Player HUDs

During the development of the gameboard, we decided that it would be composed of 4 pieces of A3 card arranged in a square. This left us with a large rectangular play area. When we decided to change the gameplay area to a square shape, this left us with a blank area on each of the A3 pieces. In haste and due to a deadline, this space was decided to be used as an area where the player could easily store their resource cards and have any research that had been purchased nicely displayed. It was also decided to have each HUD display the name of the species and its colour under its deployment zone.

After the kleenex playtest, the large amount of rules and stats for each ship type needed to be easily displayed in a way that would help the game to move quicker and with less confusion. Initially we had a set of reference cards that were intended to be handed around as needed. This however proved a cumbersome way of displaying the information. The flow of the turns was also unclear, so we needed somewhere to display this also. The HUD space was the perfect place for this.

We now also had an opportunity to give each species a look and colour as well as further info relating to their species traits that eliminated the need for complicated reference sheets that needed to be handed around.

In the end, the HUDs went from something originally conceived to fill the space left over on the A3 boards to a vital tool to aid the gameplay and give each species its own feel. The different corners of the board now also acted to clearly define each corner as a specific species territory.