[Prototype as presented during judging. Card designs at bottom of page.]

• Board Game Jam 1st Place Winner.

• Competitive tarot inspired card game with the opportunity to collaborate with or sabotage other players.

• Prototype created and demonstrated live through Tabletop Simulator in under 7 hours.

• Worked as project leader to guide team to victory.

• Also had input as a game designer, focusing on integrating aesthetic theming with mechanics.

• Responsible for designing the core gameplay loop and its adjustment to encourage more interaction between players.

5 people. 7 hours. 1st place. Fate’s Arcana was the winner of Confetti’s 2021 Board Game Jam. Having been given the theme “Journey” to work with, I suggested to my team that we interpret the them metaphorically, taking inspiration from tarot cards, the major arcana in particular - the journey through life, starting with the Fool and ending on the World.

We also discussed whether to add a collaborative element or if it would be too difficult to adapt the game for various numbers of players. I proposed a solution that would also add a unique twist to our project: incorporate the Prisoner’s Dilemma. If we add a game over condition in that one player’s loss with lead to everyone’s, they would be forced to save each other whilst still trying to get in the lead. The Prisoner’s Dilemma shows in our Fate Averted/Accepted mechanic as shown before, and the symbolic purpose of it is that in the journey of life, we must assist one another, or spell our own failure too. One cannot thrive in life alone.

Being under an extremely tight schedule, we kept the tabletop game simple:

Start:

• Remove the Fool card.

• Shuffle the shared deck (the Future) by mixing the cards in a pile, all face down. Rebuild the deck.

• Flip a coin. Heads, place the Fool upright in the Present pile. Tails, place it there reversed (upside down).

• Take 5 or 7 Fate counters depending on the Fool’s effect. Place the Fool in the Past pile.

• Each player also receives a Fate Accepted and a Fate Averted card. Place both face down.

Core gameplay:

• Players take turns drawing a card and placing it in the present pile. Its effect is dependant on whether it is reversed or upright.

• Before the effect resolves, each player places either their Fate Accepted or Fate Averted card face down in the middle.

• Flip all cards at the same time. If all players accept fate, the card resolves as normal. Any players who chose to avert fate may pay Fate tokens to purchase a die for each one (minimum 1). Roll up to 4 dice between the players. If the total exceeds the number written on the card, the effect is cancelled. If the total is lower than this number, the Fate is still loss and the card effect resolves as normal.

• Once the effect has resolved or been cancelled, place it in the Past unless the card states otherwise.

• Keep playing until the World is drawn. Resolve its effect.

• The player with the most Fate when the World resolves is the winner.

Game over condition:

• If any player reaches 0 Fate, the game ends in a tied loss.

Having imported draft digital cards into Tabletop Simulator, we presented Fate’s Arcana using the rule set above and were granted first place. With the advice and encouragement of professional tabletop designers such as Paul Allen of Stone Sword Games, we decided to continue this project once we had completed our studies with the intention of eventually marketing it, and since then have developed secondary mechanics involving the use of the minor arcana.

Several members of our team have now found employment within the games industry so unfortunately, the project has now been halted, but I intend to develop and release a free to play version on PC in the near future.