Would you accept something you really wanted if it came with an unexpected condition? And could the people around the table predict your answer?
That was the starting point for What’s the Catch? (מה הקאץ׳), created by Shoam Ravit Dahan. Shoam brought the concept of wishes, conditions, and twists, along with an early prototype she had played with friends and family. I joined her to develop the gameplay, creating the competitive structure, victory conditions, and resource economy around her original idea.
The Challenge
Shoam wanted to preserve the humour and personal interaction of the original concept while creating a more challenging, strategic game with a clear winner. She also wanted the experience to remain interesting after players became familiar with the cards, giving them reasons to return through the gameplay itself.
The early prototype provided a foundation for the lighter version. Developing the competitive experience meant deciding how players would respond, earn rewards, influence one another, and work towards victory, while keeping the wishes and dilemmas at the centre of the game.
Building the Gameplay
My contribution focused on developing the systems that made the concept work as a competitive game. I created clear victory conditions, developed the scoring and reward mechanics, and shaped the twists into consequential effects that could materially change the outcome.
I also introduced a shop where players could spend the coins they earned. This connected the rewards from individual rounds with decisions about improving their options and progressing towards victory, giving players more to consider throughout the game.
I worked alongside Shoam through development, playtesting, and market fit, connecting her creative direction with the mechanics needed to deliver the experience she wanted.
Connecting Each Round to Victory
One of the central mechanics ties progress to the group’s responses. When you are the wish holder and everyone answers as you do, the other players each receive a coin, while you receive the wish card.
To win, a player needs six coins together with one or two wish cards, depending on the number of players. Players therefore have to bring two resources together to achieve victory, with the personal dilemma at the heart of each round contributing directly to the competition.
Creating Meaningful Choices Through the Shop
The shop I introduced gives players three ways to use their coins:
- One coin: Exchange a twist card from your hand for one from the deck.
- Two coins: Buy an additional twist card.
- Five coins: Buy a wish card, which is harder to earn and required for victory.
These options give players choices about how to use their rewards. They can spend a small amount to change a card they already hold, invest more to expand their hand, or save towards a wish card that helps fulfil a victory requirement.
Because winning also requires six coins, each purchase carries an opportunity cost. Spending coins can improve a player’s options or secure a necessary wish card, but it reduces the reserve they need to win. The decision is therefore about whether the immediate benefit of a purchase is worth giving up some progress towards victory.
Balancing the Economy
I balanced this system with a capacity limit of six coins per player, matching the number required for victory.
Without that limit, a player could accumulate eleven coins, spend five on a wish card, and immediately win with the six remaining coins. The cap prevents that route: buying a wish card means spending from the same limited reserve needed for victory, which the player must then rebuild.
The shop, coin capacity, and victory conditions work together to make resource management part of the competition. Players have to consider when to spend, when to save, and how a purchase affects their ability to meet both victory requirements.
Refining the Game Through Playtesting
I organised and conducted repeated playtests to examine how the mechanics, rewards, twists, and victory conditions worked together. My role included asking the questions that would help us understand the players’ experience, drawing conclusions from their responses, and turning those findings into practical revisions.
Through these tests, we arrived at the combination of coins and wish cards and refined the competitive structure around it. The process helped us develop the gameplay while keeping it aligned with Shoam’s vision for a funny, social experience that also offered challenge and meaningful competition.
The Result
Our collaboration developed the original concept into a competitive card game with clear victory conditions, consequential twists, and an economy that gives players meaningful decisions about their rewards.
Shoam’s wishes, conditions, and creative direction remained at the heart of the project. My contribution was to build, test, and balance the gameplay around them, creating the structure that connects the social experience with strategy, competition, and replayability.