project was to create an educational game for whole families to enjoy
to lessen children’s screen times while in designer teams of 4.
What were my roles?
- Writing up 2 case studies.
- Ordering and gathering all the game’s supplies.
- Designing the board game board.
- Printing the board game box wrap.
- Assembling the board game box.
- Photographing and editing images off the final board game.
- Communicating with other designers on tasks and deadlines.
What My Team Decided On
On our first day of brainstorming the type of board game we wanted to design, there were many different ideas
that were put on the table for grabs. I initially wanted to do a color psychology or travel-destination game where
you’d be able to learn about the world, but my group and I didn’t know how to go about that. Another idea thrown
on the table was creating some form of a trivia game.
My group and I liked the idea of creating a trivia game, and we also liked the concept of constructing a game
where people would learn about other countries, like my travel destination idea. So we created the concept of a
board game where you answer trivia questions about the continents of the world, leading the person who
answers the most questions right to dominate the world map.
Our case studies helped us pin this idea down, taking inspiration from the game Risk (being that the game had a
similar objective) and from the family case studies, noting that we wanted our target audience to be older kids,
since most children wouldn't know much about world trivia at a young age. Leading us to market the game
towards ages 14+.
Case Studies
Case
Studies
To better understand how engaging in board games facilitates family interaction and educational learning, I
conducted two case studies as part of my research.
The first case study was focused on the game Risk, distinguishing what characteristics of the game we could
apply to Conquest. While studying the elements of the game, I tuned into components such as strategy,
competition, territories, and war aspects, which encourage engagement and social interactions amongst
players. A factor of the game I was very inspired by was the usage of the world map to introduce map literacy.
The second case study I conducted was centered around the Chadwick family’s perspective on board games
and what aspects make them appealing to both adults and children. While interviewing the father of the family,
Thomas Chadwick, he pointed out that simpler games tend to appeal to families with younger children, while
more strategic games appeal to older children.
The research from these 2 case studies, it allowed for valuable insight into how my team and I would approach
creating a board game that would successfully target a children’s age group while also appealing to adults.
Case
Studies

[Link] [Link]
Ordering Game Supplies
Ordering Game Supplies
I then ordered all the supplies immediately after deciding what type of game my group and I would be
creating, since time was limited to two weeks for the project, so I knew taking initiative and getting our
supplies ordered as soon as possible would be necessary to further understand how we would navigate
constructing this project.

$19.95 $9.99 $8.85 $14.58 ($7.29 x 2) $8.99 $17.99

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Ordering Game
Supplies
Item Price

