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All Stars GM: Introduction

This is yet one of my designs that dates back to high school. That's a whooping 25 years ago! I used to play board & card games in school with friends. We used to have a social club in which people could play games during lunch break.

Okay let's get to the design!

I call it "All Stars GM". And I know that I have in the past asked other designers if they might be interested in the concept. So far, no interest.

As such, I have decided myself to work on the game - and see what may evolve from it...

So what is "All Stars GM"? It's a card game (of course - I love card games) that uses a deck of sixty (60) cards. Let's call this deck the "Play Deck".

Some more about the theme? You play the role of a HOCKEY "General Manager". Your role is to put together an "All Star" team that will help you win the game...

Why a GM? Well because you have Deck-Building that occurs when you put together your TEAM of twenty-one (21) players. Here is the breakdown which is SIMPLE to remember:

  • Three (3) Goalies
  • Six (6) Defensive players
  • Twelve (12) Offensive players

Oddly enough, this is the typical configuration for an "All Star" team! :)

Alright, so what happens next?

Well each player has his hidden hand of twenty one (21) players (Roster) and uses those cards to DRAFT cards from the "Play Deck". Each player can use the cards in his Roster to BID on "Play Deck" cards.

Once you choose a player from your Roster, you lay the card HIDDEN from your opponent. And then you use a colored dice to mark which "Play" card is being bidded on.

Players may bid on the four (4) "Play" cards with their Roster. If there are three (3) players for one "Play", the dice should indicate 3. Once players have made their bids, the next phase is revealing the cards that are to use in the "Plays".

For now I will keep the mechanic secret, but the idea is that you tally up the points for each player that is bidding on the "Play" and the player with the HIGHER total wins the card.

What does that mean? I can mean several things:

  • Scoring a goal (only if the puck is in one of the player zones)
  • Shift in the play (the opponent gains control and moves the puck out of his zone)
  • Moving from the neutral zone into the opponent's territory
  • Saving the puck from a shot on goal

Okay, so what is so special about THIS design???

Well my GOAL is to use "REGULAR Hockey cards" to play this game! Yup that's right, now you can collect Hockey cards to PLAY a game with them. And because of the great variety, you can play all sorts of cards even from different decades or different publishers!!!

I think this would be AWESOME game for kids to play - but it has to be KISS and not be overly complicated. But it has to have sufficient MEAT that the game could qualify for tournaments and such...

So this is my "latest" design concept. It is still very NEW - and I have to flesh out more details about the game...

BUT I think having a game kids can play with their HOCKEY CARDS is an awesome idea!

Cheers.

Comments

Hockey Card Revival

I also wanted to add that I believe companies making hockey cards today could use this game as a way to SELL more cards!

I believe that the business today is NOT what it used to be say 15-20 years ago...

But who is to say that Managed Tournaments around the globe can't spike an interest in good old card games!!!

About the "Play Deck"

Another facet of the game is that I forgot to mention that when shuffling the "Play Deck", players divide the deck into three (3) sets (of 20 cards each).

Next players add the "End Period" cards, one in each pile. After this each pile is separately shuffled and all three sets get merged into the ONE (1) "Play Deck".

What this does is randomize the number of plays in a deck into three (3) "Periods"... making sure that not all plays will be available to each game.

Note: I realize that the two (2) first period cards don't make much of a difference since you need to get through the piles (in their entirety) before encountering the "End Period" card. Only the LAST "End Period" plays a role because it will occur before the end of the deck...

I MAY change this into simply ADD three (3) "End Period" cards randomly into the sixty (60) card "Play Deck". This could DRASTICALLY randomize the length of game play and the number of plays available in the game...

Still not decided yet... Will have to think about it some more!

Conferences and logo constraints

Well I have a definite idea as to what I want the LOGO of the game to look like. As such there has to be a *tweak* to the name:

"Hockey All-Star Manager"

This name will work better with the game's logo...

I like this!

Just dropping you a comment to say that I think this is an adorable idea! I remember when I was a kid having massive collections of trading cards and sticker collections. This is like the next step up. I can imagine kids sitting down with their collections trying their best to come up with the team that would beat all the other neighborhood teams...

Very fun! Looking forward to seeing its progress! :)

Nice idea

I really like the idea of using old sports cards as a component.

And there are simply so few decent sports board games on the market.

I'm wondering though, do the kids get to bring their own player cards (like in Magic the Gathering) or do they have to bid for those once the game has started?

Obviously defensive players will act differently from offensive players, but how is a kid going to tell simply by looking at an old hockey card if that player plays offensively or defensively?

Also, is there going to be any difference between stronger players and weaker players?

In your design, do you draft the play cards to build your own play deck, which will then be used to play the game, or is the act of DRAFTING actually playing the play, and the effects applied immediately?

Thanks for the encouragement

Well there are MANY reasons why I like this design concept:

  1. Gives kids a purpose in buying/trading and using their hockey cards.
  2. The deck-building aspect much like Magic encourages players to research what cards are out there and available.
  3. I can picture tournaments where you could WIN a "Rookie Wayne Gretzky" which is an AWESOME card to have for the game (for example).

