ROLES
UI/UX / Graphic Design / Playtesting / Marketing
DESCRIPTION
Based on the award winning MMORPG from 2011, Ilyriad Empires the Board Game is an adaptation bringing the experience to tabletops across the world. It is a game I got a chance to work on through my employment at its publishing company, Speedrobo Games.
I was brought on board to help this game with many tasks. From game design, graphic design, and even marketing, I got a lot of experience in the professional world of games!
YEARS WORKED
2023 - 2024
GENRE
Board Game / Fantasy / Strategy
PLATFORM/VENUE
Tabletop
KICKSTARTER LINK
UI/UX and Graphic Design
What I did
Once being brought on for UI/UX, I immediately got to work. I created and made print versions of every asset necessary for the game. I didn't make the icons themselves, in fact, I was handed the icons and had to ways to use them to communicate information to the player.
Once those assets were made, I spent countless hours putting all of the card information into the frames, getting each and every single card and box asset ready for print!
My assets I created as UI/UX Designer and Graphic Designer included:
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Card Border and Image Creation.
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Game Piece Design and Creation.
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Manufacturing template design.
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The Rulebook
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And more!
You can see some of the assets I created for this game below!
Here is the game out of its box! Everything you see here was prepared by me and made for print by me!
One Example is the Card Frames. They couldn't be overly complicated, and had to be useable for a board game with a lot of moving pieces. Therefore, rather than adding tons of fancy detail, I chose to keep it nice and easy with a simple font and little to no detail. The emphasis is on the artwork, which is from the award-winning MMORPG!
Marketing and Video Editing
What I did
After Ilyriad Empires showing at various conventions, it was time to get the word out! I was brought on to help out with the marketing of the game in addition to my other roles.
My biggest responsibility was taking the footage given to me from people trying out the game, and created a video promotion that would be sent around for marketing purposes!
Not only that, but I was responsible for reaching out to various content creators and getting them review copies of the game, to help get the word out there. I emailed countless youtubers and influencers, and if one replied back, it was my job to strike a deal with them to have them review our game!
And finally, I helped create all of the visual assets for the games kickstarter page, which you can see here!
KICKSTARTER LINK
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/illyriad-empires/illyriad-empires-grand-strategy-board-game
Here is the promotional video I created for the game! I took assets from the MMORPG and the board game, and combined them with the footage to try and show off people enjoying this game!
Playtesting
What I did
In addition to marketing and visual design, I helped playtest the game! My design expertise was called upon to play the game, take notes, and preset my genuine unfiltered thoughts on how I felt the experience went.
After that, I was able to present my ideas on how to adjust or fix small parts of the game. The biggest challenge was keeping the rules and the experience similar to the MMORPG so that it felt like a faithful adaptation. As a result, I had to think of smart solutions that fit within the constraints, and find fixes that were elegant yet effective.
My jobs as a playtester were:
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Play countless games at a time while taking careful notes of each playthrough.
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Present notes to designers and explain the findings in careful detail.
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Attend meetings to discuss potential fixes to discovered problems.
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Explore solutions and fit them to work within the franework of a faithful adaptation.
Here is a sample of one of my playtest documents! I would create so many of these as I tested this game, and would make comments like this that I would need to present to the designers.