Comments and Questions on the November 2005 Challenge

Cheese!

So does it necessarily have to be a body of water? Or is the idea that you've got a medium in which you're working, bounded by whatever...

So for example, instead of water and islands, could you use Outer Space and planets?

For another example, would it be breaking the spirit of the rule to say that your 'body of water' is simply a city and your 'points-of-interest' are specific places in that city (roads as waterways, locations as islands, etc)?

Or do you want the theme to incorporate actual water?

Ahhh yes! A GDS that fills my quivering heart with enthusiasm! Thank you, Bryk! (I mean, "Academia"?, I tried, I really tried, but I just couldn't get the ol' motor running on that one.)

~Josh

im with hamumu on this, the double dice look like the equivalent to 2 standard dice... so ivewritten the rules assuming so, but if they're shady ninja dice, let us know lol

Bryk,

Did you miss my question since we posted it at the same time? Just some clarification on the distinction required for a mini-game to be such rather than just part of the mechanics. Or am I missing something here?

Andy

Just to make sure I have this correct, the rules mandate that the set of items that a player is seeking should change from game to game, but they do not forbid the items being sought from always being found in the same location from game to game; is this correct?

Thanks,

Jeff

Does anyone know if those double-dice can float? Are they water tight?

- Dwight

Don't-tell-anyone, but-using-hyphens-instead-of-spaces-will-make-Word-count-it-as-just-one-word, thus-allowing-you-to-avoid-being-limited-by-the-800-word-limit.

;-)

Seo

PS: removed a couple hyphens. It was too annoying to have such a wide line.

These were my first thoughts when I read the challenge. While I have no GREAT ideas yet only a few disjointed ones I think the mini-game requirement should add words.

- Dwight

Mine is terse. I say no. =)

I would agree that 800 words should be enough for everything, after all they are MINI games.

Challengers wrote:

It's just not Byrk's responsibilty, I think. I admire his work on getting everything up and running and being standby for responding to a bunch of questions almost every month...

THANKS BRYKOVIAN!!

Cheese.

I'm on record as being in favor of an even smaller word limit, so I think that sticking with the 800 word limit is a good way to go. One possible way, as a writer, to hit this limit, is to imagine you're writing a review of the game rather than a rulebook for the game.

As proof that this can be done, I've pasted in below a "GDS entry" I just wrote for Puerto Rico, which is a reasonably complicated game, yet I was able to cover all of the major mechanics in just 615 words.

A few principles that this founders:

-- Explaining minor points eats up words. Note that I didn't explain in detail the intracacies of the replenishment of the colony ship, nor did I delve into the rule that the number of discounts you can get from quarries varies by the "column" of the building on the central board (in fact, I didn't even mention the central board!). And in fact, I explained one rule incorrectly (the "spoilage" effect after shipping)! That's ok; these are not essential to understanding how gameplay works. Don't be afraid to gloss over stuff.

-- Give an overview, not an algorithm. Readers aren't trying to learn how to play your game, they're trying to see what is exciting and creative about it that makes it worthy of your vote. Detailed descriptions of setup algorithms, or rigorous accounting of when the discard pile is shuffled, etc, don't contribute much to this.

Here is the description:

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico gives players the responsibility of developing the new world. By planting, harvesting, and shipping crops, developing the island’s infrastructure via buildings, and attracting colonists to the island to work in the emerging economy, players will compete to see who can make the largest impact.

Each player receives a player mat which has two areas, a 12-space “plantation” area, into which crop-producing “plantation” tiles will be placed, and a 12-space “city” area, into which rectangular “building” tiles will be placed. All tiles have a circle on them, representing that a small wooden “colonist” piece must be placed on the tile in order for it to operate.

Plantations come in 5 varieties (corn, indigo, sugar, tobacco, coffee), and each has a corresponding wooden marker of the same color. Each plantation type, with the exception of corn, also has a corresponding production building, which can be built in the city. During a production action, a player who has a plantation and matching production building, AND has a colonist in both spots, will receive a crop marker of the appropriate type.

In addition to production buildings, there are buildings that confer a variety of special powers, and have a cost between 1-10 Doubloons.

Each round, a different player will serve as the island’s “governor”. Beginning with that player and proceeding in clockwise order, each player takes a turn. On his turn, a player chooses one of the 8 Role tiles, and executes its ability; then, ALL OTHER players get to use this ability as well. (the player who chose the ability then receives a special additional benefit). The abilities are:

Craftsman: Produce resources, via the above-mentioned algorithm. (The active player receives an additional resource)

Settler: Each player receives one plantation tile, chosen from a face-up display. (The active player may choose a “quarry”, which gives a discount when Building)

Builder: Each player may purchase one building for his city (The active player gets a 1-Doubloon discount)

Mayor: Players receive colonists, and may arrange their colonists on their buildings and plantations however they see fit. (the active player receives an additional colonist)

Trader: A player may sell one crop to the trading house, placing the crop on the trading house tile, for a payout based on the value of the item (Coffee is worth 4 doubloons, Corn is worth 0 doubloons, eg). BUT, a player may not sell a resource to the trading house if a resource of that type is already on the tile. The trading house empties when all 4 of its spaces are full.

Captain: Players may place their crops onto one of the three ships, receiving 1 VP per crop. Play goes around in order, and each player may ship one crop during each round. He may only add a crop to a ship that is vacant or that already contains the same type of crop, and he MUST ship if it’s possible to do so. After shipping, any unshipped goods are lost.

Prospector(x2): The active player, and only the active player, receives 1 Gold.

The game ends when one of three criteria is met:
1. A player builds 12 buildings in his city
2. All of the VP tokens included in the game are taken
3. All of the colonist markers have been used up.

Players receive VPs from three sources:
1. VP tokens they received from shipping
2. Buildings each have a VP payout of 1-4 VPs
3. Several special buildings pay bonus VPs (again, IF a colonist is placed on them). Bonuses include effects like “Receive X VP if you have Y plantations” or “Receive 1 VP for every Z colonists”)

The player with the most VP is the winner!