In Mirage, players take on the roles of a member of one of two factions, the Academy of Accurate Archeology, and the League of Fraudulent Forgers. The AAA is researching a new dig site in the distant desert, hoping to make genuine discoveries in the name of science and exploration. The LFF, a secret society of ne'er do wells, has made it their mission to disrupt and discredit the AAA, filling the expedition log with fake artifact analyses and plagiarizing the work of the AAA. What will the log show of this expedition? What new curiosities (or curses) lurk in the sandy soil? Who will get the last word, the Academy, or the League?
Genre: Social Deduction Card Game
Production: 2 months
Date: December 2021
Role: Lead Designer
Team: 6
Rule Sheet
Faction Cards
Character Cards
Analysis Cards
Item Cards
Curse Cards
Design Statement
The major design goals we had for polishing the game Dear Diary included scaling the game for more players, increasing the depth of social interaction, and stepping away from the narrative of the Yellow Wallpaper. We started by modifying the way the Diary (Log) entries were made. This small change had a large effect on the gameplay, working to speed up the progression and keep track of who’s turn it is.
Expanding past the Yellow Wallpaper’s narrative from the original design, we looked to the group dynamics that emerge from desert archeology. Instead of mental states battling for control, we designed the Academy of Accurate Archeology (AAA) and the League of Fraudulent Forgers (LFF), two factions trying to control the expedition log of a desert dig site.
Next, we looked to scale the game for more players. In order to keep the two factions relatively balanced, we designed ways for the minority faction, the LFF, to have and gain advantage throughout the game. Apart from having the LFF players know each other’s identity at the start of play, something we retained from the original version, we re-balanced the entry cards to favor the LFF. We also kept the amount of entry cards in check, creating a negative feedback loop: as more of one type of entry card is placed in the Log, the fewer of that type will be in rotation.
To increase depth of social interaction, we designed characters for the players to embody on their desert adventure. The characters include the Professor, Navigator, and Outfitters, and have varied abilities that players can use throughout the game. We focused the player abilities on the lighter, more social aspect of the game, including the new Curse cards that were also added. Curse cards also serve to increase the flow and dynamics of the experience, with effects such as not being able to speak until the Curse has been lifted.
One key component of the original design was the Yellow Wallpaper card, a card that allowed a player to switch their faction with another player. This card allowed a player to “escape” the losing team and place themselves on the winning side, while putting another player on the losing team. While this was an exciting card to play, we felt it didn’t fit the new narrative and pace of the polished version. We wanted the thrill of the number of people in each faction potentially being a mystery, so we introduced the Mirage card. When the Mirage is drawn, that player secretly becomes a member of the LFF. Though this card has no other effect and cannot be played, other players might see that the card has been drawn through discarding or Curse effects, heightening the tension and putting players on the spot.