← REGISTER / ENTRY 04CORPORATE CONQUEST · DUBSTECH PROTOTHON 2024

A roguelike card battler about surviving the job hunt, designed in 24 hours. It won 1st place.

The brief: design a survival video game with high replayability at its core. Our team turned the job application and interview process into a turn-based card game, using randomness and player skill to make every run different.

MY ROLE: Research + design: secondary research, user flows, interaction design, presentation deck
TEAM: Seamus McPeake, Jennifer Nguyen, Michelle Pei, Sola Chang
TIMELINE: 24 hours · Spring 2024
METHODS: Secondary research, survey, interviews, concept development, sketching
TOOLS: Figma

FIG. 00CORPORATE CONQUEST · GAME PROTOTYPE

24h

from brief to final presentation

survey responses

player interviews

1st

place in our category

01 · THE OUTCOME

1ST PLACE · SURVIVAL GAME DESIGN CHALLENGE

We turned everything in with 30 minutes to spare and presented to the judges and other teams over Zoom. Out of five teams in our category, we took 1st place.

“The exploration of the concept is solid. The visuals and graphics produced by the team are excellent, and their discussion of research is thorough. The design is fun, and there's a touch of narrative humor throughout.”

Protothon judge

FIG. 011ST PLACE · PROTOTHON 2024

01 / PROTOTYPEPlay the prototype →02 / PRESENTATIONSee the presentation →

02 · THE BRIEF

THE TASK

Design a mobile or desktop survival video game concept with replayability at its core.

THE HACKATHON

Protothon is a University of Washington student organization that runs design-focused hackathons. A few cohort members invited me, and it was my first hackathon. We competed against 4 other teams in our category.

WHAT PLAYERS SURVIVE

Before designing mechanics, my teammate Sola and I settled what players would be surviving: the job application and interview process. Relatable, a little absurd, and a natural fit for turn-based “battles.”

03 · RESEARCH

SECONDARY → SURVEY + INTERVIEWS

RESEARCH QUESTIONWhat creates high replayability in video games?

With limited time, I dug through publications and player forums to understand what makes people return to a game again and again.

FINDING 01Roguelikes + randomnessThe consensus pointed to roguelikes and randomness (RNG) as the key drivers. Procedurally generated maps and turn-based play already lean heavily on RNG.

FINDING 02Card games add skillDrawing cards adds another layer of randomness, while still letting players express skill through every turn's choices. Blending the two genres could push replayability further.

SECONDARY RESEARCH2genres combined: roguelikes and card games, informed by popular titles in both.

SURVEY12players with a range of experience, especially with roguelikes and card games.

INTERVIEWS3follow-ups with survey participants to check the mechanics, concept and style landed.

MY PART: led the secondary research. Our primary researcher ran the survey and interviews.

04 · EARLY DESIGNS

INDIVIDUAL DRAFTS → TEAM CONCEPT

I suggested 1-on-1 turn-based battles, like Pokémon, as the basis for interview-style fights. We each spent an hour drafting our own game designs, then came back together to combine the best ideas into one concept: roguelike systems inside a card battler.

05 · FINAL DESIGNS

CLICKABLE FIGMA PROTOTYPE

We built a clickable prototype in Figma and a presentation deck in the final hours.

THE MAP

Choose your path

Each run starts on a branching map of interviews. The route changes every time, so no two job hunts play the same.

FIG. 07MAP SCREEN

THE BATTLE

Interview as a card battle

Interviewers are bosses. Players answer with cards from their hand, balancing luck of the draw with smart choices each turn.

FIG. 08BATTLE SCREEN

06 · REFLECTION

CHALLENGEWorking with friendsI loved working with this team. Because we're friends, people sometimes held back so they didn't step on each other's ideas, which slowed us down in a 24-hour window. Next time I'd set up quick ways to disagree early.

WHAT I GAINEDWearing every hatA first hackathon meant research, flows, interaction design and a pitch deck, all in one day. It pushed me to make decisions fast and work in a very limited timeframe.

Thanks to DubsTech for running Protothon, for their kind words about our project, and for a category I was passionate about.