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Sakura Sudoku GDD

Current version: 2.0

James Justice, Titus Cooper, Stephen Marshall, Nick Waller,

Matthew Smith-Rinehart

Intro

Sakura Sudoku is a game that takes a beloved classic pen and paper puzzle

game and adds a whole new spin to it by adding RPG aspects as well as a combat

system and exploration. No longer are you playing just to complete the puzzle,

you are now playing for a purpose!

Table of Contents

Gameplay Description

Artistic Style

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Component Breakdown

Main Components

Classes and Skills

Ideal Game Flow

Special Ability Progression

Battle Length

Quest Types

Player Feedback

Revision History

Gameplay Description

The core gameplay of Sakura Sudoku is the puzzle game Sudoku, in which you are

presented with a game board that consists of a 3x3 grid of 3x3 grids. At the start of the puzzle, a

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select number of numbers will be placed in each grid tile, based on how difficult the puzzle is.

The object of Sudoku is to place the numbers 1-9 in such a way that a number never duplicates

itself in a row, column, or 3x3 grid. Upon correctly filling up all squares in the entire game

board, the puzzle is complete. Our rendition of the classic puzzle game adds enemies,

exploration and RPG elements such as skills you can use, leveling up, and quests. We have also

modified the board to have special tiles that can provide bonuses similar to scrabble, as well as

tiles that you would want to avoid due to negative effects.

The game will also feature multiple classes, each with their own unique set of skills,

giving a new gameplay experience for each class. The story will be mostly linear with a railed

exploration system, allowing the player to have some freedom to choose, while still being safely

guided. There will also be a multitude of different quest types to add even more life to the

classic game. Lastly, the game will include a streak system which is what players will build up in

order to use their skills. This will be explained in more detail later.

Artistic Style

The artistic style of Sakura Sudoku is one that highly resembles ancient Japanese

mythology. Cherry blossoms, samurais, ninjas, and dragons are all commonplace in our game.

The environment will consist of mostly lighter colors, such as yellows, whites, and pinks, with

pagodas, castles, farms and fields being places that our hero may visit. In contrast, the combat

oriented parts of the game as well as the general theme of the enemies will consist of deep

reds, black with splashes of white, greens, and darker yellows.

Some examples of friendly NPCs and characters could be a samurai clad in red and black

battle armor, a ninja in all white garbs with a long blue scarf like wrap, a geisha wrapped in a

pink robe with floral designs, or monks draped in yellow garbs wielding prayer beads and

wearing a cone shaped hat, as well as blue and yellow Japanese dragons. Examples of enemies

would be horned demons with red or black faces, white, black, and red dragons, ninjas draped

in black, as well as demons that can shift between reptile and human forms.

The architecture will also have a very open feel. Outside of a couple capital cities, the

environment will be very green and open. Bamboo forests, cherry blossom orchards, and green

hills are the most common setting. There will also be several small settlements and farms. The

capital cities will be large and booming, full of people and structures, however with no more

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than 1 or 2 large structures dedicated to the temples and the government. In general, the cities

will have very earthly tones, such as greens, brick reds, yellows, and greys.

Component Breakdown

Main Components

Sudoku Board - A set of 9 9x9 cells that the player will try to solve by determining what number

1-9 is missing in each group. Each group can only contain one of the numbers from 1-9 and the

same is for each row and column on the board. Below are the controls and characteristics of

the board.

1. The board is generated using a pre-entered solutions that are stored in array

that is used to assign a value to each of the board's cells during generation of the

board.

2. The number of cells that are pre-solved is determined by the difficulty of the

enemy chosen by the player from the quest system. Each difficulty will hide a

set number cells solutions and make them playable during the generation of the

board.

3. The player and AI can only play numbers on cells that are not pre-solved during

the generation of the board. The player will make plays on the board by clicking

on a cell and selecting a number from the radial menu that pops up.

4. If a the player or AI plays a correct number the number will be highlighted blue

for the player and magenta for the AI. If the player or AI plays an incorrect

number the number will be highlighted red. If the player or AI plays a number

that solves a group, column or row, then all numbers in that row, column, or grid

will be turned green.

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Combat System - The combat system is controlled through plays that the player and AI make on

the sudoku board.

