Evert

A four-player board game about area denial and strategic positioning, with an extensive design log

Date: September 2017-December 2017

Roles: Game Designer, Artist

Tools: Photoshop, physical crafting supplies

In late 2017, I spent an entire semester working on a prototype of a game based off the verb "evert," which means "to turn inside out. The result was a four-player board game about strategic player positioning and area denial on an ever-changing quilt-like board.

The core mechanics revolve around trying to complete specific tasks by flipping and turning tiles inside out to control their color and state. Players must simultaneously try to complete their own goals while trying to stop others from doing so. Several goals rely on interacting with other players, which leads to interesting interactions between players and dynamic strategic shifts during gameplay as goals are completed.

An early version of the game board tiles

An early version of the game board tiles

The final version of the game components

The final version of the game components

The game board is made up of 16 tiles that can be in one of four states: walkable red, walkable blue, non-walkable red, and non-walkable blue. Players start on the four center spaces, surrounded by non-walkable tiles. Players cannot share spaces, which makes player positioning a key factor in player’s choices.

On each turn, players do any two of the following actions: move to an adjacent walkable tile, leap over an adjacent player, flip a nearby tile to change its state, or evert a nearby tile to change its color. If a player finishes a goal by the end of their turn, they discard the goal card and move onto the next. The first player to run out of goal cards wins.

One of the first iterations of the game

One of the first iterations of the game

A more finished version of the game board

A more finished version of the game board

The final, hand-sewn game board

The final, hand-sewn game board

Evert Game Design Log

If you'd like to view the design process this game went through, I've included this link to the design log I kept during its creation.

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