Fusion

I created this 2-player board game I in RISD for a "character design project" with Adobe's Creative Suite. The game features distinctive character design while keeping a level of connectivity between the two rival forces. It was inspired by the board game "High Heavens", the video game "Dota 2", "Team Fortress", and "XCOM".

I named it "Fusion" because it's about two players building their force of Terran or Mutants to fight over a nuclear reactor.

It's a turn-based SLG run by a "king of the hill" system. Each character has their distinct functions so players need to manage their positioning and abilities to achieve strategic goals. Liking this concept, I redesigned the character design and game system after summer school.

The art style of this game is also influenced by Dan Paladin, special thanks.

Just like TF2, I tried to maintain the balance between the diversity and consistency of character arts.

Gameplay wise, I tried to balance most of the "disability" skills because I've learned now these kinds of skills might work in a video game but would largely kill the fun of a board game.

Concepts sketches changed a lot comparing to the final designs. I wanted each character to look special so I re-worked the details.

I realized that some of my first ideas were too obvious and had cliche reference to famous games. Juggernaut looked straight out of Starcraft; Leviathan felt like Wargreymon from Digimon. Some of the designs looked too bland or just didn't fit in general style. Bombard (now called Artillery) was unimpactful; Mage (now called Inferno) seemed "fantasy" rather than sci-fi.

I enjoyed the process of gradual improvement, it is rewarding when I look at my final version.