Entry #1

Ballo dei Pagliacci

(Dance of the Clowns)

The clown car rolls into the fairgrounds and begins disgorging a seemingly endless number of clowns. They cavort with the appreciative audience as they make their way to their assignments in the sideshow tents. Suddenly, a trouper emerges from the clown car, stares balefully at the rookie clowns and regally marches toward the Big Top. He is not happy with all the accolades the audience bestows on his lesser brethren and vows to steal the spotlight. Things are about to turn ugly…

Object:

There are two possible outcomes: a Trouper victory (Stealing the Spotlight) or a Cooperative victory (Sharing the Spotlight)

Number of Players:

3+

Equipment:

Game board, six dice, a poker deck with one Joker, a pile of poker chips and a dealer's shoe (optional) which represents the clown car

Setup:

Set the Joker aside and shuffle the remainder of the deck. Stick the Joker somewhere in the middle and place the deck into the shoe. Roll one die into each sideshow tent and two into the Big Top. Youngest player gets to be the Joker and operate the clown car.

Play:

Clown Car Follies

The clown car drives around to each player (figuratively) and disgorges one clown. If the Joker comes out during the first round, stick it deeper into the deck. The driver doesn’t get a clown. After every player has a clown, they take turns placing their clowns face-up into one of the four sideshow tents. As each clown enters a tent, create a stack so that only one clown's value is visible. Each player receives accolades from the audience (pile of poker chips). The die represents the number of cheers collected. Once all the clowns are inside the tents, the car makes another trip around the table. Repeat this phase until the Joker emerges.

Joker’s Wild!

As soon as the Joker emerges, set the clown car aside. Any clowns that just came out must follow the Joker into the Big Top. Only the Joker receives the accolades represented by the two dice. Separate the clowns in the Big Top so that other clowns may be stacked on top. Note: if the Joker was the first clown out of the car, there will be no additional clowns. In this case, deal three more clowns from the car and place them in the Big Top.

Starving For Attention

Starting with the player to the Joker’s left, the new sequence of events is as follows: The player examines the topmost clowns in the sideshow tents. If the player is able to, he can collect up to four clowns - one from each sideshow tent - and build onto one of the clowns already in the Big Top. Each clown must be one higher than the one below it, with aces being the highest. The Joker pays to the player one accolade for each clown brought into the Big Top. If the Joker is unable to pay the full amount, all clowns immediately declare a cooperative victory. If the player is unable or unwilling to build onto a stack, he must pay to the Joker a number of accolades equal to the higher of the two dice in the Big Top. After receiving the accolades, the Joker must reduce that die by one pip. If the die is at one, it remains there. If the player is unable to pay the full amount, he is out of the game. If he pays his last accolade, he has one more chance on his next turn to collect from the Joker. After the transaction, the turn passes to the next clown. If the turn reaches the Joker, he can either pass or force a showdown. If he passes, the clowns have another chance to gain a cooperative victory. If there is a showdown, the Joker must have more accolades than ALL other clowns combined. If he does, he wins. Otherwise, it's a cooperative victory for all clowns. Memory might be a useful skill, but it is not permissible to share information about the clowns stacked in the sideshow tents.

Strategy:

It may be tempting to cram all the clowns into the most lucrative sideshow tent, but this will make it nearly impossible to achieve a cooperative victory. It will only extend the inevitable Trouper victory as players find themselves unable to build stacks in the Big Top. In the spirit of cooperation, clowns should make sure that the next player will have a favorable play. Unless, of course, it’s the Joker! If the Big Top dice are large numbers, the clowns with more accolades may want to pay the Joker, reducing future payments for all clowns. The Joker’s only defense to this strategy is to force a showdown.

Entry #3

The Duchies

Start

Each person has three counters and a card with 6 areas for "Farm", "Steal", "Guard", "Pillage", "War" and "Conquer". There are also two shared dice and equipment used to keep track of conquered lands and gold.

The counters represent the soldiers.

Play

One player rolls a dice to decide how many soldiers need to join the army for the army to do something.

1: Number of players -2 2: Number of players -1 3: Number of players. 4: Number of players +1 5: Number of players +2 6: 2*the number of players.

Another dice is rolled and on a roll of 5 or 6 a war is created.

Continued

Each player then put their pieces on the card mentioned above keeping them hidden. They then reveal them at the same time and Soldier actions are done.

If enough players put their soldiers on an army space then the action with the largest amount of soldiers on wins. If there are not enough soldiers then those soldiers are not used.