But there is a lot of BALANCING to do. As I said in one of my earlier posts, the game needs sufficienty DEEP strategy to evoke something worthwhile playing for older players... And it needs to be SIMPLE enough that kids can play also.

So far my stats mechanic is rather SIMPLE. The matching mechanic is more complex. I need to come up with a SIMPLE syntax that can be learned both by adults and kids.

BUT you are very correct: building a deck that INCREASES your odds of winning is something players will work on (downtime) away from the table and it can really bring back all kinds of cards that parents had (If you don't really care about the collectible aspect of the cards)...

What I have OBSERVED is that superstars (like Mario Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosbie) all have HIGHER influence in the game... Which is very cool since it means those collector cards are MORE sought after.

To answer the question:

  1. You build your deck of 21 Players on your OWN TIME (like Magic).
  2. For Offense vs. Defense we have a *special* component that allows player to recognize either. So no worries when you come to the table you know which is which.
  3. Yes there will be difference between weaker and stronger players. The stats mechanic is very *unique* and very simple to understand. But you cannot rely ONLY on strong cards, because the "Play Deck".
  4. Drafting is part of the game as you say "the act of DRAFTING actually playing the play". This is two-folds. Firstly this is All-Star "MANAGER". The game has to be QUICK and DECISIVE with little downtime. Secondly even if you have little knowledge about Hockey - AT A HIGH LEVEL - you can still play the game.

Cheers!

Some inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsU_Q6xwcAw

For the Canadians out there...! :D

So few decent sports games?

*ahem* Pocket Sports are worth a try :) We have 12 different games and good reviews.

In fact, didn't this whole thread start from Pocket Sports' Ice Hockey cards :)

Seriously though....Pocket Sports Ice Hockey will be released in 2 weeks and pre orders are available on the website NOW!

Sorry for crashing your thread Kris!

I feel there is enough differentiation

It's not like the subject matter is not common. But Pocket Sports use dice as the main mechanic in the game. That is NOT the case with "Hockey All-Star Manager".

It started over 25 years ago when I was still in High School. But back then I wasn't a Game Designer nor did I know enough about mechanics to make such a game.

And yes, I had asked HPS74 if he would be interested in co-developing THIS game (as opposed to Pockey Sports). But I agree his whole slew of game are designed with similarities (Custom Dice, Bags, etc.) It didn't make sense not to design a Pocket Sports Hockey game... as this was in the same vein as the other Pockey Sports games.

But my game's focus is on RE-USING Collectible Hockey Cards. As such I think they will be amazing cards that may be won in tournaments, etc. Or even custom cards designed by Upper Deck.

See my angle is this: design a good, Fun game and then pitch somebody like Upper Deck to sponsor the game (not own it - just market it). The reason is because it ADDs value to Hockey Cards: now you will be able to play a game ALSO.

As I said, there is enough differentiation between Pocket Sports and this game...

Best of luck with you launch!

Picture this...

Tommy has two (2) Wayne Gretzky cards... Joey has none and wants to make a trade for one of Tommy's cards.

Tommy says that in return for three (3) other cards (of his selection), he will trade one Wayne Gretzky card in return!

I can picture something like this happening... And it's AMAZING since the game encourages players to TRADE cards.

Also notice that when you PLAY the game, it's Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference. So in reality you need to build two (2) teams, one for each conference...

So that's 42 cards in total. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Update: And it makes total sense since GMs are responsible for ALL trades! This is a bonus reality maker that adds realism to a fantasy type game (All-Star).

I am wondering if Penalties and Power Plays should be part of the game... I mean it is supposed to be an All-Star game. And that usually means no fighting. Maybe the off crosscheck or hooking penalty, hmmm... IDK - Yet.

It seems the make or break

It seems the make or break point is how you're going to use the player stats, and the DRAFT mechanic.
I understand wanting to keep it under wraps, but you really have to let people know what the mechanic is if you want useful feedback.

Not final design still an early concept

Okay the stats mechanic is still under wraps... And is tightly connected with the draft mechanic.

What I can say, besides the idea is still new (e.g. I have not designed cards to prototype the full design), the draft mechanic is also new.

Since this is a two (2) player game, the drafting mechanic is still not 100%. For example I can say that the deck players will draft from, I am unsure if plays can be bidded by both players. Some things need to make sense. Like why would a player on defense draft an offensive play... Should plays have both? What about neutral zone?

So how many plays should be part of the draft??? I was thinking three (3) but this is just arbitrary...

There is also an area control mechanic involved with the game... And that involves plays and puck control.

If you want an "AHAA" moment, picture a play deck that sort of like an NFL playbook. I plan to use this when designing the deck you draft from. :)

But stats will remain under wraps because 50% of the strategy come from deck building... Maybe even more.

I want to prototype the design before I post it up. But don't worry, when I am more certain, I'll post more info...

Cheers.

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