Dema
Board Game - Link to the game
My role - In depth research about the band Twentyone Pilots and their songs. I went through each lyrics and decoded the meaning behind the song with the help of the bands website where they upload the material of the story such as the letters from the protagonist, pictures and their secret language and symbols. These were all released when the albums came out for their fan "cliques" to decode and understand the story. During the research I came across many other websites and videos that talk about the storyline and lyrics which helped me create a narrative for the game.
With the research I further designed the game by creating 2 levels to the game. I designed cards with a brief that describes each song. There are cards for when you get the answer right that is provided it to you in form of symbols, pictures or phrases that the players decode or letters to help them understand the story. But if you guess the answers wrong you get a bishop card which skips or jails you in the next round.
For the development part of the game, I created various printables for all the cards and clues and an instruction page. I also created all the artworks for the game.
Welcome to the world of Dema. This game is a music and story based board game.
The songs are taken from the band Twenty one pilots. Each of their albums Blurryface and Trench and the songs have a hidden story that expresses their mental health and how people need to talk about. The story has a protagonist which you will see is played by the lead singer Tyler Joseph in their music video. Through this game I would like to give the players the experience of their music and the meaning behind their lyrics. The game will take place in a universe created by the artist's Tyler and Josh which is called Dema. Through their music they talk about depression, anxiety and stress that have taken upon every individuals minds and are controlling their life. They have defined these issues by humanising them as an evil character called Bishop. The game starts with one player listening to the music and explaining it to the other players using the prompt cards provided. If the other players manage to name the song from the explanation they get a clue card that they have to decode to understand the story better, if they fail to give the right answer they receive a bishops card. 3 bishop cards means that player has to be silent for the next round. Create your own theories and have a discussion with the other players as you go along each song.
Instructions to play and printables for the game are all provided in the link.