STAFF BUSTERS - MAYFLY GAMES

My work as a commissioned designer for Brighton-based company Mayfly Games

OverviewI met the owner of Mayfly Games, Tom Kent at the Portsmouth Guildhall game fest. While discussing with him his newly published game, The Mafia, I spoke about my experience and current work within my course at Portsmouth University. We discussed my interests and I gave him my contact for possible work on a new upcoming game. Since then I have been privileged to work with this brilliant game designer on his new board game. Initial PitchWhen Tom explained to me his base concept and showed me the prototypes he had, I was immediately invested in the idea. This game played to my strengths, with both a strong fantasy and magical theming! I was told of the base concept, that four wizards were placed into an arena and must build a wand out of cards that they then use to fight other players and be the last wizard standing. I was asked, from this, to create a 1-page backstory using my knowledge of all things fantasy to make the player understand why they're playing and the importance of winning against other wizards. I was shown the prototypes of the cards and given an explanation of how the game would work. From there, I got to work.

Research and Ideas

Looking over the game mechanics of what was given to me, I picked out some key components to focus on that would give me a secure starting point. I identified quickly that we would need a very strong story to make the players interested in the card game from a narrative perspective. I needed to create something fun and interesting that would allow rivalry to form between players. I originally had the idea of invoking a more "past" based storyline. That all wizards had specific relationships in their past that motivated them to fight. In the end, while brainstorming, I decided this route would not be the best way to go given the small, compactness of this game. I thought something simple and strong would work better to give a more impactful motivation for the players. I then moved on to the idea of a common goal for the players. We know that they were fighting but why? I shifted my focus from the individual wizard's story to the group as a whole. What would each wizard have in common that would work as the pivotal reason they are willing to fight to the death?I decided on some kind of object of great power. I did research into the common ideas of wizards and I often came back to the idea that knowledge was a strong point in their storylines, from multiple franchises and sources. This is what I decided to focus on. I took these ideas back to Tom and discussed them with him, and also raised the idea of changing some of the names of his powers in his game to better fit the story and fluidity of the game. He was pleased with this, so I got to work.

Finalisation of the idea

The final idea I went for was the storyline of Grand Sorcerer Kansell, a centuries-old wizard who is all-powerful. He has controlled and guided the flow of the world and maintained the balance of the elements. He is growing old and wishes to lay down his wand and rest. To do this, he scoured the land and gathered together the four strongest wizards with the most potential. He has gathered the resources, and the materials, and is now pitting you against each other to see who is worthy of wielding the Omnitext, a book of knowledge that allows the reader omnipotence. I got to work designing the page of the story for this, before sending it over to Tom to get his opinion. I was careful to check the copyright for any names and phrases used when creating this piece, too. I received incredibly fond feedback. He was super pleased with my proposed name changes for the elements and agreed with the changes I suggested. He then offered me a larger role in this game, focusing on the design of the game over just doing commission work, which I was happy to agree with! He discussed his ideas, of having mortal enemies who want to scrap together magic to kill each other, but went on to explain that he much preferred the direction I took his game, speaking specifically on how the characters and stories I had created fit his vision for the game perfectly and that he was pleased with my story insert.

Future Work

I'm excited to be continuing my work with Tom and Mayfly Games on Staff Busters and future games! My current work is focussing on the rules page and further storyline elements and design changes. Stay tuned here for any more updates and information on my involvement!