Problem
The game of Wicked West How do you design a tabletop experience that feels as tense and cinematic as a Western standoff, while staying intuitive and easy to pick up for casual players? The challenge was to balance accessibility with emotional impact, ensuring that every interaction carried weight without overcomplicating the rules.
Through iterative prototyping and small-scale playtests, I focused on building mechanics that use simple, tactile interactions to communicate tension and player intent. By refining the flow of choices and feedback, the design creates moments of suspense and release that mirror the beats of a standoff—making the game consistently engaging while remaining easy to learn. This project reinforced my belief that strong UX design isn’t limited to screens — by shaping how players anticipate, act, and react, even simple physical mechanics can deliver complex emotional experiences.
Core Gameplay Mechanics
At its heart, Wicked West is built around timing, bluffing, and the tension of high-stakes choices. Players engage in quick, tactile actions—drawing, revealing, and responding in ways that mirror the suspense of a cinematic showdown. Each mechanic is designed to create anticipation and dramatic payoff, while keeping the ruleset approachable enough for newcomers. The result is a system that rewards both strategic planning and bold risk-taking, ensuring that no two encounters feel the same.
Rules
The rules of Wicked West are intentionally streamlined to keep players focused on the drama rather than bookkeeping. Each round follows a clear sequence: players secretly set their Aim and Stance spinners, select a character card, and then reveal simultaneously. The interaction between spinners and cards determines whether shots land, miss, or trigger special effects unique to each character. This simple loop makes the game quick to learn, but with enough depth to reward anticipation, bluffing, and adaptive strategy across multiple plays. The design intent was to ensure accessibility while amplifying suspense—keeping the learning curve low so that tension and excitement remain at the center of the experience.
Gameplay In Action
Every round of Wicked West was designed to feel like a classic western standoff— pulled right from the silver screen. Players begin by setting their Aim and Stance spinners in secret, a mechanic chosen to heighten suspense and mirror the hidden intentions of a duel. Selecting a character card adds a layer of strategy, forcing players to commit before knowing the opponent’s choice. The simultaneous reveal creates a deliberate moment of tension, where mechanics and theme align to deliver drama. Whether a shot lands, misses, or triggers a special effect, the outcome is immediate and easy to read, ensuring accessibility while keeping the focus on emotional payoff. This repeatable cycle of build-up, reveal, and resolution embodies the project’s design goal: to capture cinematic tension in a simple, tactile format.
Profile & Technique Cards
Information Display
Talk about the HUD,
Talk about the color shit for color correctedness. color blindness.
