- Contract Killers is a text based social game that is a variation of classic "Assassin". Players attempt to "assassinate" other players by taking pictures of them and submitting them to a game-master who orchestrates the game. The game is composed of several rounds, whose duration is dictated by the game-master. Players must submit their "kills" within the specified time window. There is an in-game economy that allows players to buy information about their targets to aid in their hunt. In addition to information players can also buy a variety of power-ups and multipliers to enhance their score and abilities.
- In addition there is a website that also accompanies the game. Players have their own unique log ins that allow them to view the information they have bought on their targets. You can view the website here.
- I worked on this game with three colleagues, Randall Williams, Yann Bovet, and Ryan Harvey.
Version Development
- After play testing the first version of Contract Killers we noticed a few issues. We also collected surveys and asked the opinions of the play testers about various aspects of the game. The biggest issue we ran into was that players who were assigned a target they had never met before were reluctant or unable to seek them out. In version two we fixed this by adding in side missions that were designed to bring the players together and increase the likelihood of players spotting their targets. For example, during the second play test we included a side mission that was distributed to all players, rewarding the one who could “assassinate” the Buddha statue on campus first. We also changed the way the money for each kill was calculated to be more balanced.
- I helped to develop some of the visual assets for the game as well including the logo and graphics
Rules
- Copies of the complete game rules for both players and the game-master can be downloaded here:
- Players
- Game-master
