Pre-Production
The initial concept of Conquer was to create a board game that used the Area Control mechanic as its main mechanic.
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The game needed to be dynamic, with constant strategy and movement changes. But at the same time, the game should have space for predictability, ensuring that players could develop strategies.
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For this, we seek inspiration from classics with the same characteristics, such as: Onitama, War and Chess.
Pillars
Area Control
Dynamic
Strategy
Development
Looking for the balance between a quick game, but with deep strategy
Conquer was developed from the ground up as a game designed to be played by 2 to 4 players. Being a multiplayer game of conquest, our biggest challenge was to make the game remain fun even for players who had already been eliminated. So, we carefully studied all possible ways to ensure that everyone would participate from start to finish.
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Another factor that we considered a lot was the development of modular parts for the game. Initially, the players' pawns would have different movements in each match, but we chose to make the board layout change instead of the pawn to have a more robust strategy.
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We did several playtest sessions and updated the game based on feedback to ensure we kept our pillars strong.
Results
Developing a board game really surprised me and it was an incredible experience
I can say that I've been playing board games since I was a kid, and one of the things I've always loved doing was modifying the rules of the games I played to make the experience even better and more fun for my friends and me.
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However, this was the first time I developed a board game professionally with a team, doing all the development protocols you would expect from a game designer.
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Making that comeback to board games was extremely fun after years of just playing video games. As much as digital gaming is my passion, seeing players getting together, sitting down and playing your game is a unique experience.