How I modded Up the River to add a rotating conveyor and new tension loops?
Overview — Modding Up the River
Sushi Rat Revolution began as a targeted mod of Up the River built under a structured two-week work cycle. Across Week 1 and Week 2, our team introduced a rotating conveyor mechanic, redefined how rats interact with the river, and layered in set-collection goals to reshape push-your-luck decisions. The short timeline forced us to treat each week as its own micro-sprint: Week 1 focused on proving the core mechanic, and Week 2 focused on smoothing pacing and clarifying player choices. My role centered on translating the mod’s design goals into clear, production-friendly rule updates and tuning the conveyor until it consistently behaved as the game’s main tension engine.
- Week 1 : Defined the conveyor, paper-prototyped new states, clarified rat movement, and identified broken loops.
- Week 2 : Smoothed pacing, tightened rules text, aligned iconography with player cues, and recalibrated set-collection rewards.
- Kept all changes compatible with the original components so the mod could function as a “drop-in” rules patch.
- Documented the final rule diffs so a producer, QA team, or instructor can quickly understand what changed and why.
Mod Design & Process
We approached the project like a small production team: identify a friction point → propose a minimal rule change → prototype → playtest → iterate. Because the class schedule locked us to a two-week cycle, every change had to either sharpen tension, clarify feedback, or improve player flow. Anything that created complexity without new drama was cut.
- Reframed the conveyor as the core “risk engine” that determines urgency each turn.
- Balanced set-collection so rewards build over time but don’t stall the race pacing.
- Resolved early flow issues where players hesitated or stalled by simplifying turn structure and reducing ambiguous edge cases.
- Designed icons and card layouts to be easily reskinned in a future art or digital pass.
- Tracked changes between Week 1 and Week 2 in the design journals so instructors and future teammates can see the iteration trail.
Production Notes
- Rule changes are isolated so the base Up the River experience stays intact for players who prefer the original.
- Card and icon assets are built as modular layers for fast updates or regional/localized variants.
- Playtest report and journals are structured to support QA, usability review, and future digital prototyping.
