Team 3 Post Game

My responsibility was to build the castles and the blocks and to obtain gold coins. I originally wanted to get chocolate gold wrapped coins, but they are very scarce these days, so I found medallion party favors at a party store and removed the ribbons. The boxes I obtained from my work place and painted a brown color and a brick pattern. I also created a sort of costume for myself that I had hoped would attract some attention to our group.

I have a shirt that parade workers wear for the Midosuji parade in Osaka. I cut up an old T-shirt and drew a logo that I pinned to the back of the shirt over the original graphic so that it would fit our theme. I also handmade some fans with Mario themed objects.

We intended to get the player to participate by prompting them with the universal symbol of the quest alert: the yellow exclamation mark from Metal Gear asking for help so that Mario could save Princess Peach. We would then use cards designed to look like RPG dialogue cards to give the player an idea of what needed to be done. We would set up castles at three flags and then the finish line and have the other boxes and coins set up along the course to help guide the direction. We also provided little incentive prizes: little Mario and pals figurines that the player could collect.

The results were better than I expected. We were able to attract someone only a few minutes after game start and we were able to keep her involved throughout the entire course. I feared that prospective participants would not want to deviate from their route. It was even better, though, because our homebase was near the meeting point for the first year tour group and they wanted so badly to play the game but could not leave the group. We essentially demonstrated UW in action.
What didn't seem to go so well was that the game moved too quickly. I was only able to make two castles that had to be moved as the player passed each point. I ran ahead to drop off a castle at the third flag and immediately lost my group. Fortunately, the others found their way and finished the course. If I had more time, paint, and boxes I would have made more props and we would have had a more clearly defined course.

All in all, we had a great time, the player made off with some nice prizes (including the Mario plushy), and we had the satisfaction of being creative, designing a game that was familiar, and overall successful. Despite limited time, we were all able to execute our responsibilities.