One of the more creative tasks I've been asked to do, was to design a game concept for The Magic Lantern book. In the way it is played, the game needed to reflect the principles taught in the book. And in the way the game looked, it needed to reflect the story's environments.
So I designed a game that was a combination of luck, learning and strategy, with an ever-shifting landscape. The goal is to navigate from the edge to the center by making wise choices and avoiding distractions. This is metaphoric of the book, which teaches self-enlightenment.
In addition, the game needed to be inexpensive to produce and compact for portability. Here is what I came up with.
I designed a game board that could be played by any number of people, starting at the edge and working towards the center…
Then I created traps and patterns that relate to game play…
All the pieces for this game can be easily mass-produced and packaged. Here are the die cuts for the thick paper pieces…
The board itself is cast from plastic in four pie-shaped pieces that can be stacked in a box, with grooves for the paper walls…
Part of the game is that the board constantly changes. Each of the levels can be rotated in addition to pieces being moved…
