Let’s Kyoto is a local co-op game that is based on the board/card game we made during the 2017 Living Lab Game Jam. Though our physical game worked well as a system, it was overly complicated and was too serious and not engaging enough. By converting the game to a digital version we made the game play smoother and made it a lot more light hearted. The project was a big succes and we are currently working with Transmango to possibly develop it further (more information at the bottom of the page).

In Let’s Kyoto you take a role within the food economy of the city. You can be the farmer that provides the local cuisine with food, operate the local fast food chain, run the restaurant, be the manager of the super market or take the role of one of the consumers. This means that you ideally have 6 people to play the game with. The goal is to work together to make the food economy run better as a whole. In between rounds the players get the opportunity to change a rule that will affect the coming rounds. It is up to the players to discuss their choice, persuade each other and finally vote on the rule they want to support.

Digitalizing the game enabled us to make the game feel more alive. All the actions players take are represented on screen; for every food item the local restaurant buys from the farmer, a truck is dispatched to the farm to pick up the shipment and transport it back to the restaurant. When the fast food chain imports goods a truck drives to the docks where an oddly fast container ship dumps an array of crates to be picked up by the chains transport truck. In the event that not all consumers get fed, characters get shot out of the district and roll around to represent the loss of civilians.

Currently we are taking steps with Transmango, the external partner of the earlier mentioned game jam during which we made the base of this game. We have translated the little text the game has into Japanese and adjusted the Yen amounts so they can use our prototype for a seminar they are holding in Kyoto, Japan. Lastly we were invited to a big Game Jam in Brussels next year to show off our game.

Let’s Kyoto was developed over the course of roughly 7 weeks by a team of 5 students, including myself, called Chery Chums. The project ran from February 13th until March 29th of 2017.

  • Sander Doomen – Art
  • Gijs Witkamp – Art
  • Denzel Ellis – UI elements
  • Stijn van Wakeren – Audio & programming
  • Koen van Eijk – Game Design & Implementation