Some months, I thing I've got something really great even after I read everyone's entries. Some months I'm blown away by what others have come up with. This was the second kind of month.
Proximity
my game, 'nuff said.
Dice Pie
A good use of the "I pick, you choose" mechanic and limiting the game to two players ensures that the time limit will be kept. I worry a little bit about how one will be Cutter twice and the other will be Chooser twice. In theory it would be balanced since both players have equal (but incomplete) knowledge. However, I could imagine that a better bluffer would rather be Cutter and be more likely to win. Not a ton of strategy in this game, as the designer said it is about the mind game.
Boxcars
Hmm... the name of the game is Boxcars, but there are no boxcars, because there are no sixes on any of the dice. The custom dice make this game and a good use of the color spectrum to ellucidate the odds. I'd recommend changing the Purple die to White. It'd reduce color blindness issues and the psychological issue of "Purple has some red in it?" (true in printed colors). I don't know about the push you luck aspect, the tie-breaker doesn't seem to be strong enough to encourage people to go for the more red dice, so I imagine it would be whoever threw last wins the tie as everyone left two red dice for last.
Tumbledown
Wow, a lot of components for this fast game. The timer prevents AP issues (or at least makes the AP player quit the game). Due to component quantity and the game nature, I think that this game would be best for 5-8 year olds. In that case, a rule flip to make it be the youngest player gets to roll first might prevent some drama amongst the players.
Banish the Beast
Not quite enough information on this one to make a good call... I suspect it strains not only at the 200 word limit but also the five minute play length. We know that a face-down monster is bad and will match all, I presume that monster cannot activate any powers as well. If there are too many types of terrain then resolving a round gets complex, too few terrains and a round-robin issue can develop where the game never ends.
Clack Brawl
Hmm... a dexterity game, so at least one game I know that I'll lose! Seriously, the size of the mat (and size of the players) might determine how effective you can be at the game. There is some decision making as I assume some tokens are higher risk (1/9) vs. lower risk (4/6).
Tiles and Layers
I don't know how many tiles are in a standard Carcassonne set, but it's under 290 and the game takes more than five minutes to play. So while the game sound very interesting, it does not sound like it makes the time limit in any way. I'm confused about the number, if every symbol is used just once then the number of permutations is 120 (5!). If multiple symbols can appear on the same tile, then the number is 3125 (5^5). However, if all the symbols are bilaterally symmetrical (which it sounds like they are) and there are no distinguishing characteristics and one each of the symbols appear once on the tile then there are only 10 unique ways to arrange an edge of the tile. Since each tile has 4 edges, that means 40 tiles, and that sounds more reasonable.
Not sure I totally understood the pyramid building aspect as well, again I suspect it will break the time limit.
Tipsy Travelers
Hmmm... ignoring the negative dice for a moment, players are making the best choice for their pawn, but there aren't any meaningful decisions... it's just whoever rolled better. The negative dice do make the possbility of having a decision to make, do you help yourself or hurt the other guy. I can't help but think that this is the sort of game that should be played with a beverage in hand. That helps mitigate the lack of decisions, since making the best choice might be harder the third round in (pun intended).
Collect 5
A game that allows strategy, and has multiple strategies. Go for the big score or take the easier route? I actually think that the all numbers all colors set should be scored higher, but there probably are a lot of cards out on the table, since everyone would have been gunning for that to be the game ending hand. I'm a little worried about the time limit, but having a preset strategy means turns might last 5 seconds, meaning you might have gone through the deck before the time runs out. That would be a good and important question... what happens when the deck runs out? Anything, or do players have to start grabbing from the table?
Firestorm!
Excellent... I assume that there would be a sand timer to make this really stressful? I worry about that there are four suits in the Quench deck but five in the Fire deck... is that intentional? Something like a Chemical Fire, that can only be put out by Foam but Foam also puts out any other type of fire? Nice push your luck mechanic, and a neat way to add additional risk. The randomness feels right, since you never call tell what disaster will befall you in a Firestorm!
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Red 0,0,0,1,3,6
Oops, and there are up to three of them. My bad.