No Tomorrow
Details
- Platforms: built in Tabletop Simulator, available on Steam Workshop
- Team Size: Solo
- Duration: 3 Weeks
- Role: All aspects
Overview
No Tomorrow is a 2-player coop board game set in a dystopian world. The two players move toward their home which is at the center of the board, and see if they both have enough rations and money to survive another day together.
Inspired by the book 1984, the game sets in a dystopian city ruled by a totalitarian government. As they move along the board, the players will encounter random scenarios in which they encounter people (NPCs) in the world and have to make difficult decisions. The decisions usually have positive and negative results on you, your partner, and the NPCs. The decisions sometimes can impact future decisions as well. I tried to evoke the emotion of sadness from the players after they make a decision. They might feel bad for the NPCs because of the decisions made.
Takeaways
Trying to evoke sadness through a 12-minute board game was quite a challenge. No Tomorrow, if developed as a video game, could actually work better as it could be longer and more immersive. Because of how the game functions, it required me to write up a lot of texts on scenario cards to create a strong variety and maintain the surprise factor when the player reveals its decision consequence. It made the game not “scalable.” Without a big number of scenario cards, the game would get dull quickly.
It was fun creating a little dystopian world for this game and its characters. It was a valuable practice of create narratives for games.
