I recently created a game not too long ago but it was a bit derivative of my prior game (Never Seven Nor Eleven). Because it was a bit derivative, I decided to place that game aside (although it is a nice game, if I do say so myself) and try to create something outside of my comfort zone - A card game.
For this game, I wanted it to be non-competitive. Everyone is on the same team; No stress. Just fun.
The set-up is simple: People are stranded on an island with an active volcano that is going to erupt. The players have to get as many of those players off of the island as possible.
There are two decks of cards: The stranded people and the "action" cards that will get them off of the island. The action cards form a sentence: EX. "[Young] [Male] [Caucasian] [Scientist] [wears glasses]." There has to be five cards to form a sentence and some cards may fit one sentence but not another. The players take turns trying to place an action card down to form the sentence. (EX. The first player has to place the first word, and not just any word in a sentence). They get two chances (two turns around the table) to form the sentence.
If they can form any complete sentence at all, play stops and five "stranded" cards are then flipped over and the players see if they've 'saved' any of the players by matching the sentence with the stranded people.
If even one stranded person is saved, everyone takes a new action card and the old ones are discarded. The people who are saved are placed aside and the ones that weren't are placed back into the bottom of the pile.
If they do not form a sentence or save no one, then the last person who could have put down a card picks up all of the action cards played.
The game is over when everyone is saved (everyone gets off the island in time) or one person runs out of cards (the volcano erupts and people were still on the island).
Anyway, I thought that it was a neat idea. It had a slightly educational and cooperative bend to it. Could be for middle-school age or adults who are young-at-heart.
The island volcano setting could obviously be changed or altered ("How many people can you save from Pompeii? From Titanic? From Atlantis?").
I don't have a lot of resources to test it out and am not proficient with card games so perhaps someone who does know card game mechanics would know what the challenges would be for this proposal or if it has been done already ("You just described such-and-such!").
