Who Shot The Sheriff is the second card game I made under my brand for board games DICEWIDEOPEN. It is a typical social deduction game in the vein of Mafia and Werewolf but with tons of unique game mechanics and an old west setting. The premise is simple: you have to hide your identity (chosen by the card you picked) and try to guess the others' secret identities. Everyone has a unique special skill and allegiance to one the three factions (Good, Bad and Neutral).
Besides having 18 completely different playable characters, the game offers you interesting mechanics that promise a unique playthrough each time. Neutrals can betray their faction, everybody can be lynched by the public, you can run for sheriff, you can challenge someone to a duel, you can end up in prison, etc. The interesting thing in this game is that there are always several options for a deduction. For example: Nobody was murdered last night. Why? Maybe the Surgeon cured the victim. Maybe the Gunslinger was drunk and unable to perform his shot. Maybe someone tried to kill the Innocent and hesitated at the last minute? It's up to you to find that out.
The key things I did during this development:
- designed and balanced all 18 playable characters
- playtested the game 200+ times with different people
- directed a professional artist to hand-paint all the characters in unique old style
- organized numerous live-action events where the game was played within an old-west atmosphere
- wrote and directed a 90-seconds short movie which acted as a promo for the game
