Skip to Content
 

UR- rules abstract for a publisher

6 replies [Last post]
Fri, 03/17/2006 - 06:16
paolo
Offline
Joined: 08/01/2008

Hallo everybody. At last, it looks like I've designed a playable game: maybe it's not the game of the century ;), but I don't mind. So, what's next? I'm going to send a small abstract of the game rules to some publishers around. I've written it, but since I'm not mothertongue (I am italian), I'd like you to read and revise it. Do you understand anything? By the way, does it sound interesting?

Thanks a lot
Paolo

"
UR is a strategic game of placement and expansion for 2 to 4 players, that takes place in the age of the ancient fertile crescent civilizations.

The gameboard is composed by a grid of 36 double sided tiles, ideally representing the land of the Mesopotamia, on which the players civilizations - represented on the board by a number of coloured tokens - have to expand and prolify.

The tiles represent a combination of two different 'development actions' (one on each side), so Agricolture tiles allow players to grow significantly on the agricolture tiles, but losing people on the distant ones; with Commerce you collect richness on the tiles adjacent to other civilizations; Culture tiles benefits take effect on the adjacent tiles of any player (culture has no borders!); Politics allow to redistribute the population and War is the way to attack other players or empty territories.

An additional tile (there are 40 in the game) is in front of each player. A player turn plays as follows: he chooses how to use the two actions of his tile, trying to get the most out of them; then replaces his tile with a free one from the board, thinking what he will need next.

When a player has 5 population tokens on a single tile, he may decide to spend his turn building a zigurrat on it, blocking the territory.

At the end of the game (when all the gameboard is occupied, or when the fifth zigurrat has been built), the player who has better expanded his civilization on tiles of different kinds is the winner.
"

Top
Fri, 03/17/2006 - 12:12
#1
Hedge-o-Matic
Hedge-o-Matic's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/30/2008
UR- rules abstract for a publisher

Here's a quick revision, to keep the game presentation simpler:


Overview
UR is a strategic game of placement and expansion for 2 to 4 players, that takes place in the age of the ancient fertile crescent civilizations.

Components
The gameboard is composed by a grid of 36 double-sided tiles, ideally representing the land of the Mesopotamia, on which the players civilizations - represented on the board by a number of coloured tokens - have to expand and prolferate.

Types of Tiles
The tiles represent a combination of two different 'development actions' (one on each side).
Agriculture tiles allow players to grow significantly on the agriculture tiles, but losing people on the distant ones.
Commerce tiles allow a player to collect riches on the tiles adjacent to other civilizations.
Culture tiles benefit's take effect on the adjacent tiles of any player.
Politics allow players to redistribute their population.
War allows an attack other players or expansion to empty territories.

Game Play
Each player has a single tile which acts as a "hand" of two actions. Each turn, the players choose how to use the two actions of their tile, trying to get the most benefit. Used tiles are then replaced with a free one from the board, forcing players to anticipate what he will need next.

Game End and Victory
When a player has 5 population tokens on a single tile, he may decide to spend his turn building a zigurrat on it, blocking the territory. When all the gameboard is entirely occupied, or when the fifth zigurrat has been built, the game ends, and the player who has best expanded his civilization to tiles of different kinds is the winner.

While I know "abstracts" are typically a single paragraph, in this case it is more of a stand-alone presentation to the publisher. I assume you aren't going to send the rules along with this introduction?

Other things a publisher might want to know is what other games are similar in mechanic to the game you're presenting? Does your game have well-established competition in it's niche? What is the target audience? Also, be very specific as to the componant needs of the game. How many wo-sided tiles, what length are the rules as written currently? Also, to what degree has the game been playtested and revised? Publishers will be far more interested in a design that has been hammered on a lot, psaring them the trouble.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck![/i]

Top
Fri, 03/17/2006 - 14:49
#2
Nando
Offline
Joined: 07/22/2008
Re: UR- rules abstract for a publisher

paolo wrote:
I'd like you to read and revise it.
I might take a shot at it.

paolo wrote:
A player turn plays as follows: he chooses how to use the two actions of his tile, trying to get the most out of them; then replaces his tile with a free one from the board, thinking what he will need next.
I'm confused.

This sounds like the board is covered with 36 tiles during setup, and players actually replace a tile on the board with the one in hand. Is that right? (If so, doesn't that cause problems with messing up the playing surface by knocking tiles around?) And players then get the benefit of the face-up side of the placed tile? How do they know that they get the benefit? Are newly placed tiles immediately marked with a population marker?

If new tiles get a population marker, then I'd assume that only populated tiles actually generate an effect. Or is it the case that all four sides of all populated tiles must be examined for their interactions with neighboring tiles on every turn?

Also, can players replace a populated tile that they themselves own?

