AP Psychology Ms. K.

Mitchell

AP Psychology Review
Board Game Project
DUE: ____________
Imagine that you work for a company that manufactures board
games. You want to create an exciting board game that the
president of your company will mass manufacture. Your task is to create an ORIGINAL board
game based on AP Psychology Concepts from the textbook (not one that you find online).The
objective of your game is to journey successfully through the brain without getting stuck there
forever (you may add other objectives as long as this one is a part of it).

As a group, you will decide on the rules of your game and what pieces it will consist of: figures,
playing cards, and so on. It will ultimately need to be set on the visual representation of a head
& brain. You will then create a prototype of the game for the president to see. Then, write a detailed memo describing
the game, its objectives and what you hope players will get out of it in terms that will convince the president of the
company to manufacture it. You must also include the rules for the game on a separate sheet and all of the answers to
your game cards.

REQUIREMENTS:
Your board must be colorful and should be on a hard cardboard surface, just as a real
board game. Make your own or buy BLANK one (with no design)-you must design
yourself to reflect content
Required size - 18x18 to 20x20
Be set on the visual representation of a head & brain.
Have 15 concepts per chapter (19 chapters) (thats 285 game cards-use card stock not
plain paper) MUST BE TYPED WILL BE DUE IN SECTIONS
Number each game card to correspond with answer sheet (also divide by chapters)
Answer sheet (be sure it has numbers that correspond with the game cards) MUST BE TYPED 30 pnts.
No yes /no answers
Objective-review concepts MUST BE TYPED SEE BELOW FOR FORMAT
Storyline MUST BE TYPED SEE BELOW FOR FORMAT
Rules - think of all "what ifs" / how to set up / who goes first / how to win / etc(look at games that
already exist for ideas) MUST BE TYPED (SEE TEMPLATES BELOW) - 30 pnts.
Plan for your game to last for at least 30 minutes.

Your games should be cerebral enough that it makes players think, but not to the point where no one can
understand it. Your game is intended for players who have taken AP Psychology and need to review for the
big exam.

You will be graded on the name, content, comprehensiveness, playability, appearance, practicality, etc (see
rubric)
THIS PROJECT IS WORTH 730 POINTS (PLUS INDIVIDUALLY GRADED ITEMS LIKE GAME CARDS)
AP Psychology Ms. K. Mitchell

Board Game Storyline and Objectives Format

PNTS
Game Title Develop and interesting title for your game 10

Storyline of Give a brief description of the game. First paragraph must get the reader interested by 20
Game creating a mental image of the excitement of the game.

Basic Concept -- What is the concept of the game?

Background Story -- Tell the story of the game that leads into the beginning of the game,
and tell the story that unfolds during gameplay, if any.

Objective of What's the game goal? What's the end state that players are striving for (e.g., to be the 20
the Game first to reach the Finish square, or to be the first to reach 100 points.)

If the objective is simply "get as many points as possible," then state it so. But if the
objective is "rescue the princess," then that's another matter. In either case, give as much
detail as possible to aid the reader in having some basis in understanding the rest of the
design document as he reads on. What is the player's goal and why would they want to
accomplish it?

Age Group & Who is the game designed for? Describe them in terms of their age, grade level, affinity 10
knowledge towards the subject matter, and anything special about them that the reader should know.
level game
designed for Where would the game be used? If in a school, what accommodations would you need to
make to do it in a typical classroom? Is it designed to be played more than once? What
would happen prior to the game? What would happen after it?

What you What will the learners learn from this game (or more likely, what learning objectives are 10
hope players being reinforced by this game)? If it's for school use, where does it fit into the curriculum?
will gain
from playing

WORTH 70

USE THIS FORMAT (MINUS THE POINTS COLUMN)

AP Psychology Ms. K. Mitchell
SAMPLE #1 Rules Template for Game
Note: This document is to help organize your rules. It is not a layout guide or fill-in-the-blank template for
generating game rules. Not all games will need all the items listed. Some may require more.

Fluff Text or Back Story

This is the part that explains the theme of the game - just a paragraph or two with lots of adjectives.

Game Object
Three lines about how the game works, including the ultimate object.

Game Contents
List all components and indicate if its a deck of cards or a sheet of cards to be punched out; a free standing
game board or a game board to be punched out, a bag of tokens or a sheet of tokens to be punched out, etc.

