Anamika
The Game in Brief
This unique project was made as part of my final thesis project in college (2018), as part of a two woman team.
A story telling card game, this final prototype has a story that unfolds over chapters which the player chooses to journey through. Each chapter is associated with an emotion that the character feels at that ‘moment’ in time.
Set as a mystery novel game, the player looks for cues on the backs on the cards or within the text on the cards. Since each player ends up playing the game differently, each player has a unique version of what they believe happened in the game.
gameplay video & downloadable game file
Below on the left is the gameplay video of Anamika. On the right, when you click on the “download the game” image, your download will start automatically. Wait for the pdf file to download, then print it (on A3 sheets, card paper preferably). Cut the cards out and read the rulebook on how to play!
breaking the game down ~
The game began its conception as an abstract idea – a story rich, single player, multi modal game, with a character that suffers from multiple personality disorder.
The initial version of this game was made for GGJ 2018, here’s the link.
On the left and right, examples of cards from the first prototype’s deck.
The initial prototype for Anamika had very simple designs and a short story. All the cards could be shuffled and you could read them in any order you chose.
There is a saying, “we are the sum of our experiences” and Anamika, the story telling card game that it is, allows you to live through the life and experiences of the main character. The game is like a mystery novel, but one that you can read in almost any order and come up with your own story and assumptions, making the story and experience unique to you, each time you play it.
Anamika (the final prototype) shows the depth of thought that went into the world building for the game, especially since we are traversing the character’s experiences and life story through the lenses of her emotions. This reflects in both the story and the design of the illustrations of the cards, by looking at colour theory, as well as symbolism of colours and objects used in the graphics.
The making of the game
The final prototype was made digitally using Photoshop. The illustrations, text and layouts of all the cards were put together on Photoshop. The narrative was written on google sheets, in order to communicate quickly and effectively any changes. All the recordings were uploaded on soundcloud, and the links between the card and the recordings were QR codes made on the website “https://www.unitag.io/qrcode”
On the left and right cards from different chapter decks and their corresponding writeup.
Although all the cards are from different decks, they make some sense when read together, with some slight re-ordering.
Below you can find the chapter progression for the game –
what was the most difficult part in making the game?
On one side I would say the way the story had to be written, because each card had to be standalone and make sense, while the rest tied together in any order that they were read in.
The flip side of course, were the illustrations. Since the story was so much more fleshed out, we couldn’t go with the simple graphics that were there in the earlier prototypes. If you look at the cards arranged in the order of the story, you’ll notice that the back panels of the cards themselves tell a story, in it’s own order.
The story and the illustrations had to work hand in hand, with the visuals pointing to each other as well as satisfying the text on the flip side of the card.
what’s next for this? a buyable game?
Well, the final prototype is complete in terms of the game and storyline. If my partner and I decide to polish it up and finish off this game, you might see a version of this that you can buy, which will hopefully have symbols and clues that lead to something more for the story and background. Until then, enjoy the game!
Apart from that, if there’s any updates for Anamika, you’ll see it right here.
Copyright © Anjali Shibu and contributors 2018. All rights reserved.