Compositions

 
 

Compositions is a game built around color, composition and the unexpected. Tom Groom (a Lost Arts Mentor) and Tracie Thompson developed it for designers to have a fun and inspiring thing to play, using the basics of what they learn in school, like color theory. People can get pretty competitive when they play, but at the end of a game everyone gets to stand back and look at the unique composition that they created as a group. We interviewed Tom and Tracie to learn more about their project.

How has Compositions evolved? And, where is it heading?
Compositions started as a school project and were able to execute the concept really quickly. Since the development of it flowed so easily we decided to use it as a platform for getting experience in the production and manufacturing world. Right now, we’re on our third prototype of the game, fairly settled on our manufacturer, and play testing like crazy to get as much feedback on the product before we launch our Kickstarter campaign in January 2018.

What have you learned so far?
This game has led to a lot of "firsts" for us. It's the first company either of us started (sidehustlestudio.co), our first start-to-finish product, and our first Kickstarter campaign. So, we’re picking up a lot great experience. And, we already have new games in the pipeline, so everything we learn from this will help us bring more fun, design-focused games into the world.

What part of the process has surprised you?
Sitting down with people and studying their interactions with each other and the game has been super fun. We didn’t really think that designing a game would be anything special, but we love the psychological aspect to it—how you can use the rules within the game to create and manipulate people’s behaviors, in a good way.


What advice would you pass along to another creator?
Both of us are really open to working on projects that are outside of our wheelhouse. So, our advice would be to keep looking for something new and unexpected to do. Never underestimate the value of pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.

Learn more about Compositions at sidehustlestudio.co