If there is a draw between army action then going from the left of the dice roller soldiers in the army can change spaces till there is no longer a draw. If there is still as draw after a complete loop roll a dice to decide between the drawing options.

If Conquer is picked then each player gets a vote per soldier in the army to vote for the player who gets the conquered land. The player who gets the largest amount of votes gets the land. If its a draw then nobody gets the land.

Players at any time can give another player gold.

Pieces

Soldiers:

Farm: Gain one Gold Steal: Take one gold from another player. Guard: Take no penalties from war.

Armies:

Pillage: Each soldier gains 2 gold. War: Discard a war. Conquer: One member gets a conquered land piece which gives one gold each round after.

War

If there's a still active war from last turn or earlier each player loses a conquered land piece or failing that a gold. If neither are possible then that player loses nothing.

Winning

When the forth (or any pre-chosen number) war appears the game is over. The player with the most gold wins. To tiebreak the winner is the player with the most conquered land.

Entry #5

Blobs!!!

A game for 2-6 players.

Life on the Planet X is just beginning to evolve. Currently, there are only two forms of life: blobs, and flowers. The flowers are beautiful, nutritious, and grow rapidly in Planet X’s rich soil. The blobs are voracious herbivores, which gobble up any flowers they can get their slimy slime on. Amazingly enough, the struggle for food has allowed even the simplest of organisms to evolve, not mere intelligence, but the ability to perform complex cooperative interactions.

Materials

You will need a chess set, two 8-sided dice (different colors preferable), a hat, and a pen and paper to record eaten flowers.

Goal

The first player whose blobs eat a combined total of10 flowers wins.

Setup

Each player controls two blob pieces. Each player must select a pair of chess pieces of the same color (two white knights, two black rooks, etc). Take four black pawn pieces to represent the flowers, and two white pawns to represent decoys. All other pieces can be put away.

Each player must place their blobs at random. Randomly choose who sets up their blobs first. Roll both dice. The first dice represents how many squares the first blob is placed from the left column (if using algebraic chess notation, 1 is in the “a” column, 2 is the “b” column, etc), and the second dice represents how many squares the first blob is placed from the front row (using chess notation, 1 is row 1, 2 is row 2, etc). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_chess_notation) The first played must do this for both of her blobs. Blobs can be placed on the same square as one another. The player to the right must then place her blobs in the same fashion. If any of her blobs are placed on an enemy’s square, she must put her blobs on any adjacent square (not diagonal). Proceed until each player has placed her blobs.

Once each blob has been placed, take four black pawns (flowers), and place them randomly around the board, using the same method. If a flower is placed on the same square as a blob, reroll both dice. Once each flower has been placed, place the white pawns (decoys) in the hat. The first player to place her blob may then take the first turn.

The Turn

Each player’s turn has two phases: Growing Flowers and Moving Blobs. Play proceeds anticlockwise.

Growing Flowers

First is the Growing Flowers phase. If all four flowers are currently on the board, skip this phase. Otherwise, that player must reach into the hat, without looking, and draw one piece. If she draws a decoy, return it to the hat, and proceeds to the Moving Blobs phase. If she draws a flower, she must randomly place the flower on the board (rolling both dice, as above). Flowers can be placed on squares currently occupied by blobs.

Moving Blobs

Blobs can be in two different forms. When each blob is in its own square, moving individually, they are considered “blobites”. When both blobs are in the same square, moving together, they are considered a “slug”.

If your blobs are currently in blobite form, then each blob may move 2 squares in any direction. It cannot move diagonally, nor through any enemy blob. Your blobs may move freely through each other’s square. If, after both blobites have moved, they are on the same square, then they morph into a slug.

If your blobs are currently in slug form, then together they may move up to 3 squares in any direction. They cannot move diagonally, nor through an enemy slug. However, if they move into the same square as an enemy blobite, then they push it. Move the enemy blobite to any adjacent square (not diagonal, not into a square containing another blob, and not off the edge). That blobite may not move next turn (as it recovers from being slugged). The slug may push the same blobite multiple times each turn.

If your blobs are in slug form, but you no longer wish them to be, then at the start of the turn, you must announce that your slug is splitting. Each individual blobite may move 2 squares in any direction.

If, at the end of the Moving Blobs phase, either blob is on the same space as a flower, then the blob eats the flower. Place the flower in the hat, and record that a flower has been eaten. It is possible for two blobites to each eat two different flowers in one turn. Because nutrients are shared, record only how many flowers have been eaten by each player (rather than her individual blobs).

