Game Design Showdown May 2005 Challenge - Business as Usual

Entry #1 -- Patent Office
by ShiftyPickles

Patent Office

Object: To be the first player with 3 patents

Materials:
•Day of the month marker
•$10,$20,$50 and $100 bills
•5 colored patent pending marbles per player
•Part Cards
•Patent Office- a random sorting machine, consisting of a tube cris-crossed by random poles. Marble dropped into the top of the machine will fall through redirected randomly by poles until falling into one of 5 days of the month slots at the bottom.
•Board with 30 “day of the month” spaces arranged in a circle, the 10th and the 25th are “pay days”
• “patent pending”/“patented” cards

Setting up:
•The Banker shuffles the deck of part cards and deals each player one face up in front of them. Remaining cards are placed face down as the draw pile
•Each player gets, 5 $100 bills, 4 $50, 5 $20, and 10 $10
•Each player gets 5 patent pending marbles
•Place the day of the week marker on the first of the month.
•Set the patent cards aside, they will be used later

Taking Turns:
•The oldest player goes first.
•They turn over the top card of the draw pile. They have the option of buying it for the card value.
•If the player chooses not to buy the card it goes up for bid. Any player (including the one whose turn it is) may bid any price for the part, highest bid takes it.
•The player may now “deal”. They can try to sell, buy or trade parts with any other player. Players can make up to two deals during their turn. There are no restrictions on deals.
•Once a player has made their deals they lay out any new cards face up in front of them, building machines as they are able (see below)
•They may apply for a patent at this time (see below.)
•To end their turn they move the day of the month marker forward one space
•If it lands on a pay day (see below) the banker pays all players before the next turn

Building Machines:
•Each part has a value amount and colored lines on some or all sides to indicate where it can be connected. Some of the machine cards may also be labeled with a “beginning” or an “end”.
•Once players have a part they can connect it to another of their parts by matching connection points (red to red etc).
•A machine is complete when it has a beginning and an end. The price of the machine is the total of all part values.
•Once a machine is complete the builder may apply for a patent on that machine AS LONG AS no other player already holds a patent for the same machine.
•Players may reorganize cards during their turn to reform machines as they choose. Once a machine has a patent it cannot be rearranged.

Applying for a Patent:
•When a player has a completed machine they can apply for a patent by paying a $100 fee to the bank. At this point they receive a patent card and put it “patent pending” face up on their machine.
•They drop a marble into the patent office and it will be sorted into one of 5 days, they place that marble on that day on the calendar (if the marble came out on the 13th they would put their marble on the 13th day of the calendar board)
•When the day of the week marker reaches a day where a player has a patent pending marble the player collects the marble, flips their card over to the “patented” side
•The bank pays them a “patenting bonus” equal to the price of the machine
•Once a machine is patented no other player may patent the same machine.

Payday:
•When the day of the week marker is on a payday the bank pays every player according to the number of patents they hold, 0-$300, 1-$400, 2-$500

Winning:
The fist player with three patents wins

Entry #3 -- The Factory of Mr Crinkleworth
by Sebastian

The Factory of Mr Crinkleworth

London, at the heart of the industrial revolution was a grimy place, with red bricked factories belching black smoke into the air. The factory workers were dressed in rags, overworked and paid pennies. Mr Crinkleworth's factory was a fine example of this, and is where you are currently working.

However, hope is not dead! Mr Crickleworth's factory supervisor has just died of the plague, and if you can get the job, then you will get an extra three pennies a week. Now, if you can only impress him more than the other candidates...

Game Play

The factory consists of a number of machines, each of which has a space per player next to it to hold resources and manufactured goods. The machines are arranged in a path that Mr Crinkleworth will follow.

Players start the game with their life savings of 5 pennies, two random resources which they must place next to one of the machines, and the lust to get out of this place. Mr Crinkleworth starts next to one machine, ready to make a factory tour to assess performance.

At the beginning of each week, each player gets 2 pennies wages, and resources arrive through the chute. This is like the wallenstein dice tower, but at the bottom, there is a section segmented into seven parts of various heights, so that the materials that arrive are split into groups.

The players take turns doing actions going clockwise round the table. Time is money - each action will cost them one penny. The round ends when each player has passed (in which case Mr Crinkleworth will score the machine he is currently standing by), or Mr Crinkleworth has done one complete loop of the factory (in which case he won't). The actions are:

o Getting resources from one of the sections of the chute and placing them by a machine in your space

o Using a machine to turn items into manufactured goods, which are placed by that machine in your space. If you produce an item that someone else has already produced, you destroy their item.

o Sell a manufatured good for between 1, 2 or 3 money. Note that you may well make a loss on it. This action does not cost a penny - it's already factored into the price.

o Score the current machine, and move Mr Crinkleworth to the next machine. Mr Crinkleworth scores each player three points for every manufactured good that that player has by the machine, and deducts one point for every resource that that player has by the machine.

