My initial design was immediately spawned from my love of Outer Space and the concept of having two rubber bands in the corners of the board to bounce off of instead a typical Bagatelle curve at the top to help aim the ball. Most of the elements were based off of space-related iconography, such as a large star for the centerpiece, ringer planets, a black hole, and a UFO.
Through personal testing, many modifications had to be made, as was expected. The tips of the Star could no longer act as points pockets, point distribution as a whole changed across the board, and I had to ditch the two swiggly “nebula” things between the UFO and Black Hole due to space constraints. I also added a curved piece of tape to help redirect the ball away from one of the pegs holding the rightmost band in place. The first round of testing went well, but airballs where the ball would go all the way left and miss any pocket was a common critique. A lack of detail was also a frequent talking point.
After that playtest, I went all out in refining the art detail to make it more eye catching. I also added a third rubber band straddling the left wall to help with the airball issue. The ring planets morphed into these abstract curves that reminded me of horoscope symbols in a way. I decided to do this mainly because it was easier to draw. The biggest complaint from the final playtest was the lack of walls behind the bands preventing the ball from potentially hopping over. Otherwise, it was praised for its eye-catching design and for the bouncing mechanic as opposed to a typical curve.