Entry #7

Altania

Word Count: 851

Once we stood poised to unite the warring nations under a single banner. But the asteroid storm changed all that. The largest asteroid ripped a hole not only in our greatest city, Altania, but in our very society itself. For embedded within that asteroid and its fearsome children was the mysterious element Kratosium. Our scientists soon discovered that Kratosium could power machines four times as efficiently as uranium, yet emitted no harmful radiation. Soon, the fragile alliance between the nations splintered. Each faction vied for control of the super-element, building ever more powerful robots that stalked the ruined city, feeding on the meteoroids even as they fought over them. And then the aliens came...

Altania is an Ameritrashy light wargame for 2-8 players. Each player, representing a different faction, will conduct combat with increasingly powerful robots that can join together. In the closing rounds, aliens will land, forcing a final showdown for ultimate control of the city -- and with it, the world!

Materials

• 49 square-shaped board pieces showing a variety of city blocks: factories, labs, small meteoroids, abandoned areas, and one giant meteoroid.
• Three decks of Mecha Cards, each representing a single robot (“Mecha”). Each Mecha has different health and movement scores. Most have a weapon (laser, slug, missile), some have a corresponding defense (shield, armor, point-defense, respectively), and some have both. The decks are different price levels, with increasing levels of power – expensive Mecha have multiple weapons and defense systems!
• A deck of gray Alien Mechas, each frighteningly powerful.
• A deck of Development Cards, which give one-time or even permanent bonuses. Some examples: Ambush (defender attacks first), Super-Duper-Mecha (allow a stack of 6 Mechas), Bounty (get cash for destroying another Mecha).
• A pile of Kratosium chits (Kr), the game’s “money”.
• Colored player flags, to identify players’ Mechas.
• Damage tokens.
• Dice in various colors and denominations, used for different weapons and defenses.

Set-Up

1. The Giant Meteoroid is the center of the city, which is a 7x7 grid. Players place a factory in a corner (with 5-8 players, also at the center of a side), marking it with a flag as their Home Base. Place remaining city blocks randomly.
2. Shuffle Mecha Cards and place them in six piles near the board (two per deck), FACE UP.
3. Shuffle the Development Cards and place them in a pile FACE DOWN.

Game Turn

Each turn consists of five discrete phases: Mining, Repair, Movement/Joining, Combat, and Purchase.

Mining

Players collect increasing amounts of Kr for small meteoroids, Labs, Factories, and the Large Meteroid, but only if they have a unit on the square. They also collect from their Home Base, unit or not.

Repair

Players can remove one or two damage chits at a factory or their Home Base, respectively.

Movement/Joining

Movement

Mechas may move up to their maximum movement score, in any cardinal direction(s). For Super-Mechas, use the movement score of the greatest number of Mechas in the stack; ties go to the slower speed. Mechas may walk past other “friendlies” but must join together to form a Super-Mecha if ending this phase in the same square.

Joining (Super-Mechas)

Up to five Mechas may join together to form a Super-Mecha (SM). Move them to a square together and place them in a stack, with your flag on top. SMs may not disassemble, but individual components can be destroyed, leaving room for new Mechas to join.

Combat

Combat takes place when one unit moves onto a space occupied by an enemy unit. Combat takes place in rounds, with the attacker first rolling attacks and subtracting the defender’s defense rolls; if the total is more than the enemy’s health, it takes damage. Damaged units can then be destroyed with another hit. Roles are then reversed. Players may then retreat or opt to fight another round.

SMs attack with combined weapons, defend with combined defenses, and have combined health total; in short, they are big and dangerous. Hits mean a unit-wide damage token (up to the number of components) or a destroyed component.

Players can attack Home Bases, which have some defenses. A destroyed Home Base eliminates a player.

Purchase

Purchase any of the face-up Mechas in one of the six piles by paying its Kr price to the bank; place it at your Home Base. Development Cards may also be purchased now.

Alien Attack

When TWO of the six Mecha stacks have been depleted, the Aliens land and immediately attack! Eliminated player(s) control the Aliens (otherwise they follow some simple algorithm, in parentheses):

• A three-unit SM on each surviving Home Base (will attack Home Bases)
• A Five-unit SM on the center Meteroid (will roam around, attacking units)

Continue until the Aliens have either destroyed every Home Base or been destroyed themselves. If the Aliens win, then the Alien player who was eliminated LAST is the winner of the game. If the Aliens lose, then the Human player with the most Kratosium wins, including half the total price of surviving units.

