Transform the board
The placed stone can complete or break several intersecting lines at once.
Selected work
Original elemental strategy game
Ma’a
One or two players · Web edition 1.0.4
Hold one stone. Exchange one stone. Bring Fire, Water, Earth, and Air into line.
RoleCreator and Game & Systems Designer — concept, elemental system, rules, iterative play development, and creative direction
01
The project
Why I made Ma’a
Ma’a began with a desire to play inside an elemental system—to make Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Spirit determine how a game moves, not merely how it looks. I developed it over more than a year, repeatedly playing it with friends and family and refining the rules at the table.
The result is a compact, complete-information strategy game played on a full 4×4 board. Sixteen elemental stones begin on the board, while each player holds a Spirit stone. On every turn, a player exchanges the stone in hand with one legal board stone; the displaced stone becomes the player’s next hand. The first player to form a row, column, or long diagonal containing Fire, Water, Earth, and Air wins.
02
My contribution
From elemental premise to playable rules
- Conceived the game and made elemental relationships its governing logic rather than a decorative theme.
- Designed the conserved eighteen-stone system, always-full board, visible hands, and one-for-one exchange at the center of play.
- Created the reciprocal Fire–Water–Earth–Air exchange circle and Spirit’s role as a universal bridge that cannot complete a winning line.
- Developed the game through more than a year of repeated play with friends and family, revising its rules and presentation through experience at the table.
- Directed the current AI-assisted web edition, including its interaction, learning flow, accessibility features, testing, iteration, and final approval.
03
Design logic
One exchange changes both now and next
Nothing is drawn, captured, discarded, created, or destroyed. Each exchange changes the shared board and determines the stone a player will carry into the next turn.
Choose the next hand
The displaced stone becomes the player’s next resource, so choosing a target also shapes the following turn.
Arrange difference
Victory requires four distinct earthly elements together. Spirit enables movement but cannot substitute for any of them.
Read the whole game
The board and both hands remain visible. Strategy comes from sequencing and anticipation rather than hidden information, drawing, or capture.
04
Tools used
What the finished system demonstrates
Systems Design
The full board, conserved stones, changing hands, exchange legality, and winning geometry operate as one compact engine.
Symbolic Design
The elements determine what can exchange and what counts as completion; their meaning is embedded in the rules.
Concept Synthesis
Spatial alignment, hand management, open information, transformation, and elemental relationships resolve into one action.
Thematic Coherence
Players win by bringing four different material elements into relation. Spirit connects them without replacing them.
Open the work
The complete game is ready to play
Play the complete one- or two-player web edition on phone, tablet, or desktop. It includes a guided tutorial and requires no account.
05
Credits & scope
Authorship, assistance, and limits
Game concept, rules, elemental system, symbolic framework, and creative direction: Kyle Figard.
Developed over more than a year through repeated play with friends and family.
Web-edition interface and implementation: developed with AI assistance under Kyle Figard’s direction, specification, testing, iteration, and final approval.
Presented under Lady Lofn Games. Five Scott Buckley instrumentals are used under CC BY 4.0; complete links and modification disclosure appear in the game’s About section.
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