Rules To A New Game
I need about 48 identical squares, anywhere between an inch and a half to two inches across, of an opaque material stiff enough to not easily dog-ear on the corners. They would have to be fairly inexpensive. I want to playtest a game design and see what happens.
Rules
Equipment:
1. Forty-eight identical square tiles that are divided diagonally into two colors on the front side. These instructions will assume they are black and white.
2. A table (not included).
Setup:
1. Leave a clear space on the table and place the tiles in reach of the players.
2. Choose which player is which color from the two colors on your tiles.
3. There is no step 3.
Procedure:
1. Simultaneously, each player takes a tile from the supply.
2. Simultaneously, hiding the front side from the opponent, each player positions their tile upright with its edge on the table.
3. Simultaneously, when their tiles are both touching the table, the players tip their tiles toward each other so the tiles are laying down on the table.
4. Repeat.
The first turn, when there are no tiles on the table, the first tiles should touch each other at the edge. From then on, a players may position the tile so that it will touch any edge of any tile that is already played. If players both want to place on the same spot, the first player to touch a tile's edge to the table in that placement gets it.
Scoring:
Players attempt to form the following three shapes with their own color and the opponent's color:
Scissors cut paper, paper covers rock, rock breaks scissors. As soon as there exists a pair of shapes that do these, the player whose shape did the cutting/covering/breaking is the point winner and may point it out.
The player whose shape was cut/covered/broken selects one tile from each shape and gives them to the point winner. The point winner keeps them in a scoring stack.
For example,
1 Black points out that there exists a black paper and a white rock.
3 White chooses a tile from the black paper and a tile from the white rock, removes them from play, and hands them to Black.
4 Black puts those two tiles in Black's scoring stack.
Game End:
The game ends when a player compares the scoring stacks, looks for opportunities in the layout of the tiles in play, decides the game is no longer winnable, and concedes.
Alternately, if all forty-eight tiles are played (twenty-four turns), players count the tiles in their scoring stack and divide by two to get their score; the player with the highest score wins.
Strategy Basics:
Pay attention to what structures your opponent is building, and disrupt them if necessary.
Remember, with every tile, you are placing your own color and your opponent's color.
"Telegraph punches that you're not throwing." Get your opponent to believe you're building toward a particular victory, and suddenly switch to build a different one.
The Absurdly Unplayable "Elements Expansion"!
Comments
tammylc on Jul. 16, 2008 7:05 PM
Don't worry too much about materials and dog-earing from a playtesting perspective, just get in there and start working it.
matt-arnold on Jul. 17, 2008 3:12 AM
I'm mostly interested in saving time and money.
cdrodeffer on Jul. 16, 2008 7:37 PM
Matt, this looks pretty cool. I might have to whip up a set to try it sometime.
matt-arnold on Jul. 17, 2008 2:06 AM
Let me know what material you use, how long it takes, and how much it costs.
cdrodeffer on Jul. 17, 2008 12:55 PM
You might want to contact Steve Jones at Blue Panther LLC about this game. This sort of game is extremely well-suited for production in wood using his laser etching system. IM me if you need his contact info.
thatguychuck on Jul. 17, 2008 3:25 AM
Try cardboard paper for proof of concept. Version 1.0 doesn't have to be prefect, or even super durable. Initially just make sure it works and is fun to play before spending a ton of effort and/or money.
Anonymous on Jul. 17, 2008 1:26 PM
What an awesome-looking game!
Is "air" the same as "wind"? There are rules for wind but no picture, and a picture for air but no rules.
I like the wooden tiles idea. That's the kind of thing I'd buy just to have.
Does CandyFab do different colors? Make a set at the next con, play it, the winner gets to eat them! :)
Alternatively, playtest with brownies with icing patterns. ;-)
-- Sarah Elkins
matt-arnold on Jul. 17, 2008 2:03 PM
Thanks! Yes, air and wind are the same.
Those are some excellent ideas! I'll look into them.
Leave a Comment