Game Assembly
How do you assemble the game the first time? Is consumer assembly required? If so, what? Are drawings
required? If so, what parts? Are there consumer-applied stickers or labels? If yes, how many?

Game Setup
How do you setup the game for each playing? Does the game setup differently for different numbers of
players?

Game Play
Who starts? Does youngest player go first? If not, how is this determined? Who plays next? Does play pass to the left? If not,
what is the turn order? Define terms (if necessary).
Turn Sequence - On a players turn, what is the sequence of actions? What happens at the end of a round? Is there
scoring? Does the order of play change?

Special Conditions
For instance, what happens when you land on another player?
Board Spaces - What happens on special spaces?
Special Cards - What do they do?

Winning/Scoring
How is the winner determined? Do you have to win by exact count? What if there is a tie?

Game Play Variations (if any)

List any advanced and optional rules for a harder (or easier) game.
AP Psychology Ms. K. Mitchell

SAMPLE #2 Board Game Rulebook Template

1. Title:_________________________

2. General Administrative Details

How many players can play the game?
What are the suggested ages for players of this game?
On average, how long does it take to play a single game?

3. Introduction
What is the background story or theme?
What can you say that will draw the players into the game world?

4. Summary of the game system and objectives

In GENERAL terms, how is the game played?
In GENERAL terms, what is the objective of the game?

5. Components of the Game

In GENERAL terms, what are the game pieces and what do they represent?
What game specific vocabulary do players need to know?

6. Set-Up
How do you set-up the game board at the beginning of the game?
What components do each of the players need to start the game?

7. Basic Game Structure

In what order does a turn/round/phase/etc. occur?

8. Specific Game Structure

Step by step, what happens on a turn? Explain concepts as they occur during a turn.
Would it be helpful to give an example?
Are there any specials cases with circumstance specific rules?

9. Ending the Game

How do you know when the game is over?
How do you know who won the game?

10. Appendix
Is there any extra information that would be helpful or fun for players to know even if its not necessarily a part of the rule
system?
AP Psychology Ms. K. Mitchell
Board Game Evaluation
Your game will be graded according to the rubric below. By default, the game will get a single grade for the group. I'll ask for
your input about the contributions of everyone on your team and will adjust the group grade upward or down for individuals, if
necessary.

NAME OF BOARD GAME: AUTHORS OF GAME:

Exemplary Accomplished Developing Beginning Score

100 80 60 40

The game would take

The game is very easy to set The game is fairly easy to set The game would take a fair bit
considerable effort to set
Practicality up and play in the context it up and play, but a few of effort to set up and play in
up and play...more effort
was designed for. glitches are apparent. the chosen context
than it's worth.

Rules are unclear and too

The rules are not entirely
Rules Rules are fairly short, clear long. There are rules that
Rules are short, clear and clear or complete. There are
Simplicity and complete, but could be add complexity without
complete. rules that could be eliminated
streamlined a bit. adding to playability or
without harming the game.
learning.

Winning and learning are

Significant cognitive effort is
Winning the game requires closely entwined, though The content is incidental.
Instructional spent on things that have
learning the content. The two some mental effort is spent One can play without
effectiveness nothing to do with the
are matched completely. on aspects that are just learning much.
content.
about the game.

Contrasting colors and at least Contrasting colors and at Contrasting colors and
Little or no color or fewer
3 original graphics were used least 1 original graphic were "borrowed" graphics were
Attractiveness than 3 graphics were
to give the cards and game used to give the cards and used to give the cards and
included.
board visual appeal. game board visual appeal. game board visual appeal

Accuracy
Few if any of the
Most of the information
All information cards made for Some of the information cards information cards made for
cards made for the game are
the game are correct and made for the game are correct the game are correct and
correct and answer sheet is
answer sheet is included and answer sheet is included no answer sheet is
included
provided

Creativity The group put a lot of thought

The group put some thought The group tried to make the
into making the game
into making the game game interesting and fun, but Little thought was put into
interesting and fun to play as
interesting and fun to play by some of the things made it making the game interesting
shown by creative questions,
using textures, fancy writing, harder to understand/enjoy or fun.
game pieces and/or game
and/or interesting characters the game.
board.

TOTAL SCORE
600