Game Studies

Game Studies

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2.2.2026 -  23.3.2026 / Week 1 -Week 8

Dave Christian Moniaga / 0385630

Interactive Design / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Game Studies

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Table of Contents

1. Lectures
2. Instructions

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Instructions

Individual Field Report

To get inspiration for our project, each group was tasked to play a minimum of 3 board games / card games during our 2nd week. We are also advised to play games that are outside of our comfort zone, preferably not a classic, and multiplayer (min. 2 players). 

Fig 1.1 The three games my group ended up playing

#1 Coup

The game is set in this dystopian futuristic city where we play as a head of a family and try to win the game by lying, manipulating, and gain enough money to coup  the other families, being the last family to survive. The reason we chose this game was because both me and another group member have heard of it before and are interested in trying it out. 

After one good round of a game, we generally liked it as it was both fun and helped encourage us to interact with each other by accusing them of lying. Even though I lost, it was still very enjoyable and It's a game I recommend especially with a group of friends that you are close to.

3 great things

• The game introduces a lot of very cool and fun character roles that interact with each other very nicely
• The theme and setting that they chose is unique and felt original. 
• The game seems quite simple but can lead to very interesting gameplay

3 meh things

• It might be awkward to play with new people as it needs you to accuse people of lying which might make people a bit uncomfortable
• Some rules need a couple of more reading and playtesting to understand. 
• The game requires skill to master, making it hard for new players to win.

Fig 1.2 Our group playing Coup

#2 King of Tokyo

The game makes us play as monsters / kaiju that are destroying Tokyo. The purpose of the game is to either be the last monster alive or get 20 points. You roll 6 dice every round which determines whether you get points, heal, or attack. The reason we chose this was that it seemed simple, fun, and easy to understand given our time constraints.

After finally finishing one game, all of us hated it. Since the instructions were unclear, we were confused the whole time playing and made the overall experience bad. I didn't win, yet I was actively making one player win as I wanted the game to end already.

3 great things

• The feeling of rolling a bunch of dice to see our character's move feels very nice and tactile.
• Each of the monster characters are designed well and have personality
• The cartoon style they chose for the theme is pretty cute

3 meh things

• The rulebook has bad UI/UX, a few important information is placed at the end of pages as glossary and step by step rules are not explained properly.
• There seems to be a lot of overcomplication with the rules at how each monster take damage with when and how they stay and leave the "Tokyo City" area.
• After understanding the game, the gameplay was still not enjoyable.

Fig 1.3 Our group playing King of Tokyo

#3 Nasi Lemak The Game

This game have us compete to make the most nasi lemak, a traditional Malaysian delicacy. Each player tries to collect ingredient cards by drawing & trading while using the action cards strategically. We win the game by reaching 5 nasi lemak. Our group chose this game as it seemed simple, small, and had a funny local theme.

The game was very fun and we actually wanted to play more, though ran out of time as it was getting late. I lost, but the experience definitely made me want to play more in the future. 

3 great things

• The theme of the game being something local was very cool and was the reason we wanted to try it out.
• The trading system they implemented is very fun and freely allowed players to interact with each other in a friendly way.
• Rules set were simple yet very engaging and fun throughout.

3 meh things

• Players run out of cards easily, even with the 2 cards they take from the draw pile per turn.
• The game might be less enjoyable if players refuse to trade 
• The local concept of the game might be hard for foreigners to understand. 

Fig 1.4 Our group playing Nasi Lemak The Game