Indivudal Work
Time: 2025.4 - 2025.6
Type: Board Game
Software: Photoshop / Figma
Summary→
Trigram Deduction is a light strategy and educational board game. Players take on the roles of celestial masters deciphering the secrets of the cosmos, collaboratively constructing the Later Heaven Bagua. During the process, they must pay close attention to the Five Element relationships among the trigrams and plan their moves in advance to draw as much “Qi” as possible from the laws of heaven and earth. With ever-changing trigrams and the intricate cycle of generation and restraint among the Five Elements, will the masters ultimately unveil the mysteries of fate and claim victory? Let’s find out.
VIDEO
Inspiration
At an event held by our university's board game club, my friends and I were introduced to the game Las Vegas. The dice roll distribution and placement in different areas to create collisions between players really captivated me. We expanded on the dice roll distribution mechanism from Las Vegas and incorporated it into the Bagua deduction process. We hope this fusion of the two will provide players with a unique gaming experience.
Games are a great medium for spreading culture. In my spare time during college, I researched the Six-Line Divination and the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams based on my own interests. However, most modern people know very little about these ancient Chinese divination methods. Therefore, I hope this game will not only provide players with fun and playability, but also allow them to learn about ancient Chinese divination knowledge and understand how the ancients viewed the world.
Research
Length: 30 mins
Age: 13+
Player: 2 or 4
Inspiration and Research
Expansion and extension of board game mechanics
Reasons for choosing the theme of traditional Chinese culture
The Origin and Formation of the Bagua
The Bagua is divided into the Earlier Heaven Bagua and the Later Heaven Bagua: the Earlier Heaven Bagua is derived from the He Tu diagram, while the Later Heaven Bagua comes from the Luo Shu diagram.
The formation of the Bagua can be summarized as: “Wuji generates Taiji; Taiji generates the Two Modes; the Two Modes generate the Four Symbols; the Four Symbols generate the Eight Trigrams.”
The Two Modes are Yin and Yang;
The Four Symbols are Greater Yang, Greater Yin, Lesser Yang, and Lesser Yin;
The Eight Trigrams are Qian, Dui, Li, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Gen, and Kun.
Each trigram also corresponds to one of the Five Elements—Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, or Earth—and there are generative and restraining relationships among the elements. This interconnects all trigrams, making each trigram no longer isolated. These Five Element relationships also illustrate the flow of energy between trigrams, providing abundant creative space for designing game mechanics.
