Niiwin (Neewin) (2015)
Awards
Best Game Design NYU Game Jam 2015
My Role
I worked with my husband Itay Keren on this Global Game Jam Card game. I came up with the basic game system and theme.
Lessons Learned
Spreadsheets for Balancing
I used the power of spreadsheets to map probabilities of various combinations to arrive at a balanced scoring system.
Education as Afterthought
As a game jam, I didn't really think of creating a game that taught Anishinaabe language, but the theme fit nicely after the game system was built and it provided some language introduction and awareness to players. Anishinaabe is the second most widely spoken Indigenous North American language, but is still endangered. There are a great many groups and programs set up to revitalize and relearn this important language.
Learning is the Game System
While Niiwin wasn't designed to be an educational game, many educational games are unfortunately created in a similar way: Find a fun game system and then retroactively apply learning material. It is a missed opportunity because at their core, all game systems are systems of learning. How do I learn to play the game, how do I improve my strategy? Even games with a plenty of randomness (like a Poker or a Match 3) have a large amount of strategy. I talk more about this in my UX Thoughts.
Basic UX Blunders
Under the time pressures of the game jam, I enjoyed creating the art but failed to catch the mistake of black lettering on dark green. So much for readability :D
Niiwin is a Global Game Jam game about reaching different objectives out of pairs and patterns of cards given. The game consists of a fun short loop, and is themed with the Anishinaabe language. Niiwin is the Anishinaabe word for Four.
Players take turns placing cards on a grid. The cards must be placed next to an adjacent card, or on an available starter spot. Each player has several goal cards. Points are awarded for each goal achieved, based on the layout of cards for each row or column of 4 cards. Goals can be the order of numbers or colors, patterns, and so on. Players can place cards to achieve goals or try to block possible goals of their opponent. After all the cards are placed, points are awarded and the player with the most points wins.