The first player to get twenty points gets the promotion.

Entry #5 -- Payload!
by Kreitler

Payload!

In Payload!, players compete to put satellites into orbit. The player with the highest dollar value of satellites in orbit at the end of the game wins!

2 to 5 people can play. Each player represents a country with a space program.

Each player gets a deck of "Rocket Parts" cards specific to his country. There are 5 kinds of parts in the game: Engine, Fuel, Fuselage, Guidance System, and Recovery System. Each country manufactures all but one of the parts -- so players must trade to build their rockets. Every "part" card has a value from 1 to 3.

Each player also gets 10 marbles, color-coded to his country. These represent satellites. The game ends when one player runs out of marbles (loses his marbles?).

There is a single Payload! deck, which consists of Satellite cards. Each satellite has 3 numbers: Tech, Orbit, and Value (see below).

The center of the playing area is called the "Ocean". It acts as a special draw/discard pool for rocket part cards (see below).

Finally, there is a single "launch computer" gadget. Players use it to determine if their launches succeed (see below).

*** Summary of Basic Gameplay ***
Players choose a starting player. Play proceeds clockwise. Everyone starts with 4 cards. Initially, draw one Payload! card per player and place these face up on the table.

One his turn, the active player replenishes his hand to 4 cards. He can draw from his country's Parts deck, or he can recover cards from the Ocean.

The player can now trade for parts with other players and build his rockets. To build rockets, the player places Parts cards, face up, in front of him. Players can build more than one rocket at once. Players can build a rocket over multiple turns. Parts for each rocket go in separate groups.

A complete rocket requires one of each Part. When a player completes a rocket, he can launch a satellite. The player calculates the rocket's Tech value by summing the value of its parts. The player can launch any satellite with an equal or lower Tech value.

To launch, the player takes one of the face-up Payload! cards and places it by his rocket. He then uses the launch computer to determine the success of his launch (detailed below). If successful, he keeps the Payload! card. A player's final score is the sum of the Value scores on all his Payload! cards.

After the launch (successful or not), a player must discard the rocket's Parts. He can place one card, face down, in the Ocean for each point shown on his Recovery System Part. All other parts go to a Scrap discard pile and are out of the game.

*** The Launch Computer ***
Players use the Launch Computer to determine the success of their launch. The Computer is a "radial pinball machine". At its center is a spring-loaded launching pin that will fire a player's marble in one direction. 4 concentric rings surround the center. These are gear driven and all rotate clockwise.

Rotation speed is controlled by a switch with 3 settings (1 = fastest, 3 = slowest) and by a ring's distance from the center (closer rings rotate faster).

The inner-most ring has 4 slots through which the marble can comfortably fit. The spaces between the slots are blocked off. The outer 3 rings represent different "orbits" into which players launch satellites. Each "orbit" has depressions into which marbles fit, separated by flat spaces over which marbles roll on their way to higher orbits.

Players set the speed switch according to the value on their "guidance system" Part. The better the Guidance System, the more slowly the whole mechanism rotates. Players then place their marble on the firing pin and "turn on" the board. As the rings rotate, spaces will align, creating "launch windows" through which players fire their marbles. When a good window appears, the player presses the trigger, firing his marble into orbit. If it lands in the correct ring (determined by the satellite's Orbit number), the launch succeeds and he takes the satellite card. If not, or if it hits something on the way up, the launch fails and the player discards the satellite.

("Star Wars" variant: players can use their satellites to knock other players' satellites out of orbit.)

Entry #7 -- The Cupcake Lords of Camp Legume
by yogurt

Before the strange kid was locked away in his parents' car, he whispered his secret to the last boys he saw. And so, this small cabal at a vegetarian health camp recovered a trove of forbidden cupcakes and became...

The Cupcake Lords of Camp Legume

Players control the supply of cupcakes at a children's camp that's desperate for treats.

Cupcake prices fluctuate based on the supply and the habits of buyers, who are controlled by the game. Players must make split-second decisions on when to sell.

Players spend their money to enlist campers in schemes that will bring the player luxury and privilege.

The winner is the player who amasses the most lavish empire inside this camp of self denial.

Phase 1: Selling Cupcakes

Each player has eight cupcakes per round to sell to Camp Legume campers. The players sell simultaneously through the Secret Tuck Shop, a talking electronic gadget.

