The O.K. Coral is an underwater, Western-themed educational game that balances fun and learning for biology students to understand the different environmental resources and conditions required for coral to reproduce and survive. It is a single or multi-player game-of-life style game where players choose a coral gamete character to upgrade into a coral and settle by purchasing resources, collecting points, and through chance scenarios while avoiding disasters and strengthening relationships with allies.
All players begin at the start. Each player rolls the dice to see who goes first. Order of play goes from highest roll to lowest roll.
Player rolls dice at the start of each turn
Player clicks correct square to move the avatar the corresponding number of spaces on the game board
A randomized scenario appears once the avatar has stopped moving. This awards a benefit or negative consequence such as gaining resources, losing resources, gaining an extra turn, losing a turn, or moving forward or backward a small number of spaces.
These scenarios are associated with obstacles, dangers and needs related to corals and coral reproduction.
If two players land on the same square both roll dice. Highest roll wins. Winner rolls again and loser gives N x 20 pts to the winner. If they cannot pay, they give 3 settler points.
When a player passes a saloon they roll the dice to see how man y coins they receive. The number rolled multiplied by 100 is the amount. They can then purchase resources and upgrades from the general store to increase their chances of winning.
Coin prices become more expensive as the game goes on and the player earns more coins.
Players do not want to spend all their coins to avoid losing settler points as a consequence of not having enough coin to settle consequences.
If a player lands on the settlement square they receive 1.5 coin amount.
Each character has certain strengths and weaknesses that can help them earn more resources or avoid perils while becoming more susceptible to others. This may help a player decide which upgrades and resources they want to purchase more of in order to get the most amount of settler points at the end of the game.
Settler points are earned at life events (upgrades) on the board where a player spins for how many points they will receive. Life events are compulsory stops on the board.
Ultimately the player at the end with the most settler points wins
The first person to reach the end wins +5 additional settler points
When the player reaches the end of the board they enter a new screen that presents 3 stratas. Each strata can be settled on depending on how many resources a player has. Example: Reef Flats requires low resources but offers few settler points. Each layer connects to different places on a reef that a real coral can grow.
If a player doesn’t have enough points, they can’t settle and automatically forfeit to join Red Sponge’s gang of outlaws.
Once all players complete the board and select a place to settle, the player with the most settler points wins.
All illustrations and icons were sourced from thenounproject.com, FreePik.com, and creative commons. This video is a proof of concept for the game design, but no original illustrations or game development took place in this scope of the project.
