CAGD170 Solitaire Modded

 09/11/22

ePortfolio Post #1

Martin Vilches, Group 2:


My group started working on a Card Modding project. The assignment was to Modify the Solitaire Card Game and make some changes. We were tasked to keep some essentials like the player count and the time limit. While thinking with my group, we concluded that we needed to change a game mechanic, but not the base game; This would make our Solitaire easier to learn and play.

During the brainstorming part of the development process, one of the highlighted ideas was to add a counter for every time you completed an entire loop from the stock pile. However, our focus was so that you were able to play this Solitaire version with playing cards and online. My group partner had never played Solitaire before, so I told him to play through the standard version of Solitaire first before modifying it. After playing it for a day, He found that it was very easy to get stuck, and it would be nice to have some way to get out of tricky situations. That's how we came to the concept of adding wild cards.



The Unbound Solitaire consists of having 2 available Wild Cards that serve as a tool to keep playing when you become stuck. You're able to use the wild card whenever you need to and use it to replace any card except A and K. After being used, the card can be swapped with the one you need, and the Wild card will not be able to be used for the rest of the game. We wanted to keep the main aspect of Solitaire so there wouldn't be a problem for the player to adapt to this new version. The main idea of Unbound Solitaire is to help the player. There are situations in normal Solitaire where you cannot make more moves because there is no available option. With the use of the wild card, you are able to continue playing and not lose your game.

After watching people playtest the game, we figured that there were some problems and confusion with our mechanics, so we decided to polish the rules and procedures. First of all, the Wild Cards shouldn't be able to replace an A or 1 In the Tableau; it was unnecessary to have it replace an A that would end up causing confusion to the player. The next thing we needed to fix was some clarification in our rules. The final change is cosmetic, and it was the name of our Solitaire. 

Overall I had fun doing this project because I got to experience modding and going through the thought process of solving a common issue and discussing it with my group partner. Even though this project might have seemed fairly simple, I enjoyed the experience it offered.


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