This game, built for 7-12 year olds went through an interesting evolution. David had these interesting printing blocks he had used for another project and they created paths from one to the other. We tried playing a few different games with them.
The first was a four player game. Two teams would try to make paths that met their teammates path and block the other teams. This game lacked a challenge and far too easily lead to a stale mate.
The second was a game where the goal was to create enclosed shapes with the blocks. If you managed to close a shape then you get points corresponding to the number of blocks used to create the shape. We liked the idea but got stuck when a shape just needed two more pieces to close and no player would want to place the piece that would put their opponent in a position to win.
Our third option was to build them on top of each other. We liked the idea of a 3d puzzle game and decided to work from there.
While we liked the lines, we didn't think that they added enough to the game. The paths concept was a good direction so we painted the blocks pink and white and the goal was to create a path using your color.
This version of the game worked best but we experimented with a few different structures until we settled on this one. It allowed for alternate routes if a player gets stuck but still leads them in the same direction to promote interaction between the players. It also eliminates the issue of the valley that was getting cluttered and slowing down the game.
Add a box, a logo, and a kick ass video made by An and we had our game.
