Type: Deep Dive
Project Duration: May to July 2019
My Role: Game & UX Design
Background
Riot Tabletop developed a new board game, Tellstones: King’s Gambit, primarily about bluffing, strategy, and recollection from the world of Runeterra. To win, you’ll need to focus on playing the player, not the game.
The game was designed with the goal of developing future sets that spread through other factions in Runeterra, each with their own region’s respective game rules and gameplay variations. The first set of Tellstones is set in Demacia, played by Demacian soldiers after they set up camp for the night.
The Riot Tabletop team wanted to connect each of the Tellstones sets to our IP through the use of ‘Lore Letters’ - grounding each in the flavor of a faction in a way that subtly describes the cultural and social values of that region.
Our goal was to mark these Lore Letters with a broader story that connected the disparate games together into a larger narrative. The team believed that hiding secret lore and uncovering hidden content would elevate Riot Tabletop products to memorable experiences that gamers are proud to share with their friends and invest time in.
However, the current vision had a few blind spots:
Problem 1 We didn’t have a clear understanding on who was this experience tailored for. Was this targeting players that liked to solve complex puzzles or for those who were primarily collectors of our products? We needed to better understand our players so we could deliver the right experience to them.
Problem 2. We didn’t have a clear understanding and strategy behind hidden clues and message in our board games. There was an opportunity to surprise and delight Tellstone players, but we didn’t have a clear strategy or a contingency plan for a hidden message that had a lasting payoff as a standalone piece. What would players walk away with after interacting with this unique experience? In the event that we don’t release additional sets, will players feel unrewarded or let down that messages lead them to a dead end? We needed to make sure we clearly understood the product goals, risks, and impact to the player base.
Problem 3. There was no way to distinguish our games from knockoffs. Outside of authenticity cards that can easily be reproduced and placed inside knockoff products, there was no way to distinguish our versions of the game from others. Was there an opportunity to address authenticity that was hard to replicate?
User Research
I performed preliminary user interviews and research on related topics to the problem space. I would also share findings with the team and stakeholders on our intended audiences’ needs with respect to a project of this nature and suggest goals that would match the experience that would exceed their expectations.
The team learned that:
Our target audience felt pride and a form of exclusivity in acquiring rare or unique items (or knowledge), setting themselves apart from all others in their peer group. This provided recognition and admiration by associates.
Players liked to present or share their collection to others, whether through physical displays or sharing with others through social media.
Players who were lore fans wanted to speculate possibilities or to connect the dots. Leading them down a path that felt like a dead end opened us up to failing players expectations and feeling dissatisfied or unrewarded for the effort put into solving the puzzle.
Solving puzzles and collecting lead to social connections between people with similar interests and the development of new friendships.
With this information, we created basic personas that helped guide us throughout the execution phase of the project.
Goals
Better IP Engagement for Lore Fans | Players feel rewarded for solving a greater mystery and collecting hidden artifacts that tie them to Runeterra. They will continue to engage with the IP in different and unique ways through future board game secret lore experiences.
Meaningful pursuit players feel pride in sharing | Players are proudly sharing the hidden puzzle with their friends and family. Unveiling the deep narrative within the Tellstones games creates this ‘surprise and delight’ experience that players want to share and explore with others.
Trust and advocate our brand | This hidden puzzle will not be initially broadcasted, leaving the discovery to players down the line. It also serves as a ‘Certificate of Authenticity’ to distinguish our versions from knockoffs. Players are rewarded for discovering hidden content and continue to advocate our brand and next-level game experiences.
Early Design Explorations
In all variants, I highly recommended a story-driven puzzle that built and connected the mystery of Tellstones with each set. I wanted to create an experience that helped players strengthen their connections with the world of Runeterra, reward them for participating in this meta journey, and get really excited for what comes next.
Wireframes & Mockups
Tellstones: King’s Gambit included a ‘lore letter’ to Cithria from her father, wishing her the best of luck in her new military adventure. Unbeknownst to both Cithria and her father, the letter contains secret messages hidden with invisible ink by someone else who reveals pieces of a broader story -- a connection to the origins of Tellstones in Runeterra.
Sets have self-contained puzzles with portions of other mysteries to solve in future expansions. Additionally, there was a visual “artifact” that was collectable and included in each set. Therefore, collecting all hidden artifacts would later reveal an even greater mystery tied to the origins of Tellstones, serving as the final reward and collectable.
Self-contained puzzles reveal lore bits that are tied to the broader narrative we want players to be a part of. This approach best served both puzzle solvers and collectors.
I designed puzzles that were great for minimal narrative tie-ins and localization friendly. Using a combination of substitution and steganography helped us create basic ciphers where players had to break the code by recognizing patterns between numbers and symbols in the code. Players had to use the rulebook to decode the secret message. Parts of other puzzles were included so that players would have to keep an eye out for other mysteries to solve in the future.
When I had doubts on puzzle usability and solving, I would find folks at the company and observe how they would solve them. Usability testing allowed me to evaluate and learn how different types of players could solve puzzles like nonograms, ciphers, etc.
Final Product
What We Learned
Creating puzzles for a global audience was very difficult, let alone connecting a broader narrative experience that could take years to fully uncover. When Riot Games released the game, it only took hours before players were already sharing the hidden content behind Tellstones on social media platforms like Reddit and Twitter!
The team’s mission was to deliver thoughtfully crafted social gaming experiences that celebrate League IP in physical and digital mediums. Hidden cryptographic or puzzle-based games as a form for uncovering deep narrative lore were compelling and engaging for lore fans that seeked additional ways to consume IP storytelling content.
Therefore, we achieved our goals in giving players meaningful pursuit, feel pride with their journey unveiling the hidden secrets within Tellstones, and proudly share their collection with others.