1. Damage is primarily done by solving parts of the puzzle.

2. The main combo system does damage by the player or AI solving groups,

columns and rows. Damage is multiplied for solving groups, columns and rows

simultaneously.

3. Each row, column, or group solved also adds one to the streak amount. Streak is

the resource for using skills.

4. Each class has a predetermined set of skills that they obtain by leveling up.

5. They may only bring a limited amount of skills into battle.

Health System - The health system controls the enemy and player hit points. Their hit

points are what determines if they are alive or dead.

1. If a player reached zero health then they are dead and lose the level.

2. When a player puts an enemy to zero health or completes the objective of the

battle, then they are victorious.

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AI System - Our AI system will combat the player enemy by dealing damage and

attempting to solve the puzzle first.

1. Currently the player is racing to beat the AI by either depleting its health, or

solving the puzzle first.

2. The AI will always place correct moves, but will not always solve a row or grid.

(Currently the AI picks a random playable cell and plays a random number

between 1 and 9)

3. As the difficulty increases the AI will start solving more rows and grids creating

more damage dealing combos to kill the player as quickly as possible.

World Map - This is the map that will allow the player to move from level to level.

1. The player will be able to choose where to go as long as it is within the rail

system that they are on.

2. Different locations will contain quests, shops, battles, and lore insight.

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Quests - Quests will be the main way of mixing things up for the player, giving them a

variety of different objectives.

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Defeat The Enemy This quest is a combat quest where the goal is to deal damage to the enemy and bring their health to

zero before the player’s health to zero.

Win/Loss Conditions 1. The enemy’s health reaches zero before the player’s health does, the player is successful in this

quest.

2. The player’s health reaches zero before the enemy’s health does, the player fails this quest.

3. The board is solved before either the player or enemy’s health reaches zero, the board is reset

to continue the battle.

Turn System This quest uses a simple turn system that starts with the players turn and the enemy cannot go until the

player’s turn is over. During the enemies turn the player is not able to access the radial menu to make

selections.

Flow Chart/Screenshots

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Puzzle Completion

Overview

The objective will be to solve a puzzle on your own without any form of AI.

Win/Loss Conditions 1. Player correctly places all numbers in the sudoku board before they run out of health and

completes quest.

2. PLayer reaches zero health due to placing too many wrong numbers and fails quest.

Turn System This quest will us a player only turn system that will check for solved rows/columns/groups after each

number placement. The player’s last move will be highlighted green/red according to if the last play was

correct/incorrect.

Flow Chart/Screenshots

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Move Attack This quest will require you to solve areas in a single match before the AI does. The first

player to reach a certain number of solved areas (row, column, or grid) is the victor.

Win/Loss Conditions

The player to reach the target solves is the winner. If there happens to be a draw

the puzzle will regenerate, and the score will be set to zero for a new game.

Turn System

This quest has a free flowing turn system. Which means that there are no

restrictions when it come to whose turn it is. The Player and the Enemy can place a

number at the same time.

Flow Chart/Screenshots In this picture you can see that the player placed the last correct number in the grid to solve it.

For that action they were rewarded with +1 point.

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Time Challenge Quest The objective for this quest is to complete the puzzle, ro defeat the enemy before the timer runs

out.

Win/Loss Conditions The player can win the game if they complete the puzzle before the time runs out, or defeat the

enemy AI before the time runs out.

A player will lose the game if they cannot complete the puzzle in the time allotted, or the enemy

defeats them.

Turn System In this quest there is no set turn system between the player and the AI. Each can take as many

turns as they like.

Flow Chart/Screenshots In this screenshot you can see that the player

completed the Time Challenge Quest and

received the XP and is now level 3!

In this screenshot a player has started the

game and has 300 seconds on the clock.

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Classes and Skills

Character creation screen allows you to name your character and select a class that your

character's abilities and stats will be based on. Below are the classes that we will be

implementing, these are not specific characters rather a list of stats and abilities to help

understand the effects during battles.

Monk - Class focused on survival. Starting hp - 15. Skills:

1. Meditation. Passive Skill.

a. All healing from tiles / numbers is doubled.

2. Heal. Cost - 1.

a. Heals the player for 2 hp.

3. Prayer. Cost - 2.

a. Heals the player for 2 hp a turn for 3 turns.

4. Strike. Cost - 2.

a. Strikes the opponent for 3 damage.