All hail the winner, ruler of a ruined world!

Entry #9

cAMP Purpureum

Dictyostelium purpureum is a species of Dictostelium that forms colonies by kinship as well as proximity. cAMP Purpureum is an abstract that takes this into account in the colony “fruiting” mechanic.

Pieces

Sets are sold in pairs. Each unit contains the following in a fabric bag:

-6 wooden hexes (representing the environment)

-8 coloured glass stones in two colours (representing phages)

-Rules

Players

Minimum 2, maximum is theoretically unlimited. Any number of people can join in a game as long as their phages are of a different colour from everyone else. Hexes are always the same colour.

Object

To out-populate and crowd out the phage colonies of your opponents.

Setup

Each player takes three hexes and all four stones of one colour. The person who has most recently suffered amoebic dysentery plays first. Players place two hexes and one stone in turn starting from the first player.

The hexes must contact at least one hex-side of the hexes already placed on the board. Glass beads (representing phages) may not start the game adjacent. Once this placement is complete, players will have one hex and three phages in their supply. Here is an example of a legal set-up:

Play

Play begins with the start player from the setup. The player may either:

-place/move stones, or

-place/replace hexes

Once he has done so, he may, if eligible, either:

-form a spore colony (fruiting), or

-remove an overpopulated phage from the board.

Play then continues to the left. NOTE: fruiting is illegal in the first round of the game.

Placement/movement of stones

A player may place a phage on any empty hex that is adjacent to another phage of the same colour.

A player may also place a phage on an empty hex that is adjacent to a phage of any colour if and only if a chain of adjacent phages (of any colour) can be traced from a phage of the player’s colour to the empty space. For example, if a yellow phage is adjacent to a red phage which is adjacent to a blue phage which is adjacent to an empty space, the yellow player may place a yellow phage in that empty space. If the chain of adjacency is broken anywhere along the line, the move is not valid.

A player may alternatively move any one of his phages to an adjacent open hex.

Placement/replacement of hexes

A player may place a hex from his supply to any place on the board, so long as the hex contacts at least one hexside of a hex already in play.

A player may, alternatively, remove any empty hex from the board and move it to a different eligible position. If the removal of a hex orphans any part of the board, its removal is illegal.

Fruiting

Any phage that:

1) is,

2) is placed, or

3) is moved adjacent to

a minimum of two other phages, provided that a minimum of one of the adjacent phages is of the same colour, may fruit.

To fruit, move the two adjacent phages into the hex of the phage that initiated fruiting.

On the player’s next turn, he MUST:

1) remove all phages to their respective supplies except one phage (in this case a “spore”) of his colour

2) place this “spore” in any open hex (includes the source hex)

A player who places a spore may not fruit with that spore.

Removal of overpopulated phages

A player may remove one phage from the board that is adjacent to three or more phages of any colour. This phage may not be of the player’s own colour. The player holds this phage in his supply for endgame scoring.

Ending the game:

The game ends either when one player has no phages on the board or when one player has one phage on the board and no phages of his own colour in his personal supply. Players score one point for each phage of their own colour on the board (not counting those in any fruiting colonies!) and two points for every opponent’s phage in their personal supply.

Sample game end: Red won with six points (including two opponents’ phages in his supply)

Voting is closed and it's time to announce the results:

Winner: Escape from Hadron, by Jpwoo. 36 points (5,5,5,4,4,4,3,3,3)
Second place: Hungry Cities, by Roberta Taylor. 22 points (5,5,5,4,3)
Third place: Blobs!!!, by simons. 17 points (5,5,4,3)

Followed by:
cAMP Purpureum, by dnjkirk. 16 points (5,4,4,3)
Ameban Amok, by kJev. 15 points (5,4,3,3)
Altania, by ilta. 11 points (4,4,3)
Ballo dei Pagliacci (Dance of the Clowns), by Mitchell Allen. 8 points (5,3)
Tower, by McWookie. 4 points
Firewall, by Robert_C. 3 points
The Duchies, by Empking. 0 points.

For the record, based on the voting, the old winner takes all method would have resulted in a tie for first place with both Escape from Hadron and Hungry Cities getting 3 votes. With the 5-3-1 voting I suggested at the start, the results would have been basically the same, with no changes in the ranking.