Top
Mon, 03/20/2006 - 11:30
#3
paolo
Offline
Joined: 08/01/2008
UR- rules abstract for a publisher

Hedge-o-Matic wrote:
Here's a quick revision, to keep the game presentation simpler

Wow, you've done a wonderful work! I'd be a publisher, I definitely want a game like this! ;)

Quote:
I assume you aren't going to send the rules along with this introduction?

Certainly not. I'm going to use a progressive 3 steps strategy:
1- send the abstract
2- send the rules
3- send the prototype
(4- send a bullet in an envelope)

Quote:
Other things a publisher might want to know is what other games are similar in mechanic to the game you're presenting? Does your game have well-established competition in it's niche? What is the target audience? Also, be very specific as to the componant needs of the game. How many wo-sided tiles, what length are the rules as written currently? Also, to what degree has the game been playtested and revised? Publishers will be far more interested in a design that has been hammered on a lot, psaring them the trouble.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck![/i]

It surely helps a lot. Thanks a lot!

Paolo

Top
Mon, 03/20/2006 - 11:37
#4
paolo
Offline
Joined: 08/01/2008
Re: UR- rules abstract for a publisher

Nando wrote:
This sounds like the board is covered with 36 tiles during setup, and players actually replace a tile on the board with the one in hand. Is that right? (If so, doesn't that cause problems with messing up the playing surface by knocking tiles around?)

That's right. At the end of his turn, the player replaces the tile in his hand with a free one from the board, causing the gameboard to ever-change. The tiles are a bit (say 1/4'') one another, so that it's easy to take them up leaving the others in their places.

Quote:
And players then get the benefit of the face-up side of the placed tile? How do they know that they get the benefit? Are newly placed tiles immediately marked with a population marker?

The players get the actions (for the next turn) of the tile they just took up. The tiles on the board give their benefit only if they are occupied (as a result of a war action) by any player.

Quote:
Also, can players replace a populated tile that they themselves own?

No. It' only possible to replace the tile with a FREE one from the board.

Thanks for your comments/questions. May be I should make everything a bit easier to understand.

Paolo

Top
Mon, 03/20/2006 - 12:44
#5
Nando
Offline
Joined: 07/22/2008
Re: UR- rules abstract for a publisher

paolo wrote:
The players get the actions (for the next turn) of the tile they just took up. The tiles on the board give their benefit only if they are occupied (as a result of a war action) by any player.
paolo wrote:
The tiles represent a combination of two different 'development actions' (one on each side), so Agricolture tiles allow players to grow significantly on the agricolture tiles, but losing people on the distant ones; with Commerce you collect richness on the tiles adjacent to other civilizations; Culture tiles benefits take effect on the adjacent tiles of any player (culture has no borders!); Politics allow to redistribute the population and War is the way to attack other players or empty territories.

So if I'm understanding you, to take any action (except for War and maybe Politics?), the tile in my hand has to match one of my occupied tiles on the board.

For example, if I have an Agriculture tile in hand and I have an occupied Agriculture tile on the board, I can move my markers on the board to that Agriculture tile for my action? And if I have a Commerce tile in hand, then I can take a money token (or whatever) if I have an occupied Commerce tile on the board adjacent to a foreign-occupied tile?

But if I have a War tile in hand, I can then move a population marker from any of my occupied tiles on the board (regardless of tile type) to any adjacent tile on the board? Even expelling the current occupant if necessary (or however combat is resolved)?

And I suppose if I had an occupied Politics tile on the board, I might be able to re-arrange population markers on it along with any adjacent tiles I occupy? Or can tile type be disregarded with this one too?

In general, I can't quite match up the tile actions and the tile benefits. The War tile seems to be an obvious exception, having no benefit for occupancy. (If I had to occupy a War tile to benefit from it, how would I ever get there in the first place? If you say "the Politics action", then I think I have a chicken-and-egg problem, but I'm not certain.)

Top
Mon, 03/20/2006 - 13:48
#6
paolo
Offline
Joined: 08/01/2008
UR- rules abstract for a publisher

Perhaps I should send you a copy of the rules to have them explained in a better way. The actions given by the tile in your hand and the tiles that compose the board aren't so strictly correlate. The 5 actions represent 5 different way to populate the tiles on the board (with the exception of the War action, the ones that were previously occupied), while the up faces of the tiles placed on the board represent a sort of territorial advantage for the players who own them.

For example: I've got in my hand a Agricolture/Commerce tile. In my turn use both actions. Agricolture allows me to put 2 markers on each Agricolture tile (ie tile that has the upper face showing agricolture action) I occupy on the board, losing 1 marker on every tile of mine not ortogonally adjacent to my Agricolture tiles. Commerce allows me to put on every Commerce tile 1 marker for each side touching an enemy civilization.

I think now you're more confused than ever. Let me translate the rules so that you can give them a look.

Top
Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut