This is my senior thesis project. I proposed it because I thought it a worthy representation of all of the major graphic design disciplines such as typography, graphics, layout, packaging and even copywriting. It was meant to be my own comprehensive exit exam.
The game’s functionality and rules are also of my own design. My goal was to create a game that was simple to play but also had a layer of strategy involved for more advanced players.
The short explanation of how the game works is that there is a planet killing asteroid headed for earth. Four players represent four science factions related to space travel and colonization, hydroponics, desalination, nuclear power and life support. These factions are all fighting over the same spaceship that can take them off of the planet. Each player must travel around the gameboard and collect all of the necessary supplies to stock the ship. Then they must make it back to the launchpad to win.
Meanwhile there is an actual asteroid game piece that is moving closer to Earth. If it reaches Earth, the game ends. There are also cards that you can get that allow players to steal from or sabotage one another. The point is to simulate a malevolent environment where people trample over one another to get ahead, hence the name “Asteroid Panic” and the tagline “Nice guys finish blast.”
With this plot device, there were a few directions I could go, contemporary straight science, science fiction science or retro pseudo science. I went with the 1950’s era “retro futurism” motif because I felt that it provided more room for fun. Then the question was whether I wanted retro realistic illustration like there would be on an old pulp sci-fi novel or flat cartoony graphics like you’d see in a drive-in movie intermission. I chose the latter because again I thought it would be more fun and I liked the juxtaposition of silly graphics against a backdrop of impending doom and people trying to crush each other.
What’s interesting is that when you read deep into it, it almost becomes allegorical social commentary.
