ConnectioN

Ned and I have been thinking about creating board games since first year of college.

While Ned and I dipped our toes in plenty of other board game ideas (ie. hotel valets competing to park patron's cars in very limited parking, a deckbuilding/dice-building racecar game), the more fanciful the ideas got, the further removed they felt from one of our originally stated goals: "Is this a game that our families could play?"

Hence, the idea of connection played a large role. The game didn't have to necessarily be cut-throat but we wanted everyone to have an enjoyable time at game's end, regardless of whether they had won or not. Thinking back to our childhoods, I recalled a "game" where one would take a piece of paper, fold it in four equal horizontal parts and fold it such that only one quarter was visible at a time. Participants would take turns drawing on their quarter of the paper, making sure their drawing connected at a designated point on the border between the adjacent section. After folding their section over, the next person would draw whatever they fancied on theirs, oblivious to the machinations of the previous artist. At the end, you'd unfold all the pieces and reveal the monster that you created. This was a joyous experience and it was always such a hoot to see what other's had come up with. Could this concept potentially work as a card game?

Our initial design is featured above, with animals neatly discombulated onto playing card sized rectangles that players could take turns drafting. At the end, you'd end up with some fanciful creature, and hopefully get a kick out of what the other players managed to connect and create as well.

The idea of connection, simplicity, accessibility rings true in this first design.