5. Holy Nova. Cost - 3.

a. Creates a blast that deals 3 damage to the opponent

b. heals yourself for 3.

6. Cleanse. Cost - 4.

a. Spawns a brand new board.

b. You get an additional turn after this one.

7. Ascension. Cost - 5.

a. Become immune to damage

b. deal double damage from all sources for 3 turns.

c. Gain an additional turn after this one.

Ninja - Class focused on quick strikes and damage over time. Starting hp - 12. Skills:

1. Master Assassin. Passive Skill.

a. All damage from tiles / numbers is doubled.

2. Throwing Star. Cost - 1.

a. Deals 2 damage to the enemy.

3. Poisoned Dagger. Cost - 2.

a. Deals 2 damage to the enemy

b. additional 2 damage each turn for 2 turns.

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4. Concealment. Cost - 2.

a. Become immune to damage for 1 turn.

b. Deal double damage from the next source.

5. Precision Strike. Cost - 3.

a. Deals 5 damage plus 1 damage per turn for 5 turns.

6. Smoke Grenade. Cost - 4.

a. Take 2 additional turns after this one. If no damage is dealt in this time,

take one additional turn.

7. Ninjutsu Master. Cost - 5.

a. Throw a poisoned dagger while simultaneously striking your opponent's

vitals.

b. Deals 7 damage plus 4 damage on the enemy's next turn.

Samurai - Class focused on brute strength and heavy armor. Starting hp - 20. Skills:

1. Armored Warrior. Passive Skill.

a. Dealing damage causes you to prevent 1 point of damage dealt to you.

Stacks up to 3 times.

2. Defensive Strike. Cost - 1.

a. Deal 1 damage. Gain an additional stack of Armored Warrior.

3. Intimidation. Cost - 2.

a. Enemy cannot use skills on their next turn.

4. Parry. Cost - 2.

a. Reflect all damage dealt to you next turn.

5. Well Timed Attack. Cost - 3.

a. Deal 4 damage and take an additional turn.

6. Quick Death. Cost - 4.

a. Deal 6 damage.

7. Seppuku. Cost - 5.

a. Sacrifice half your current health to deal half your total health in damage

to the opponent.

b. Each stack of Armored Warrior reduces the health sacrificed by 10%.

Geisha - Class focused on manipulation. Starting hp - 15. Skills:

1. Pure Focus. Passive Skill.

a. 20% chance to not use any streak when using a skill.

2. Nimble Dance. Cost - 1

a. Places a random correct number on the board.

b. All effects are calculated as if you placed the number.

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3. Shamisen Lull. Cost - 2.

a. Reduces enemy streak count to 0. This ends your turn.

4. Calligraphy Demonstration. Cost - 2.

a. Rewrites part of the board, trapping 2 empty tiles.

b. Whoever places a number on one of these tiles will take 2 damage.

5. Peaceful Lullaby. Cost - 3.

a. Enemy is unable to use streak abilities for 2 turns.

6. Distracting Gaze. Cost - 4.

a. For 3 turns, all numbers placed by the enemy will be treated as if you

placed them.

b. You gain any streak they would have, they take any damage you would

have, and you get any health they would have.

7. Master of the Arts. Cost - 5.

a. Spawn a new game board.

b. Trap 3 tiles on the new game board.

c. Reduce enemy’s streak to 0.

d. Take 2 additional turns.

Onna BuGeisha - Class focused on fast striking and defense. Starting hp - 18. Skills:

1. Valkyrie. Passive Skill.

a. 20% chance to dodge and deal 2 damage.

2. Rabbit punch. Cost - 1

a. Strikes the enemy twice for 1 damage each.

b. 10% chance to dodge on next turn.

3. Scissor Kick. Cost - 2.

a. Deals 2 damage.

b. add 5 % increase to Valkyrie.

4. Warrior Demonstration. Cost - 3.

a. Deals 3 damage.

b. You gain streak and deal damage for the next combo that the enemy

completes.

5. Parry. Cost - 2.

a. Reflect all damage dealt to you next turn.

6. Divisioner. Cost - 5.

a. Cut enemies current health in half.

7. Bushi. Cost - 6.

a. Deals 7 damage.

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b. Enemy takes 3 additional damage on their next turn.