The Secret Tuck Shop looks like an abandoned cabin fixed up with signs and streamers. Plastic kids clamour around it.

Players are connected to the Secret Tuck Shop with Jeopardy-style buzzers.

When the auction starts, the tuck shop calls out the current offer (see below), using different prerecorded kid's voices for the bidding campers. Prices range from $1 to $9.

The first player to click his buzzer sells a cupcake at the current price, and a new price is announced.

If no sale happens for three seconds, the game may raise its offer.

The Price of a Cupcake

Players will have a rough idea of how prices may move, but prices can drop or leap unexpectedly.

The Secret Tuck Shop calculates the current offer with algorithms based on these rules:
• There are twelve campers bidding on the player's cupcakes.
• They all start with $10 and cannot bid more money than they have.
• The campers have different personalities. Some are bold, jumping far over the last offer. Some are cheap and stop bidding over a given price. Some wait. Some rush.
• Campers are willing to pay more when there are few cupcakes left to buy in this round.
• Campers who did not get a cupcake last round are more eager to buy.

The tuck shop calculates the current best offer and announces it in that child's voice.

Ending the Auction

If no player accepts an offer for five seconds, the campers cry, "Aww," and everyone goes back to the bunkhouse. All unsold cupcakes are lost.

If the price climbs over $7, there's a random chance that the raucousness may attract camp counsellors. The counsellors shout, "Hey you kids!" All unsold cupcakes are lost.

If a player sells all eight of his cupcakes, the other players have 60 seconds to sell their remaining stock. (They have to follow the first player back to camp to protect the cupcake trove.) All cupcakes unsold after 60 seconds are automatically sold for 1 dollar. The auction ends with a mix of cheers and wistful sighs.

Phase 2: Collect Money

The Secret Tuck Shop announces each player's earnings from that auction. ("Player One earned... twenty... ONE... dollars.")

Players collect their money from the bank.

Phase 3: Enlisting the Talents of Campers

Some campers may be broke after buying cupcakes. The tuck shop will pop up their plastic figures after the auction.

Repeat these steps for each penniless camper:

1. Turn four talent cards face up. The talents cards show what the campers offer a player to get their money back. Possible talents are: muscle, alertness, brains, charm, dignity and possessions. (A camper may offer multiples of the same talent.)

2. Any player may pay the bank $10 to take all four cards. If more than one player wants the talent cards, auction them off. The auction winner pays the second-highest bidder, and then pays the bank $10.

3. Push the figure back down. The Tuck Shop will assign $10 to that camper.

Phase 4: Schemes

Players may now combine the talents they've bought to enrich their lives at camp.

Each scheme has a victory point value. The schemes are represented by pictures.

Examples:
brains + alertness + muscle = a comfy chair in the bunkhouse (15 VP)
dignity + muscle = a fanning servant (5 VP)
brains + possessions + muscle = watching a portable TV powered by a bike (15 VP)
brains + alertness + charm = romance at the girl's camp with young Cyrano behind a bush (15 VP)

Ten new schemes are available to the players each round. Discard leftovers from last round.

Players may save talents for later rounds, but earn bonus money if they create schemes early.

Players may trade money and talents freely.

Winning the Game

After five rounds, the player with the most victory points (in schemes) wins. Ties go to the richest player.

Entry #9 -- Poseidon Fury
by emxibus

Poseidon Fury
3-5 players

Deep in the artic waters of The Bering Sea, Poseidon watches over his beloved king crabs. Once a year, crab ships converge on Dutch Harbor, Alaska to brave the weather in hopes of making a fortune. The season is short, the weather is relentless, and sleepless nights are required. It takes a fearless crew to defy the Fury of Poseidon; do you have what it takes?

Objective:
Sell the most crab (poundage) to the processing plants once the season’s quota is reached or after the final day of the season has passed.

Components:
board

5 ships

Pots (10 for each player)
Pots are the cages that are baited and dropped to the bottom of the sea to catch crabs. Pots are attached to a buoy and left to be retrieved later. Each pot has two buttons and a digital display (like a watch). The drop button is pressed when the pot is dropped into the water. This starts/resets the counter on the digital display. The retrieve button is pressed when the pot is retrieved; this stops the counter. The longer you leave your pot in the water the more crabs you will catch, up to filling the pot. Time needed to increment the counter by one will be determined during testing.

72 crab counters
Crab counters have a number on one side.

6 poundage tokens

1 day token

12 weather cards
Each day will present the players with new weather conditions.

