Awful Apothecary
Cole Thomas
Game Art and Design
2022
Awful Apothecary is a medieval fantasy hospital tycoon game. Players take turns building their hospital and treating patients to earn gold. The game offers a simple yet engaging gameplay loop that anyone can learn. This game is being made to prove I can complete a long term project.
gdd.pdf | |
File Size: | 801 kb |
File Type: |
Intended Audience
Fans of tycoon games, suitable for all ages 10+
There's no gore in the board game, although patients can "die". Game contains no suggestive references of any kind, so younger audiences should be able to enjoy the game. Being a tycoon game, anyone who enjoys building a business would probably be able to enjoy this game.
There's no gore in the board game, although patients can "die". Game contains no suggestive references of any kind, so younger audiences should be able to enjoy the game. Being a tycoon game, anyone who enjoys building a business would probably be able to enjoy this game.
Game Instructions and Setup
Setup:
Shuffle the facility cards. Place six facility cards face up in the shop. Have each player pick one facility from the shop as their starting facility. Put two of each patient in the center of the board.
Goal:
The players’ goal is to build up their hospital with facilities to make more money.
Pieces:
Facility cards- cards with rounded edges, used to build your hospital. Each facility has a circle in the top right corner showing what patients you can treat. You can only treat one patient per facility. Facilities with a plus in the top left corner are upgrades. They can only be placed over facilities you already have in play. Upgraded facilities can only treat patients on the upgrade card, not the original facility card you placed over it (upgraded facilities only count as one room)
Dice- rolled each round to determine new patients. The results are as follows:
1- add a sick patient
2- add an injured patient
3- add a dead patient
4- add 2 sick patients
5- add 2 injured patients
6- add 2 dead patients
Green dots- sick patients.
Red dots- injured patients.
Purple dots- cursed patients.
Black dots- dead patients.
Yellow dots- gold. Gold can be exchanged in the shop for facility cards.
The board:
The rectangle in the center of the board is the patient pool. This is where all active patients will go.
The outer rim of the board is the player area. Players can place their hospital here if they want.
The top of the board is the shop. Six cards are placed here. During their turn players can buy facilities from here, paying the amount of gold shown underneath the card. Always replace a facility you buy with another from the facility deck. The facility with an E under it in the shop can not be bought, it can only be gained through an event.
How to play:
Begin each round by rolling the dice to determine what new patients are put into the center of the board (except for the first round). Going in clockwise order, players will select patients to treat during their turn. To treat a patient, simply move them from the patient pool to one of your facilities. Only one patient can be treated per facility in the player’s possession. For every patient you have on a facility by the end of the round (once everyone has gotten a turn), draw a gold piece. Once the round ends, discard all patients on your facilities. Use gold pieces to buy more facilities from the shop. When every player has had their turn, a new round begins and a new event card is drawn.
Shuffle the facility cards. Place six facility cards face up in the shop. Have each player pick one facility from the shop as their starting facility. Put two of each patient in the center of the board.
Goal:
The players’ goal is to build up their hospital with facilities to make more money.
Pieces:
Facility cards- cards with rounded edges, used to build your hospital. Each facility has a circle in the top right corner showing what patients you can treat. You can only treat one patient per facility. Facilities with a plus in the top left corner are upgrades. They can only be placed over facilities you already have in play. Upgraded facilities can only treat patients on the upgrade card, not the original facility card you placed over it (upgraded facilities only count as one room)
Dice- rolled each round to determine new patients. The results are as follows:
1- add a sick patient
2- add an injured patient
3- add a dead patient
4- add 2 sick patients
5- add 2 injured patients
6- add 2 dead patients
Green dots- sick patients.
Red dots- injured patients.
Purple dots- cursed patients.
Black dots- dead patients.
Yellow dots- gold. Gold can be exchanged in the shop for facility cards.
The board:
The rectangle in the center of the board is the patient pool. This is where all active patients will go.
The outer rim of the board is the player area. Players can place their hospital here if they want.
The top of the board is the shop. Six cards are placed here. During their turn players can buy facilities from here, paying the amount of gold shown underneath the card. Always replace a facility you buy with another from the facility deck. The facility with an E under it in the shop can not be bought, it can only be gained through an event.
How to play:
Begin each round by rolling the dice to determine what new patients are put into the center of the board (except for the first round). Going in clockwise order, players will select patients to treat during their turn. To treat a patient, simply move them from the patient pool to one of your facilities. Only one patient can be treated per facility in the player’s possession. For every patient you have on a facility by the end of the round (once everyone has gotten a turn), draw a gold piece. Once the round ends, discard all patients on your facilities. Use gold pieces to buy more facilities from the shop. When every player has had their turn, a new round begins and a new event card is drawn.
Cost Breakdown
Board- free
24 facility cards- free
Die- $5
9 green clay dots- $2
9 red clay dots- $2
9 purple clay dots- $2
15 yellow clay dots- $2
24 facility cards- free
Die- $5
9 green clay dots- $2
9 red clay dots- $2
9 purple clay dots- $2
15 yellow clay dots- $2
Reflection
This project, as I’m sure most of you know, was a nightmare. With three separate things to keep track of simultaneously, I don’t think I did very well on it at all. But the finished board game worked out really well, so that’s good. Feedback seemed very positive, so either the game design was on point or the play testers were just being nice. Either way, that’s a win in my book.
Process
Game parts are created in Adobe Illustrator and then printed out. Dots and dice are added from outside sources. The box is a printed piece of paper applied to a cardboard box. I began with an outline of game rules and game components, then I designed all components. After all that was finished, the game was constructed with physical materials.