Mongols- Class focused on Heavy strikes and damage over short period of time. Starting

hp - 15. Skills:

1. Berserker. Passive Skill.

a. 10% chance to deal double damage from all sources.

2. Pike thrusts. Cost - 1.

a. Deals 3 damage to the enemy.

b. Take one damage yourself

3. Charge Attack. Cost -2.

a. Deals 3 damage to player.

b. Adds 5 % to Berserker.

4. Flip. Cost -3.

a. Ends your turn.

b. If you take damage next turn, prevent that damage and deal 4 damage to

the enemy instead.

5. Big Chop. Cost -4.

a. Deals 6 damage to player.

b. Adds 10% to Berserker.

6. Power HeadButt. Cost -5

a. Deals 10% of your Berserker % in damage twice.

b. There is a chance equal to half your Berserker % that you will miss the

second attack and end your turn.

7. Khan’s Wrath. Cost -6.

a. Deals 3 damage 3 times

b. Guaranteed to crit if your health % is lower than your Berserker %

Shogunate- Class focused on medium strikes and medium damage over time. Starting

hp - 13. Skills:

1. Shito. Passive Skill.

a. 20% chance to use a skill twice.

2. High Kick. Cost - 1.

a. Deals 1 damage.

b. Increases Shito by 5%

3. Drunken Attack. Cost - 2.

a. Deals 3 damage.

b. 20% chance to dodge next amount of damage dealt to you.

4. Frontal Attack. Cost - 3.

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a. Deals 5 damage to the enemy.

b. Player takes 2 damage on their next turn.

5. Spiral Crush. Cost - 4.

a. Deals 2 damage twice.

b. Increases Shito by 10%

6. Splinter. Cost - 5.

a. Deals 5 damage.

b. Refunds 3 streak.

7. Asuka’s Revenge. Cost - 7.

a. Deals 10 damage.

b. Can only be used if your health % is lower than your Shito %.

Ideal Game Flow

Special Ability Progression

Battle Length

Each battle will typically take 3-5 minutes to complete, this may vary slightly depending

on the familiarity of the player with sudoku but since the AI will always play a correct

number this will compensate for any slow play from the player. Most of the easy quests

players should be able to complete in 1 try, medium difficulty should take anywhere

from 1-4 tries and hard difficulty should take anywhere from 3-7 tries.

Quest Types

Quest types will be based on variation of solving a sudoku puzzle and battling the enemy

that was chosen for a specific battle. Some quests will require the player to solve the

puzzle while others may only require the player to defeat the enemy before they are

defeated. Each enemy once created will have their own unique quest to help create

variety in the game and keep gameplay fun.

Player Feedback

The player receives feedback both visually and audibly through color change, animations

and sound fx.

1. Color Change

a. Player correct number played turns blue.

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b. AI correct number played turns magenta.

c. Any incorrect play by player or AI number turns red.

d. A group, row or column is solved all numbers in them turn green.

2. Animations

a. Player or AI attacks the appropriate avatar will move arm in a punching

motion. And a particle system is thrown at the opposition.

b. Player or AI takes damage the appropriate avatar will flinch.

3. Sound

a. Plays Main Menu theme upon starting the game.

b. Plays background theme when Sudoku board is loaded.

c. Everytime player puts in a correct answer a theme plays.

d. When a player wins/loses a different theme plays for each state.

Core Game Mechanics

Move (previously implemented) Enables the player to move / place a number within an empty cell on the sudoku board.

Damage (previously implemented) Enables the player and AI to cause damage to one another, which deducts from their

current health whenever the player or AI solves a group, column or row.

Combo (previously implemented) Combo multiplies damage output when a group, column, or rows is solved

simultaneously.

Turn (previously implemented) The Turn mechanic regulates whose move / turn it is. The player cannot move during

the AI’s turn and the AI cannot move during the player’s turn.

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Dodge (previously implemented, but not shown) Dodge enables the player and AI to dodge one another’s attacks.

Streak (not previously implemented) Streak is used to enable the player and AI to use one or more skills. Each time a row,

column, or group is solved, a point is added to the Streak. Once a predefined number of

points are collected for a particular skills, that skill is made available and can be used

during a turn.

Do Skill (not previously implemented) Enables the player or AI to use a skill if that skill is activated through a Streak.

Revision History

1.0 - First draft.

2.0 - Second Draft. 12/18/2015