Bristol $19.95

Bags $9.99

Dice $8.85 Grand Total

Pieces $14.58 $80.35
Cards $8.99

Board & Box $17.99

Designing The Board
Phase 1… Ideation
While designing the board of the game, I drew inspiration from
Risk’s Board Game Board:
the look of the game Risk’s board and started thinking of what
and what I wouldn’t want to implement in my version of the
game’s map. I noticed that it used lines to connect islands and
utilizied different coloring in various regions to indicate a
change in territory. However, an aspect of the game I wasn't
going to take from was the usage of Antarctica in the game
because of its lack of history that would be applicable and
more well-known for trivia questions. Another aspect I’d have
to take into consideration is that I needed the formatting and
sizing of my board design to be a 20” by 20” file, meaning I’d
have to exaggerate some of the continents' sizes to fill up the
space on the board, unlike Risk, considering that Risk’s board
is rectangular.
Phase 2… Tracing
During phase 2, I started outlining the general
regions for the continents I was including, as well as
forming the territories within. I achieved this by
taking images of world maps and then using them as
bases to trace off of. I used the pen tool in Illustrator
to trace rough sketches of what continents would
look like; however, just using the pen tool caused a
rough and rigid look, so I utilized the curvature tool to
round out the sides of the continents I was forming.
Once I formed the continents, I decided to dish out
color schemes for each continent to differentiate
them. After, I created different territories within the
continents, giving each territory a unique variant of
the continent's color.
Phase 3… Texturizing
During phase 3, I noticed my first draft looked bland; I
didn’t like how the textured map background clashed
with solid and plain vector shapes. I solved this by
taking the background image into Photoshop and
creating different colored textured papers to insert
into territories within continents, using the clipping
mask feature in Illustrator. I also noticed there wasn’t
a clear way to indicate which islands were linked to
other territories, even if they were the same color, so
I linked them together using lines to give the
impression that the land masses had ties together.
Phase 4… Finalization
During phase 4, I noticed that even after giving each
territory its own unique textured and colored paper, the
map still looked bland. It wasn’t until I asked my team
members what their opinions were about my draft that I
noticed the continents and territories lacked the sense of
definition in their outlines. To fix this, I used the pen tool
in Illustrator to add more rigid outlining and detailing.
Additionally, inserted an image of an ocean behind the
continents to give context as to where the continents
were. After that, I inserted and customized ripped paper
vectors from Adobe Stock along the areas where I
decided to cut off the ocean for a seamless look.
Designing The Board
Phase 1… Cover
After coordinating with my team member, I was
informed that a teammate had finished creating the
cover art for the box, so I took on the role of
designing the overall box formatting. I decided to
use the same ripped paper effect as I did with the
endings of the ocean print on my board design,
incorporating it into the cover of the box. I scaled
the cover art to my favored size, imported the same
textured paper design from the board, and then
imported the ripped paper vectors along the sides
of the cover art with the same textured paper
behind it from the board design.
Phase 2… Siding
Moving forward, I decided to implement the textured paper element from the cover of the box to the sidings.
However, for the top of the box siding, I inserted our logo and placed it in the center of the design.
Phase 3…
Finalization
With the completion of the siding, I decided to create the bottom of the box by using the same textured paper
element from the top and siding covers, and just leaving it as it was.

Top Cover

Bottom Cover
Printing
Printin
g
During the printing phase, I
inserted everything into a
11x14” file and printed them
out of a sheet of 11x14” bristol
paper. I chose bristol paper
because of its thickness
shiny surface, helping form a
more professional final look
for board game. The price of
printing came out to a total of
$15.
Assembling The Box
Assembling The
Box
After printing, I carefully cut out
each cover piece to make sure
there weren’t any imperfect
cuts. While assembling the box,
I used paper cement to stick the
sides to the cardboard gome
frame I had purchased earlier
during the initial supplies
purchase spree. Once the paper
cement had set, I decided to use
an exacto knife to cut off any
imperfections along the box.
Photographing &
Editing
Photographing & Editing
During the photographing phase, I used
large sheets of brown paper as the
backdrop, taping them to the wall and
allowing them to slowly curve down
onto the table for a more seamless
background look for post editing. Then I
used 2 lights, 1 diffused along the left
side and one undiffused light from the
right side at a higher angle. During the
photoshoot, I used a Canon DSLR
camera. In post, I used Photoshop to
retouch any imperfections on the box,
as well as brighten and increase the
saturation of the final stills.
Closing Thoughts
Closing Thoughts
Overall, decisions were made during this project together and collaboratively in the group. However, when
things weren’t living up to the standards of the rubric, there were times I had to just go ahead and make
some decisions that were needed in the moment, because there was a lack of planning or confounding
variables and time crunches. For example, the group insisted on only gluing a pice of paper to the top of the
box, however, I thought it wouldn’t live up to the standards of the rubric and went ahead and designed the
box’s cover, sides, and bottom box with the scroll paper texture, following a theme of unity, being that the
cards and board had the same qualities. Overall, I think I was a leader in my group, directing the project’s
path, assigning tasks to people, and filling in for others when they were absent. I was always up to date on
the project’s status because of my active attendance in class, which allowed me to take on this role to make
sure the project’s progression was stable and acceptable.