Behind The Scenes: Box Office Blowout
Have you ever wanted to know the stages of how a game comes together? Well, I’m going to give you a quick snapshot and a look behind the scenes of Box Office Blowout. I’ve been working on the game for about 2 years. When the idea first came up I was talking with my friend Dave Rudd, who has truckload of great game ideas. We realized there are very few movie based board games and this genre has a ton of fun potential. Thus, I went to work trying to figure out a fun way to bring the movie world to life.
THE DICE
I started working on a design that uses the Yahtzee mechanic of rolling the dice three times to try and get the resources you need. I originally started with 4 dice and the player being able to roll up to three times. After playing many times, I was looking for a way to speed the game up without feeling to beholden to your die roll. The final rule changed to rolling 5 dice and being able to re-roll once.
The numbers and symbols haven’t changed since the beginning. I love it when dice and cards can be used for multiple things. In Box Office Blowout the dice are used to purchase production cards (the symbols) and to see how much money a movie earns (the numbers).
THE MOVIE CARDS
The movie cards provide players with a direction of what production cards they need to buy throughout the game. This mechanism is called set collection. You need to collect the types of cards listed on the Movie card. When the movie is complete, it releases and your production company makes some bucks.
THE PRODUCTION CARDS
The actors, actresses, sets, directors and film crew were all a part of the game from the beginning. However, the exact number of each type of card has shifted several times.
Throughout play testing there were times when a player would feel like they could never get the card they needed on their turn. This took some adjusting of the numbers as well as an overhaul of the SET cards. Each size of set had its own card originally. So, if you needed a small set, you had to wait until a small set came out before you could buy a set. Now, you can buy any set and upgrade it to the size your movie requires. This is when the set markers (the little houses) were introduced. You may also spend any die to cycle the Production Line to give you a better chance of buying the card you need.
Players also wanted to be able to hold on to cards before placing them onto a movie. Once cards are placed onto a movie, they cannot be moved to another movie. Dave suggested that each player get a reserve where they can hold up to three cards and play these cards later. This rule is great and gives players more versatility.
THE SCORE PAD
The biggest change to the score pad was going from 5 movies to 4 movies. In order to end the game a player had to make 5 movies. This took longer than I wanted the game to take, so I shifted it to 4. Finally, I made the decision to make the game end condition 4 movies for a 2 player game and 3 movies for a 3 or 4 player game.
THE CRITIC AND AWARD CARDS
These cards weren’t introduced into the game until about a year ago. Some of the play testers wanted more player interaction, which I had been feeling and thinking as well. The idea of critics and awards seemed like a great way of getting the players to interact with each other. The Award cards are objectives anyone can win. Some can be won throughout the game and some are not claimed until the end of the game. Players compete for these awards.
Critic cards were a great addition for a couple of reasons. One, they added a “take-that” player interaction. Two, these cards can be purchased using any two dice. So, if you have a couple of dice you weren’t able to use to buy something from the Production Line, you can now use those dice to gain a Critic card.
I’m really excited about where Box Office Blowout is now and I think you and your family and friends will enjoy it. If you have any questions about the design of Box Office Blowout, please ask. Check it out and pre-order your copy today!
