OVERVIEW
Solstice is a 4-6P strategy card game where you vie for control of a Solarpunk-inspired City. Players campaign for the favor of the City Districts. Gather resources, use your leverage and sway Districts in an attempt to become the most influential candidate.
ROLE: Board Game Designer, Visual Designer
DURATION: 4 mo | Mar-June 2018
TOOLS: Miro, InDesign
ADVISOR: Jesse Schell
TEAM: Andrew Chang, Adela Kapuścińska (2)
IMPACT & OUTCOME
Awarded Finalist/ Honorable Mention at the Board Game Design Lab’s 2019 Board Game Design Challenge.
Premiered at the Miller Institute for Contemporary Art, Pittsburgh, on May 3rd, 6-8PM.
Playtested at Dice Tower Con 2019.
Script/ Video Editing: Adela Kapuścińska
00 — CONTRIBUTIONS
As Game Designer, I’m developed the gameplay mechanics and narrative design for our game.
As Visual Designer, I decided on the art direction for the project: working on branding, card and board design and promotional materials, as well as producing physical elements.
01 — THE CHALLENGE
Solarpunk is a reactionary movement in speculative fiction, art, fashion and activism against Cyberpunk and other dystopic derivatives. Its narratives have a distinct Utopian feel; they assume collaborative societal effort, progressiveness, and a desire to design a sustainable future. It is a genre that is largely unexplored in interactive media, which is why we were interested in designing in this space.
02 — RESEARCH
Solarpunk is a “reaction against [against dystopian science fiction]; it is a desire to see a future I want to live in and that I want to be a part of making.” (Sarena Ulibarri). It is the question “what kind of world will emerge when we finally transition to renewables?” (Jennifer Hamilton). The genre’s proponents argue that the problem with imagining such a dark future (or no future, for that matter) is that, while failure may be cathartic it thwarts the possibility of thinking about alternatives. They also don’t want to “[box] the genre in binaries of utopian or dystopian” (Tom Cassauwers), despite the “wonderful social shifts, moral growth and technological empowerment” (Odin Halvorson) that it proposes.
My interest is in finding the punk.
03 — DESIGN GOALS
To create an asymmetric game with different player identities, philosophies and goals. We wanted players to be able to project onto the game as much as possible so we tried to think of ways to increase player immersion.
To create an elegant game. Not too complex but not too simple either. We regularly examined game mechanics to see what we can cut and how we can make everything smoother and more interconnected.
To explore the Solarpunk setting, aesthetic and concerns. We made a non-violent political game. Within the premise of Solarpunk, society always finds a way to advance forward. As a player, you can take the helm of steering that change and leading it towards your desired future: the winning player dictates the future of Solarpunk.
04 — VISUAL DESIGN
In the visual design, I followed the notion proposed by Adam Flynn in Solarpunk: Notes toward a manifesto:
Solarpunk is a future with a human face and dirt behind its ears.
05 — GALLERY
PREMIERE @ Miller ICU
Poster 1 by Andrew Chang.
Poster 2 by Andrew Chang.