Today's Date







KRUNG PHAE, THE CITY OF GOATS (2020)
Card Game Design

Special Advisors : Asst. Prof. Juthamas Tangsantikul,
Assoc. Prof. Nigel P. Power (Technical)

Speaking of the word “Witch-hunt”, it originates from the witch hunts in around 14-17th century in Europe, where someone who was unliked or excluded by society was labelled as a witch (who practices harmful witchcraft) and persecuted, without any proof. This phenomenon should be gone since the witch-hunting acts were permitted in the 18th century. However, this kind of behaviour has never really gone away; it only changes its form and context due to advancements in technology and society. Thus, My project revolves around modern witch-hunt.

According to my research and analysis through a collection of news. the modern witch-hunt is mostly used for weakening the opposite, as well as a tool for blending in with society or showing one’s moral superiority.

This role-playing investigation card game project speaks about this problem in ‘Thai society’. The players can experience being either the ‘hunter’ or the hunted. This decision reflects back to my research, which found that anyone could be targeted by or be a part of this modern phenomena. Players can also choose to play as ‘fake’ or ‘facts’ media which reflects the media’s control over information.

The visual language used in this game echoes the abnormal state of our society, which includes bizarre justice systems, distorted logic, and inequality. Thus, the game was designed with a dystopian theme and a virtual land that lies between reality and the imaginary sphere. It is named “Krung phase” or the City of Goats: a place where everyone could potentially become a (scape)goat.





Krung Phae packaging and playing cards


Character cards designed by analysis of personality typologies in Thai social context and in relation to a modern witch-hunt. Each character’s bargaining power differs from another according to their status quo.


The characters are categorised in 3 groups, the first is The Politicians (have 3 votes per round)


The second group is The Famous (have 2 votes per round)


The last group is The Commoners (have only one vote per round)


Allegation Cards, every character will get one allegation card during the game. All the allegations are drawn from the real events happening in Thai Modern Witch Hunt. *The players could as well personalize the allegation.


The Clue Cards (the news) will be used by the media players. There are 2 types of clue cards; image and text cards


The image clue is a surreal visual customized by using real objects seen in everyday life. It gives an excited and ambiguous feeling for the players as well as being very open for any interpretations.


For the text cards, they are more specific than the images. The worlds and clues collaged in these clue cards are as well captured come from the real news but rearranged in a trickier way.


Punishment cards,Effect cards and Execution cards (Used at the end of the game and can change the game’s ending) show the consequences of hunting. The one affected by these cards is the hunted one (except the counter effect that would affect other players). *the punishment can be chosen or personalized by the hunters

How-to-play video