Clout Claimer | kebin robin

CLOUT CLAIMER · DESIGN SYSTEMS · BRANDING

A board game that makes you perform the thing it's critiquing.

A social-commentary board game where players compete for clout by Re-Presenting themselves to match what other "users" want to see. Built as a full branding and card-UI system modeled on real social platforms — then rebuilt around a completely different core mechanic.

Card systems built: Social Post, User Profile, Notification

Unique cards in the deck

Distinct game mechanics designed and built end to end

Cristancho_CloutClaimer_Boardgame_20x20in_2020-Landscape1.jpg

Challenge

Translate a critique of social media performance into an actual game mechanic, not just themed packaging
Make the product read as a real platform, not a one-off student prototype
Build a system flexible enough to support a full mechanic rebuild without starting the branding over

Approach

Built a complete card-based visual language mirroring real social platform UI — a post, a profile, a notification — so the physical game read as an extension of the apps it was critiquing. Every mechanic stayed anchored to one idea: players win by Re-Presenting themselves, not by being themselves.

Execution

Designed the branding, an Activity Board and Network board, and three full card systems for the first build. Later rebuilt the core mechanic itself into a timed, real-world photo-challenge format — using the same branding and theme throughout.

THE SYSTEM

The branding and card language built to make a board game feel like a social platform.

01 — THE CARD LANGUAGE

Three card types, modeled directly on real platform UI

Social Post, User Profile, and Notification cards were each designed to be instantly legible as their real-world counterpart — a post, a profile, a push notification — rather than reading as a generic playing card with a theme painted on top.

02 — THE BRANDING SYSTEM

One badge, one gradient, carried across every surface

The verified-checkmark badge and a consistent blue-to-pink gradient run across the box, the board, and all 40 cards — so the product reads as one cohesive platform rather than a pile of separate pieces.

03 — THE DECK

40 cards, written as real internet ephemera

Social Post cards read like actual viral content — challenges, memes, callouts. User Profile cards carry a name and stated interests a player has to match. The deck had to feel scrollable, not like a stack of trivia questions.

TWO VERSIONS

From a board you watch fill up, to a challenge you have to perform

The first build simulated clout-chasing from a distance. The second made the player actually do it.

V1 — BOARD & NETWORK

Matching cards to fill a board

Players moved around an outer Activity Board, landing on Social Post, Add Friend, Notification, or Home spaces. Landing on Add Friend drew a User card with stated interests; matching it to a Social Post "gained a friend," placing a clout marker on the center Network board. The game ended when a player filled the Network with their color.

V2 — TIMED PHOTO CHALLENGE

Performing for likes, on a clock

Rebuilt around a 3×5 grid of challenge cards, a 10-minute timer, and a smartphone camera. Landing on a card revealed a real-world challenge — an Ice Bucket Challenge, a "perfect lashes" pose — that players had to actually perform and photograph to earn likes. Everyone played at once, racing the clock instead of taking turns.

RESULTS

What the system produced across both builds.

Card systems built: Social Post, User Profile, Notification

Unique cards in the deck

Cohesive branding system spanning box, board, & every card

REFLECTION

"The second version didn't just change the rules — it changed who was doing the curating."

In the first build, players assembled clout from a distance — matching cards to a profile's stated interests, watching markers accumulate on a board. In the second, players became the influencer themselves: performing a real challenge, recording it, and racing a clock to post it before anyone else. The critique stopped being something the board illustrated and became something the players were actually doing.

That's the part of the brief in the original concept that stuck with me: players have to Re-Present themselves to win — edit, curate, and perform a version of themselves they think other people want to see. The hyphen in "Re-Presentation" was the whole point. A board game can describe that idea. A timed photo challenge makes you feel it.

If I were to take this further

Run both mechanics with the same playtest group back to back to see which version actually produces more clout-chasing behavior in the room, build a digital companion to track clout accumulation in real time for the board version, and expand the card library well past 40 so repeat plays don't recycle the same challenges and profiles.

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