PROJECT: GACHA

"GACHA" is an ongoing Senior New Media project dedicated as an Art-Based Research on the micro-transaction controversy. The objective of the project is not to push a certain ideology, raise awareness to an issue, or absolutely ridicule certain parties. It is made so that the audience can interact with a board game that has an integrated micro transaction system built in. The controversy that revolves around the micro-transactions business model is that Western developers adopted the system for their games necessitating players to pay extra money for a "chance" to receive in-game items sold as "limited-time collectibles" that were once earned for free. It did not help that some of the micro-transaction systems like "gacha" and "lootboxes"are essentially gambling at their core. Not to mention the rates for which a player can "pull for" their desired limited-time collectibles is rather low that some gamers have paid exorbitant amounts of money for a chance at gaining their desired in-game purchases with nothing to show for it going even as far as $3,000 in some cases.

Consumable Cards

Consumable Cards, 2' x 4", paper and cardstock print

Project GACHA features a board game style of play that has two phases. The first is the "exploration phase" where players move around a predetermined path, and the type of tile they land on after a dice roll determines the type of event they encounter. Landing on a red tile with crossed swords triggers the "battle phase" which players will have to work together as a party to defeat the boss "monster". Consumable Cards are the action cards players use to determine their actions during their turn, and the success of the action with the exception of the rare "Heal" card is determined whether the player manages to roll the "sweet spot" on the dice.

Knights

Ritter Knight Card, 2' x 4", paper and cardstock print

Speerkämpfer Knight Card, 2' x 4", paper and cardstock print

Knight Cards are the player's characters. Each party has three players and they travel together during the "exploration phase". During the "battle phase" a player may only deploy one knight, and a knight may permanently die during battle. Should a knight fall in battle, a player may deploy another in their roster; however, a player can only field one knight type per Expedition. Should a player lose all of their knights during the Expedition, then it is game over for the player, unless they wish to expend a token to cheat revive a deceased knight. Knights are also unable to restore their "Vim" (HP) unless the player uses a "Heal" card, stumbles on a random event that heals knights, or returns from an Expedition. Any damage incurred by the knights during a battle also carries over to the next battle. This punishing system is put in place to encourage players to expend tokens, and "buy" more as they run out of tokens.