Tap Happy Sabotage is a local multiplayer game designed for up to 52 players on one touchscreen device. Originally created for 27-inch touchscreen PCs, the game is designed to get as many people as you can fit around one screen to join in!
The core rules are simple. Each player is given two cards: a target card and a sabotage card. By tapping their target card a player is awarded a point, but if anyone taps their sabotage card they lose all their points. Cue plenty of frantic scrambling as players rush to get to their cards first, or team up to find the winner’s sabotage card and bring them back to zero!
New rounds are introduced which encourage players to scramble around the screen in different ways. They may have to hold three of their card at the same time, forcing them to clamber over each other. They may have to drag their cards away from an angry monster, or indeed push their opponents into its path. Every new round adds a new way to get tangled up, a new excuse to push and shove each other, or a new way to cheat!
Physical interaction is core to the play experience, and my primary motivation as a designer was to take the new range of 27-inch all-in-one devices and really make the most of the giant physical space they offer. But I am also aware that most people own smaller-screen devices, so I am currently working on networking features so that people with multiple phones and tablets can sit them side-by-side to form one giant screen.
Tap Happy Sabotage is currently playable on any touchscreen PC, and will be released to the Windows 8 Store later in the year, with iOS and Android to follow.
