Rule Sheet Development Process

Solitaire Mod Development Process

Constructing Version 2

Group 2

The game is simply modified Solitaire. The suits are divided by color and the game is played under a time constraint. Draw from the two decks and organize the suits by color. Put both cards of both suits down in a pile: ace, ace, one, one and so on. 

The idea from the start was trying to make Solitaire either faster or more zany. The former being the prevailing basis. The second version is much more streamlined and way more precise. The difficulty was in how to make play quick and interesting. An adjustable timer seemed to add just enough variance to make the concept competitive and re-playable. Changing the play style in any way either made it completely unplayable or just way too easy. The separation of color was far from a complete idea but it proved to be the one most malleable to balanced play. After lamenting the inability to turn Solitaire into a two player game called Duotaire we got to work quickly. Making two decks of each color made the game significantly easier. The challenge came from making that process harder. The best way to make a simple task harder is to add a time constraint that creates panic and mistakes. 

Solving any of the issues was a painless process luckily. Enough knowledge of the base game aided in the modification of it. Fumbling through play tests of it allowed us to come up with constraints that wouldn’t pose a detriment to play and eased us through the process. At first dividing the suits into two decks felt cluttered; however, we quickly realized it was reminiscent of Speed, a two player game about dwindling down your cards before your opponent. Hence adding a time constraint was the best way to make a one player game as stressful as a two player game. The coordination required for taking from two decks and organizing the cards from them under 4 minutes proved a challenge. After a few plays the game did become easier as the concept was better grasped. To improve replay the option to lower the time made for challenge and competition. 

Going forward I hope to employ much more deliberation and suggestion in development. Many of our best ideas came from pitching ideas, rehashing those ideas, and finalizing an adjusted one. It worked better than what just one of us could create. The development process done with team input is the best when constructive. The two of us sticking to a topic made sure that the conversation wasn’t muddled with noise. In larger teams sticking to the topic at hand may prove far more difficult, but allowing multiple inputs and a willingness to compromise proves most useful. The biggest challenge in development is differing opinions and egos. Setting aside your ego and compromising your opinions is the fastest way to work through a group development effort. That wasn’t a problem I found here. I didn’t know as much about Solitaire as my group mate but I knew many from my school days. Combining those two aspects made us an unstoppable force of developing might. We both contributed ideas that did nothing but improve our game. The only improvement to that would be more time to create a better product. The problem with that is knowing when to stop.