52 Pickup: Issue #3 - Cherry Picker and Eroded
Issue 3 (June 2023) of 52 Pickup is our second Standard Playing Card Edition, which contains two games you can play with a standard deck (or decks) of playing cards.
The Games
Cherry Picker
A bluffing/memory game in which players compete to pick the best Cherries from the tree while bluffing to avoid rotten ones.
Eroded
A 2 player shared set collection card game where one player is trying wash away a beach while the other is trying to build it back.
Designer Notes
Cherry Picker
Cherry Picker was designed to be a very lightweight game, that could be played for quick fun, or with children. I wanted it to be in the memory game space but still involve a little more strategy and bluffing to make it a little more interesting.
I didn’t use any other games for inspiration for this, just tried to pick as few mechanisms as I could!
Eroded
I made this after Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand to capture the feelings around the event. This game plays around with a ‘tug of war’ feeling between the Ocean trying to remove the Beach, and Builder trying to keep it together. This game also plays around with the conflict between the mechanisms and narrative, where even if the Builders wins, the Beach is still in a state of erosion, meaning though it is a victory it is a hollow one.
This conflict between narrative and mechanisms (known as Ludonarrative Dissonance), is a concept I’ll be looking to explore in another blog post.
The main game that inspired me was Pyramid.
Credits
- Art by Josie Bedford (@josie.tattoos)
- Game Design by Dylan Byrne
- Produced by Daniel Gratwicke
Availability
52 Pickup is currently only available upon request (by emailing hello@citysquarestudios.com), at the Hamilton City Library Zine vending machine, or physically at markets we attend. We are currently working on making 52 Pickup more easily accessible both online and physically.
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More Info
You can find more information about 52 Pickup here.
