This is so far the only traditional tabletop game I’ve made, my focus for this project was actually its visual design and the layout of the cards. Nearly the entire project is my original work: I designed the rules and systems of the game; I wrote all the text on the cards and in the rules; I did the layout of the cards, the rules, the box, and the game pieces; I did all of the illustrations used for the game; and I made the box that holds the game by hand with the help of a friend of mine. I had the game printed by UC Santa Cruz’s print shop — they printed and cut all the cards and game pieces from the files I provided to them.
Black Garden is a tabletop strategy card game about a coven of witches competing to see which of them is the most skilled gardener. My goals for this game were to create an interesting competitive strategy experience without relying on the metaphors of combat or violence, and to use cards in unusual ways to introduce spacial reasoning to the thought process of the game. I’m quite proud of the resulting game, although there are definitely places in which the system could be further improved. However, the system was not actually the priority for this project (despite how proud I am of it): the focus of this work was visual design. I’m very proud of how the cards look and how they read and I’ve found the rulebook for the game to be a very effective teacher for the game and its rules. Despite being form-over-function, the system of this game is still very effective! Players must carefully place the different plant species in their gardens to avoid them crowding each other out and killing each other, they must compete for the same resources and opportunities, and when spells come into play they must consider what each of their opponents are capable of when planning their gardens. The tactile nature the game acquires from being a physical card game also adds to this very nicely, and its a game that my friends have enjoyed playing with me — which in my book is a resounding success.