Developer's Notes

by Randy Scheunemann

I first noticed Ghosts Love Candy because the art was fantastic. The game just looked fun even before I read the rules.

Because I have an easier time developing games than designing them, it was nice to see something so far along. I noticed only a few things in the rules that didn't really solve problems in an elegant way. The rest was very straightforward and intuitive.

For example, the first player marker was used to break ties, but ties were coming up frequently and it was an additional item to put in the box that didn't add fun. So we found a way to solve ties by adding more kid cards. That let us bring in more art, and we didn't have to pass a token around the table.

We also tightened up the rules so the lawyers out in the gaming world wouldn't have as many options to derail what should be a quick, light-hearted game. This required some card changes to reflect the feel of the individual kids, but these were minor.

Additionally, the story had ghosts possessing children and making them eat candy until they got sick. That was a little dark for the colorful, cartoony art being used, so we decided to haunt the kids until they got scared. It didn't change game play, but the narrative shifted in a friendlier direction.

All in all, I enjoyed working with Ghosts Love Candy. It was already in a great place when we started developing it, and I believe the little tweaks we made help make the game even more fun.