10 intuition cards
Veteran captains know how to find the best crab fishing. These cards give coordinates to bonus crabbing spots. When a player retrieves a pot from this space he reveals the card and receives extra poundage.

30 second sand timer
Play is simultaneous, each turn last 30 seconds. This represents the furious pace in which the crew has to work.

Setup:
1. Place one crab counter (face down) on each space of the board.
2. Place poundage and day tokens on the score track.
3. Place the weather cards in a draw pile.
4. Each player is given 10 units of money to equip their ship. A ship has a base engine of 1, and 2 pots. Distribute money between the engine (number of spaces your ship can move a turn), pots (number of cages your ship will carry), and optional veteran crew (cost 3).
5. Each player is dealt 2 intuition cards.
6. From Dutch Harbor (red island) move up to five spaces and await the start of the season.
7. Oldest player takes the sand timer. The player with the sand timer represents the coast guard and Alaskan gaming authority for the current turn. He does not participate in the crab fishing. He updates the season’s poundage totals, polices the turn, and watches the sand timer. Once the sand time runs out, he flips it over and hands it to the player to his left. This player takes over the coast guard and Alaskan gaming authority duties. Each time the oldest player gets the sand timer he moves the day token down one space and flips over the next weather card.

Game play:
Turns are simultaneous, each turn a player may pick two of the three actions.

1. Move: A player may move his ship up to X spaces, where X is the engine rating on his ship. A ship cannot end its movement on a square with a stationary ship (the owner’s fingers are not touching it).
2. Drop pot: If a ship is on a space where the crab counter has not be revealed, a player may drop a pot on it. A player can only drop one pot per space. Once the pot is placed, press the drop button on the pot. There can be pots from other players on the same space.
3. Retrieve pot: If a player’s ship is on a space with one of his pots he may retrieve it. If the crab counter has not been revealed, he reveals it. He then presses the retrieve button on the pot and calculates and updates his poundage total. Pot poundage is calculated as follows:

(CC–P)*T where

CC = the number on the crab counter.
P =the number of pots currently on the space.
T = the digital counter number on the pot.

If the (CC-P) is less than one, it defaults to 1.

If a player uses a intuition card, its number is added to the (CC-P) total.

If a player has a veteran crew he may perform all three actions.

Actions can be preformed in any order.

Game End:
Once the season’s poundage quota is met or the season ends, the players sell their crabs to the processing plants. The player with with the most crab poundage is the winner.

Challenge Results

I wasn't sure how well the "gadget" thing would come off ... but I was delighted to see so many creative games with interesting gadgets -- nice work everyone!

This was our first time using the top-3 style of voting ... I awarded 5, 3, and 1 points, respectively, to each voter's #1, #2, and #3 rated games. The "Best Gadget" side-vote was a straight-up count of votes.

Based upon that, we have the following results ...

Best Design

First Place (40 points -- 5 #1's, 5 #2's) -- The Cupcake Lords of Camp Legume by yogurt (Entry #7) ... this makes it 3-for-3 for yogurt!!

Second Place (21 points -- 2 #1's, 3 #2's, 2 #3's) -- Payload! by Kreitler (Entry #5)

The rest of the scoring went as follows ...

• Patent Office by ShiftyPickles (Entry #1) -- 14 points (2 #1's, 4 #3's)
• Poseidon Fury by emxibus (Entry #9) -- 11 points (1 #1, 1 #2, 3 #3's)
• Skyscrapers/Windcatchers by Gogolski (Entry #4) -- 10 points (2 #1's)
• Smooth Operator by Scurra (Entry #10) -- 10 points (3 #2's, 1 #3)
• The Factory of Mr. Crinkleworth by Sebastian (Entry #3) -- 9 points (1 #1, 1 #2, 1 #3)
• Brewster's Mullions by Challengers (Entry #2) -- 6 points (1 #1, 1 #3)
• Hot-Rod Mania by seo (Entry #8) -- 4 points (1 #2, 1 #3)
• Zoastro by Kanaka -- 1 point (1 #3)

First Place (6 votes) -- Payload! by Kreitler (Entry #5)

Honorable Mention ...

• The Cupcake Lords of Camp Legume! by yogurt (Entry #5) -- 4 votes
• Hot-Rod Mania by seo (Entry #8) -- 2 votes
• Patent Office by ShiftyPickles (Entry #1) -- 1 vote
• Zoastro by Kanaka -- 1 vote

Discussion of these results can be continued in the "Critique the Entries" thread found here: http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2540

Thanks again to everyone! The June Challenge will be posted in a couple of weeks.

-Bryk