by Stefano Negro

Fruit Cup started with a simple observation of my daughter Cecilia, who is a picky eater when it comes to fruit salad.

I found myself meticulously scooping out the unwanted fruits, leaving her with a perfectly tailored cup — and this mundane task sparked an idea for a game. Inspired by Luca Bellini's Fun Farm, I envisioned a game in which players would simultaneously have to strategically select fruits to satisfy a demanding king.

Assembling the Team

To bring this vision to life, I reached out to Luca Bellini and Luca Borsa, two talented game designers with whom I share a friendship and love for designing games. Their enthusiasm for the concept was infectious, and we quickly began brainstorming ways to translate the idea into a playable game. We showed the concept to Mario Sacchi from Post Scriptum, and he immediately saw some potential...but we still had much work to do!

The Evolution of the Game

Our initial concept involved players rolling dice to determine the king's demands. However, this mechanism proved to be flawed as it often led to multiple correct solutions. This slowed down gameplay as players had no correct solutions shown anywhere.

To address this issue, we shifted to a card-based system that allowed for a wider variety of demands and more engaging gameplay.


Art and Design

Sara Gioria, a talented artist working for Post Scriptum, joined the team to bring our vision to life. She first created whimsical illustrations of the king, queen, and nobles, incorporating fruits into their noble insignias, with the artwork reminding me of Guillotine. Based on feedback from interested international distributors, the setting was later changed to funny animals of the jungle trying to please the crazy monkey king.

The Post Scriptum team experimented with 3D-printed fruit pieces and colorful cups and spoons to enhance the game's aesthetic appeal. The result had a great presence on the table.


Scoring and Gameplay

We wanted to create a scoring system that rewarded both speed and strategy. Our solution was to allow players to score points by serving their fruit salad before others, while also providing opportunities for slower players to catch up. This was achieved by capitalizing on their opponents' mistakes since the slowest player's cup would not be checked for the correct set of fruits, whereas being fast — but wrong — would push you back down the line and give you fewer points.


Prototype and Testing

With the core mechanisms in place, we created a prototype and began testing the game. Post Scriptum participated in industry events in Essen and Nürnberg to gather feedback from potential licensing partners and testers. Based on their input, we adjusted the game's theme, visuals, and mechanisms. The sugar cube, for example, is a later addition that allowed us to create new demand cards, while also generating some headaches when processing the solution.

Fun fact: Mario puts The Beatles in all his gameplay examples. (Go check other Post Scriptum titles.)


Production and Release

After finalizing the game, Post Scriptum spent time finding suitable manufacturers and ensuring the highest quality production for the targeted price point.

The game was eventually released, and we were thrilled to see it receive positive feedback from players around the world. At SPIEL Essen 24, the game was demoed at the HUCH! stand, while the two Lucas made game presentations in Italy at various local stores and game festivals. I even plan on using it to talk about game design to the kids in my daughter's school here in Frankfurt (and in German nonetheless).


Conclusion

The journey of creating Fruit Cup was a rewarding experience. From the initial spark of inspiration to the final product, we faced numerous challenges and learned valuable lessons. I am incredibly proud of the game we created and the positive impact it has had on players of all ages. We hope more and more people will enjoy it.

Stefano Negro

From left: Luca Borsa, Luca Bellini, Stefano Negro