Unpaid Apprenticeship

Title: Unpaid Apprenticeship

Team members

• Kat Witten
• Duncan Sparks
• SupriseOrb
• Kristen Campbell
• Ervie Tubig

Design Goal

What aesthetic impact?

We wanted to create a laid-back cooperative experience. Our game’s goal is to be Overcooked, but less stressful. We also wanted to allow players to achieve satisfaction through discovery by having them discover how to make different items instead of giving them all the answers.

What dynamics are you exploring?

We explored encouraging role assignment and frequent role switching from the players, as well as player exp to figure out recipes rather than simply following instructions. We also wanted to encourage player imagination and creativity by having many different recipes and having items be craft able with different logical combinations. 

Design Analysis 

What worked?

During our playtests, we immediately noticed that the fun was in figuring out the systems we made and how to use them to make items. Players got excited when they figured out how to make the item the customer was asking for, through communicating with their teammates and experimenting with different combinations. Even though our initial versions were very basic and more resembled a toy, there was still fun and satisfaction in completing the objectives.

In our final version, we were able to focus on communicating important info to the player (such as the functions of each “work station” like the forge, pottery wheel, etc,) increasing the visibility of information, and creating a goal (to complete 5 recipes). 

What didn’t work?

We originally planned to incorporate time-based mechanics like in Overcooked, such as items setting on fire if they were left in a forge for too long. We decided to cut this out to help maintain the more laid-back experience.

We originally planned to have the hats grant effects to the players wearing them, such as increased speed. We ended up not being able to come up with effects that would work, so we nixed this feature and made the hats purely cosmetic.

What did you learn from this?

We were surprised at the immediate willingness of players to communicate their ideas about how to solve problems. In our first playtest, we didn’t have enough time to give recipes to players. However, players were able to figure out how to make materials (with minimal instructions) via deduction and communication.