I saw the race-to-the-end challenge as a call to make meaningful decisions possible in the kid's game arena. I'd played a lot of solo games lately (not much race-to-the-end style) and the classic Talisman (which is a prominent, cult-classic race-to-the-end example). My goal was to keep things light, but still permit someone who thinks about it do better than one who randomly rolls and moves.

My offering, "Clockwerk," has small "cells" along the path, and each cell has its own portion of a non-renewable resource: cards. The notion of set collection and secret information suggests that players who move around the path will have a better chance of finding what they need, while not revealing all that they're seeking. By leaving the decks of cards face-up, players will have some idea of what other players have, and where they ought to go next, so it's not completely random and not completely unknown information. Players will also have an idea of whether or not another player has their full set,since at that time they'll be heading directly for the finish/"F" space.

The rotation of path components is a way to add challenge and "Struggle," outlined in Costikyan's article. The one true random element involves these round pathways rotating one way or the other. Fortunately these paths aren't too large/long, so players - who can choose how far they move each turn - aren't stuck on them for too long. There are also action cards that can be used to mitigate this random position element.

I made the graphical component (the game board diagram) in about 15 minutes in MS Paint. :) It's good enough to bring the point across.

I like the basic idea of this game but it gets very confusing when the player rolls spicy. And what is the point of rolling sweet when spicy is always going to get you more moves? Especially seeing as the player takes a penalty for not doing spicy. And how are the numbers determined on the dice? Are they just d6's or pictures that require memorizing which is higher (and thusly having a memory component for kids)?

I don't want to sound mean, I'm just confused.

A lot of folks celebrate holidays this time of year, and their schedules are packed with obligations, family and otherwise. I completely understand if anyone would drop the ball on something like this at such a hectic time.

I say if we've not seen an update, let's keep it rolling ourselves as if week 2 began on the 5th. Sound like a good idea?

I was out of town myself until yesterday, and had no idea where we were on this. Glad to see I didn't miss anything! Looking forward to next week's course.