Fortune's Feud · Game Design Challenge
Original 2021 FIRST Game Design Challenge submission for FRC Team 4079
Overview
Fortune's Feud was FRC Team 4079's submission to the 2021 FIRST Game Design Challenge, where teams created an original FRC-style competition game during the COVID-19 season. The challenge asked teams to design a complete game concept, submit a field image, explain the game overview, describe notable field elements and robot actions, and explain how the provided Game Design Challenge element was used
This was my first SolidWorks project outside of learning CAD in the classroom, giving me my first chance to apply CAD to a larger team-based engineering project with real design requirements, documentation, and judging expectations
Our concept was a pirate-themed water game where two ships battle on the open seas, collect Gold, fire Cannonballs, trade resources for Ship Improvements, and board the opposing ship during the endgame. The official Game Design Challenge element was a chain, which we used as Gold within the game
The match was split into three phases: Seastorm, Battle, and Board the Ship. During Seastorm, robots search for Gold while vision is limited by the storm. During Battle, robots fire Cannonballs at the enemy ship's sails and collect Gold for the Treasure Room. During Board the Ship, robots lower the Plank and climb onto the enemy Ship Deck to loot and deal endgame damage
My Role
Deputy Captain. As Project Lead and Deputy Captain, I served as the field designer and strategist for the project. I helped lead the game concept, field layout, SolidWorks field model, scoring model, technical documentation, presentation materials, and judge interview preparation while coordinating with a fully remote team during COVID-19 restrictions
My main contributions were turning the pirate-themed game idea into a complete FRC-style field and rules package, helping define the major robot actions, modeling the field elements, supporting the scoring structure, and preparing the team to explain the design clearly during the judge interview
Outcome
Delivered a complete FIRST Game Design Challenge submission for Fortune's Feud, including the field concept, CAD files, rules and scoring documentation, presentation, supporting media, and judge interview materials. The project earned positive feedback from judges, with the team finishing under time, answering most questions smoothly, and receiving strong praise during the interview
Problem & Goal
The goal was to design a complete FRC-style game that could realistically function as a full competition season. The game needed to include a field, rules, scoring objectives, robot actions, autonomous opportunities, endgame tasks, and enough strategic depth to be accessible to rookie teams while still rewarding advanced teams
Design Requirements
- Create a complete original FRC game concept
- Submit a field image that clearly showed the game layout
- Write a game overview within the official submission limit
- Describe notable field elements and expected robot actions
- Explain how the official chain game element was used in the game
- Design a game that could support six FRC robots on the field
- Keep the game realistic for FRC-style robot rules, field constraints, and match timing
- Build a field CAD model and supporting visuals
- Write rules and scoring documentation that followed FRC-style conventions
- Prepare a presentation and live judge interview package
- Explain expected strategies for beginner, average, and advanced teams
- Coordinate all design, writing, and review work remotely with a 9-person team
Process
- 1Brainstormed possible themes, including environmental, industrial, medieval, bank heist, and water game concepts
- 2Selected a pirate ship battle theme after team discussion and voting
- 3Developed robot actions such as firing Cannonballs, collecting Gold, lowering Planks, and boarding enemy ships
- 4Created the Pirate's Port system, where Gold could be traded for Ship Improvements
- 5Modeled the field, ship structures, sails, decks, planks, treasure elements, and game pieces in SolidWorks
- 6Built a scoring system around Ship Health instead of a traditional positive point total
- 7Created supporting graphics, presentation slides, and judge interview materials
- 8Practiced answering judge questions about game balance, field design, autonomy, strategy evolution, and referee feasibility
Technical Decisions
- Used the official chain game element as Gold, making it both a flexible game piece and a currency within the game
- Designed Cannonballs as the primary shooting game piece for damaging enemy sails
- Created a Ship Health scoring model where actions reduce the opposing alliance's health instead of only adding points
- Added Pirate's Port as the game's unique strategic feature, allowing Gold to be exchanged for Ship Improvements
- Split the match into Seastorm, Battle, and Board the Ship to create distinct autonomous, teleoperated, and endgame strategy phases
- Designed High Sail and Low Sail scoring to give teams different difficulty levels for shooting
- Added Plank, Lower Deck, and Upper Deck boarding objectives to make endgame strategy more dynamic
- Included beginner, average, and advanced scoring projections to show how different experience levels could approach the game
- Considered referee feasibility by separating actions that could be automated through sensors from actions that would require manual referee input
Challenges
- Coordinating a fully remote design project during COVID-19 restrictions
- Creating a game that felt realistic without physical playtesting
- Using SolidWorks on a larger project for the first time outside of classroom CAD practice
- Balancing originality with rules clarity, field feasibility, and referee feasibility
- Designing a game that worked for both rookie teams and world-caliber teams
- Preparing the team to answer live judge questions about strategy evolution, autonomy, field durability, scoring automation, and gameplay balance
Scoring & Strategy
Fortune's Feud used a Ship Health system where robot actions damaged the opposing alliance's ship. This made the game feel different from a normal positive-point scoring system, while still giving teams clear scoring objectives across each phase of the match
| Action | Criteria | Seastorm Damage | Battle / Board Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initiation Line | Move off the Initiation Line | 10 | - |
| Low Sail | Score Cannonballs through the Low Sail | - | 3 |
| High Sail | Score Cannonballs through the High Sail | - | 5 |
| Treasure Chest | Place Gold in the Treasure Chest | 12 | 10 |
| Plank | Climb onto the Ship Deck using the Plank | - | 5 |
| Lower Deck | Climb onto the Lower Deck | - | 10 |
| Upper Deck | Climb onto the Upper Deck | - | 15 |
| Holding Gold | Hold Gold at the end of the match | - | 6 |
| 0 Ship Health | Deplete the opposing alliance's Ship Health | - | 1 RP |
| Board RP | Earn at least 20 Boarding damage | - | 1 RP |
During Seastorm, robots could move off the Initiation Line and deposit Gold for higher-value damage. During Battle, robots could score Cannonballs into the Low Sail or High Sail, place Gold into Treasure Chests, and use Gold for Ship Improvements. During Board the Ship, robots could lower the Plank, climb onto the Lower Deck or Upper Deck, and hold Gold for additional endgame damage
We designed the game so beginner teams could focus on lower-difficulty actions like Low Sail scoring, Gold collection, and Plank boarding, while advanced teams could build faster shooters, use vision tracking, preload Gold, score into the High Sail, and climb to the Upper Deck
Robot Actions & Rules
- Robots could preload either 1 Gold or 3 Cannonballs
- Robots could carry up to 1 Gold and 3 Cannonballs at a time
- Robots could hold Gold after their Treasure Chests were full, creating a denial strategy against the opposing alliance
- Robots could board from the side of the Ship Deck and did not have to use the Plank
- Vision targets were planned around major field elements to support autonomous navigation, shooting, and Gold placement
- Some scoring actions, such as Treasure Chests and Sails, were designed with sensor-based scoring in mind
- Other actions, such as Initiation Line movement, Ship Deck climbing, and holding Gold, were planned as manual referee inputs
What I Learned
- How to apply SolidWorks to a real team-based design project outside of classroom CAD practice
- How to lead a remote technical design project from concept through final presentation
- How to structure rules, scoring, and field elements like a real FRC game manual
- How to balance creativity, feasibility, and competitive strategy in a complex design problem
- How to prepare for and respond to live judge questions
- How to communicate technical design decisions through CAD, graphics, documentation, and presentation materials