During my undergraduate research, I worked with my instructor and a graduate student to craft a set of tools to make the Pokémon Trading Card Game more accessible. We identified some of the largest barriers to play to be learning and understanding the rules. The resources provided by the official source have room for improvement, and so we aimed to make those improvements. We found the quickstart playmat to have hard-to-read text and too little information, while the full rulebook had more than the average player needs for play. So, we consolidated all the information an average player will need to set up and play in one easy to understand and visually appealing pamphlet. We then brought this prototype pamphlet to one of the largest tabletop gaming conventions in the country, PAX Unplugged, to seek feedback by hosting learn-to-play Pokémon TCG sessions and made improvements after the convention, which were then tested at PAX East.
Achievements:
- Exhibited tools for Learn-to-Play use at PAX Unplugged and East (Which had over combined 500 visitors to our rooms).