Message as Mechanic

The Intent of Hero's Quest was to distill the complexity of turn based tabletop strategy games into a faster paced mobile game. In a bazar twist on traditional mythos tropes, players are given the simple objective: Protect the hero at all costs. Combat is nuanced, and unpredictable. Risk limitation is the name of the game. 

I wanted to explore what it means to be a hero through ludonarrative. I portray the hero as capable of defending themselves, but ultimately human. The game is balanced so that in order to be successful the player must have their hero lead from the back. Is it really the Hero’s Quest if they don’t put themselves in direct danger?

System Breakdown:

Visualizing a Character's Stats

Character Stats are reflected visually on the pieces. As seen below, each character's Insignia, Range Statistic and Movement Speed Statistic. 

Visual Feedback:

Character Insignia

The intent of giving each character their own unique insignia is two:

A). Making each character immediately identifiable from every part of the game board

B). To further reinforce the play style the character is intended to use to the player

Each icon is evocative of the core function of the character. The Tank's fist icon being evocative of brute force, while the Archer's bow icon is evocative of range. 

Attack Range

The range icon is visualized with the imagery of a rifle scope. The Range of a character is visualized with the number of range icons on the character piece. One icon meaning an attack range of 1, and two icons meaning an attack range of two etc. 

Movement Speed

Each character's movement speed is visualized with a pair of walking boots. The more walking icons, the faster the character moves. One icon means the character can move one space in a turn, while two icons means the character can move two spaces in a turn.

Combat Systems:

Attack Ranges and Movement Speed

The character's Attack Range and Movement Speed are deeply tied together, after all in order to do damage a character must get into range where damage can be done. 

Attack Range and Movement Speed

 A core tenet of each Character's Design is how their individual attack range is matched with their Movement Speed.

Range:

The distance that an attack will travel and do damage.

Movement Speed:

The maximum distance a character can travel in one turn.

Purpose:

The Attack Range system and Movement Speed system are truly interlocking. Characters that have longer Attack Range and higher movement speed typically are much less likely to take damage. As a result, these characters are given a lower defensive stat, and a lower attack statistic. They do consistent damage but are beat out by characters who are able to better specialize in inflicting damage, or absorbing damage. The Archer is a good example of this archetype of character. The focus of implementing this system is do create deep combat interactions between each type of character. 

War game DNA:

Damage Stats, Damage Tables, Life Steps

Health is an important part of a combat system. Hero's Quest takes elements innate to classic war games like combat result tables and uses them in a more casual setting. This concept is detailed below. 

Inflicting Damage in Hero's Quest

Inflicting damage on another player in Hero's Quest involves a number of interlocking systems. This was purposefully designed, to give the player a greater sense tension to the combat as they are not 100% sure what the outcome will be. 

Life Steps

Each Character has a uniform number of life steps. These life steps are detailed above. As combat is determined in the Combat Results Table, characters can lose up to two of their total life steps in a single attack. The choice to keep the health system uniform was intentional. I wanted players to be able to immediately evaluate the state of their characters and make better choices rather than getting sidetracked by number crunching damage tables. 

Damage Statistic

The amount of damage a character does is individual to each class of character. It is a key element in the Combat Results Table. Generally speaking, the lower the movement speed the higher the damage stat. This information is displayed on the character's statistic sheet. 

Defense Statistic

The amount of amount of damage that is subtracted from each attack in the Combat Results Table. Each character has their own defensive stat. Generally speaking, the higher the movement speed, the lower the defense stat. This information is displayed on each character's statistic sheet. 

Combat Results Table

The Combat Results table was implemented so the strategies would be less consistent, and players would have to adapt to these changes. As seen above, the combat results table is a two-dimensional array that functions like this:

(Attack Damage - Target's Defensive Stat Cross Referenced with a Roll of a D-6 Die)

The purpose of this was to keep combat uncertain to underscore the tension of the game. This table was not visible in the electronic version, as I believed it would overwhelm the player. 

Seamless System Integration:

Combat, Moment, and Actions

In Hero's Quest, the player must adjust their strategy to fit the environment. The environment is designed to effect movement and combat results, giving player's bonuses based on what type of ground they were standing on. This system is detailed below. 

Terrain Types

Flat Ground

Light ground color, this piece provides no advantages or disadvantages. 

Elevated Ground

Dark green color, this piece provides an initial movement speed de-buff (on the first turn that the player moves onto the piece), and a defense stat buff.

Thick Brush

A brown color with grass texture on it, this piece provides a defense buff the entire time the player in on the piece, as well as a movement de-buff. 

Terrain Buffs and De-Buffs

Movement Speed De-Buff

Movement speed penalty by one unit (movement speed - 1). This does not apply if the character already has a movement speed of 1.

Defense Buff

Defense stat penalty by one unit (defense stat -1). This does not apply if the character already has a defense stat of 1.

Design Intention

My intention was to create a combat dynamic that would be shaped by the environment that the game is set in. I wanted to add limitations to movement, as well as strong points for players through the level design. I intended to use the high ground as a means to rally against flag runs, while using the dense brush as locations to stage ambushes. This would add new layers to the combat that would not exists with a completely flat, even field of battle. 

Character Breakdowns

Scout

Class Description

The Scout is the fastest character in the game but is also the weakest. Ideally, it is used for hit and run attacks, or for aggressive flag runs.

Tank

Class Description

The Tank is the slowest movement, but the highest damage and defense. This character is ideally used as a distraction, on account of how much damage this character can soak up.

Archer

Class Description

The Archer has the highest range in class, as well as an average movement speed. As a balance, this character has very low defense. This character is useful for long range deterrence and sapping of heavy characters. 

Rogue

Class Description

 The Rogue is a middle of the road character. Its advantage lies in giving combat support to other characters or finishing off weakened enemies.

Hero

Class Description

The Hero is the VIP. If the enemy kills this character, they get an immediate victory. The character otherwise is well rounded with high defense. This character can be used as a bate for traps, or act as support for other heartier classes. 

Red and Blue Flag

Class Description

These are objectives for both players to retrieve, they are based at the red and blue basses respectively. The flags can be held by the player and have no movement de-buffs. 

Objectives

There are two win conditions, as demonstrated below. 

Primary Objectives

Capture the enemy flag and bring it back to the friendly base, while protecting the VIP character, the Hero.

Secondary Objectives

Eliminating the enemy team's hero character.