RED'S REVENGE
Overview
Narrative & Setting: After witnessing the wolf devour her grandmother, Little Red Riding Hood is no longer the innocent girl of fairy tales. She's out for revenge. Determined to track down the beast, she enlists the help of skilled mercenaries to aid in her quest.
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Purpose & Goals
The goal of this project was to design and develop a fully realized board game, gaining practical experience across all stages—from prototyping to playtesting to final demos. As the Narrative Designer, my aim was to empower players to step into the role of game masters, shaping their own unique paths and controlling the outcomes of their actions. Each choice players make not only impacts their own journey but also influences the experiences of others, fostering dynamic and interconnected gameplay.
Genre: RPG | Fantasy
Team Size: 4
Duration: November 2019 - December 2019
Medium: Table Top Board Game
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Role(s) & Responsibilities
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Narrative Design
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World Building
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Game Design Documentation
The Process
Research, References, & Key Takeaways
​Red's Revenge draws inspiration from Dungeons & Dragons, blending the freedom of player-driven storytelling with the structured mechanics of a board game. Tasked with reimagining a classic fairytale, I chose Little Red Riding Hood and explored the idea of her seeking vengeance to ensure no one else suffers her grandmother's fate.
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These are just some of the questions I ask when developing:
Q: What is the player fantasy?
A: Becoming a skilled mercenary aiding Little Red Riding Hood on her quest for revenge against the Big Bad Wolf. Players will venture into the wolf's territory, battling minions, overcoming challenges, and uncovering secrets within the woods.
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Q: What will it look like?
A: The game unfolds as players draw and place tiles to form a dynamic dungeon-like path through the woods. Each tile reveals new surprises: branching paths, enemy encounters, treasure chests, or power-ups that grant temporary advantages or enhance leveling progress.​
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Q: What will the player want to do?
A: Players will navigate the forest, battling enemies to level up, earning loot, and strategically syncing up with other mercenaries to combine attacks or provide support through healing. Working together increases their chances of survival and success.
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Q: How will we make this happen?
A: By creating distinct classes for the mercenaries, each with unique abilities and strengths, alongside a variety of enemy types and a challenging boss. We designed player and enemy cards to track health, levels, and attacks, and craft tiles that dynamically shape the map, ensuring a different experience every time.
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Q: What are the rewards for the player exploring the world?
A: Venturing deeper into the woods offers high-risk, high-reward opportunities. Players can discover valuable loot, fight additional enemies to gain strength and abilities, and better prepare themselves for the climactic showdown with the Big Bad.
Gameplay and Narrative Design
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This game blends turn-based mechanics with a strategic, player-driven narrative to create an engaging and cooperative experience. Players take on the role of one of eight unique mercenaries, each with their own special abilities, aiding Little Red Riding Hood on her quest for revenge against Big Bad. The story unfolds as players navigate through the wolf’s territory, battling enemies, leveling up, and uncovering loot, all while deciding whether to collaborate with other players or venture out alone for a more challenging experience. Each player’s journey is shaped by the tiles they draw, making every playthrough dynamic and unpredictable.
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Players start by selecting their mercenary and placing their piece on the board's respective corners. Movement is determined by randomly drawn tiles, which decide the dungeon layout, number of enemies, and potential rewards. This system ensures that every path is unique, with different challenges and opportunities for each player.
Combat is turn-based, allowing players to choose from two basic attacks at first, which can be upgraded to more powerful moves as they progress. When the player is found engaging in combat, they are exposed to both the type and tier of the enemy. The player then draws a corresponding number of cards from the respective pile. The players take turns, beginning with the oldest player, followed by the person to their left. While players can tackle enemies and dungeons alone for a greater challenge, the game also encourages teamwork, enabling players to join forces to combine their attacks and heal one another for smoother progression.
The game culminates in an epic showdown with Big Bad. Players must survive their perilous journey through the woods, clearing dungeons and leveling up to face the final boss. Victory is achieved when Big Bad is defeated, bringing a sense of accomplishment after overcoming numerous trials. However, if all players are defeated along the way or during the final boss battle, the group loses, and the sense of dread is heightened as they must restart their journey from the beginning.
The game’s aesthetics amplify its emotional engagement by immersing players in a world of empowerment, accomplishment, and tension. Each dungeon conquered and enemy defeated provides a feeling of empowerment, while leveling up characters ensures steady progression and preparation for tougher challenges ahead.
Surviving the journey and defeating the wolf offers players a rewarding sense of achievement, but the ever-present danger of failure and restarting the game instills a layer of dread that keeps the stakes high. Through its gameplay mechanics and narrative, the game weaves an empowering, cooperative, and suspenseful experience.
Challenges
The challenging part of this project was designing the bo1ard for the game. At first, we tried to use a standard board and create the dungeons on it for the players to use, but the path options were limited for players. As a result, we decided to create tiles that could be selected at random for the player to create their own dungeon.