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The design of the game became clearer once the idea of having no cards in hand was set. Players would draw cards directly from the deck and play them. The deck included six colors with five character cards, with characters having various effects; a trader, for example, was used to exchange cards, while a scholar would draw a card from the deck. Since players had no cards in hands, I wanted the options to be present on the characters, so each character had four effects, with icons used to detail the effects since the cards had limited space on them to explain everything.
Scoring was based on collecting sets, with a collection of five different characters of the same color forming a set. A complete set was not scored, but an incomplete set was – and played cards had to be given to another player. Right up until we made a prototype, I called this game "Guild" – then because of the hassle of exchanging cards between players, the game was scrapped and set aside.
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I usually look up the memos, ideas, and games I have worked on in the past when I design a new game because it gives me a chance to examine a new perspective or ideas which I have missed or overlooked. While doing that, Guild caught my eye. I liked the idea of using various effects of the characters to collect a set, so I modified the game to make it more strategic. Players now had cards in hand, kept their played cards, and played only one card on a turn. The title changed to Gamun, which means "lineage" and "family" in Korean, and the theme was to gather technicians to make your village flourish.
The first playtest was generally a success. People liked Gamun, but there was some negative feedback: too many effects on characters and a long playing time. Based on the feedback, I modifed the game, dropping the number of effects on a character from 4 to 3, and shortening the playing time to within one hour.
One month later I took Gamun to the KBDA meeting. Donghoon Lee, CEO of Wednesday Games, was in the meeting and he liked Gamun. He especially liked the idea of collecting character cards with character cards and iconified effects, and he wanted to publish it. This was how publishing Gamun was determined.
But still there were some problems. The overall flow of the game was dull, and the scoring system was shoddy. When a player had no card to use in hand, the player discarded one card and drew one card from the deck – and if the player could not use the drawn card, the player had to repeat this action next turn. Since a complete set was not scored, winning the game was greatly affected by luck. Unlike in the present rules, a completed set remained in the game.
I started to modify the scoring system, first changing how completed sets were scored. Then, I realized the setting of the game was a village, so I made buildings that could be purchased with cards. A completed set could be exchanged for a building, which earned ponts. Each building also had continuous effects. However, the number of cards placed on the table was increasing, and continuous effects added up, which complicated the game flow. I immediately abolished the building cards.
At the time a board game exhibition was held in Korea. Dixit artist, Marie Cardouat, visited for a gallery opening and signings. Along with Ms. Cardouat, Moonster Games' Emmanuel Beltrando visited. I luckily had an opportunity to play Gamun with Mr. Beltrando, and he gave me some important feedback, the main points being how to introduce some stimulation in game flow and diverse methods to earn scores.
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Sample characters and the card back
Taking his advice, I made dramatic changes – close to a revolution. First, I changed the existing set collection from collection by color to collection by character. I added the Farmer which enabled players to earn victory points (VP) directly. I also found a solution for how to change in different sets, making VP cards for each character; players could now score and earn VP card effects by completing a set. This method was eventually discarded due to the setting and other problems, but the idea of earning VPs by completing a set remained. I continuously simplified VP cards and it did not take long to establish the current form.
When I next played Gamun with Mr. Lee, CEO of Wednesday Games, he told me several things, one of them being the idea of an expansion. He suggested using various characters, but I was not sure. From the beginning, the thought of expansion was never in my mind. I didn't have a clue!
Designer Hope S. Hwang at Spiel 2012
This game would be published as Gamun by Wednesday Games. I was looking for a different title, but no good one came to my mind and playtesters liked the name. Unfortunately there was a more serious problem – the lack of an established artist pool in Korea. I contacted many designers for suggestions, but the results were disappointing. Several months passed.
In May, 2012, the Tokyo Game Market took place, this being a convention at which amateur board game designers and board game companies sell their products. Wednesday Games was participating and I attended, too, because it had published one of my card games. I took Gamun to test with Japanese players. That was lucky as I met Mark Wootton and John Zinser from Alderac Entertainment Group, who had come to meet with Arclight, the Japanese publisher that licenses several of AEG's games, such as Thunderstone. Mr. Takerube from Arclight introduced me to them – special thanks to Mr. Takerube – and Mr. Wootton and Zinser were willing to play Gamun. At first, I didn't know whether they enjoyed the game. Maybe I bugged Mr. Zinser throughout the game. But later on, we met and played Gamun once more. After I came back, I heard the news from Mr. Lee that AEG wanted to license my game.
After that, everything AEG has shown and done has been amazing. They came up with the title Guildhall, which I never thought of but which is perfect for the game. Every image they have shown is fantastic and communication has been prompt. They also solved various graphic design problems that had been a prolonged concern to me.
Guildhall will be released in late 2012 or early 2013. The joy of holding my game that I have carried in my womb for ten months, that will be born by an amazing company with fantastic quality is overwhelming. Working on Guildhall has been a pure pleasure to me and I loved seeing the laughter of the test players – and now I hope you have the same enjoyment of playing Guildhall as them...
Hope S. Hwang
(This diary was initially published in slightly different form in four installments – part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4 – on the Alderac Entertainment Group website.)
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