Rats In NYC

Rats In NYC is an immersive tabletop RPG that encapsulates the hustle and bustle of the New York City subway system. The game, designed for 2-4 players, transports participants into the heart of the city, providing a unique and entertaining experience inspired by the intricacies of the city's subway system.

The initial idea was a game about navigating the city via New York subway. The game was intended for family game nights.

One of the major challenges faced during development was finding the right balance between in-game elements to preserve the authentic mood of the city. Achieving harmony in the game's mechanics while maintaining a realistic portrayal of the NYC subway system required iterative design and thorough playtesting.

The game was designed throughout 4 major playtesting rounds with minor mechanic and aesthetic tests between each round.

The first iteration focused on mechanic of matching colors on semi-circles located on sides of the cards. Later, our group has decided to transform cards into semi-transparent tiles for better tactile sensation and more versatility. This is when our group came up with use of map of the city as the game board letting players build their own subway lines to travel around. As the tiles were semi-transparent, it was possible to flip them and stack them over each other to create intricate patterns on the map.
After few rounds of playtesting, we figured out two major issues: first of all, one move per turn made game very slow. Secondly, people lacked motivation travelling around the map. This is where we came up with several small resources scattered around the map, what motivated playtesters to travel and explore the map. In addition to this, we have expanded the action pool making available resources dictate potential actions per turn. In addition to this, we have introduced rat attacks and riding other lines mechanics that motivated characters interact with each others and strategise. In the end, we optimised game to make it more intuitive for the new players.
Graphic design-wise, we spend a good amount of time figuring out way to make map playable while preserving general outline of New York. Big problem was that most of events and resources that are highly recognisable to our audience in real life are concentrated on Manhattan. But Manhattan is not the whole New York. To make it work, we exaggerated the shapes and general outlines of the boroughs, and then, after balancing out position of subway stations, added smaller outline details and graphic elements like large parks to create sensation of the city. In the end, we managed to place all five boroughs within the map making it well-balanced yet recognizable.

As a part of team of three, I participated in project on positions of game designer, graphic designer and asset fabricator. My graphic design responsibilities included design and fabrication of the map of the city and icons for resources and characters. My game design achievements include creation of breadcrumbing mechanic that motivates players explore the map, as well as resource balancing and tracking feedback from playtests. My fabrication responsibilities included fabrication of the map, design and printing of the rat miniatures, and aid in fabrication of tiles.