Can you think of an idea/theme that lends itself to building a formation of about 15 tiles in front of each individual. I'd like players to draw from a few stacks of tiles and be able to start from one tile and expand out (not a collective formation like Carcassonne). Something that has the freedom to expand and results in a coherent but unique formation for each player. Thanks in advance as always.
tile formation ideas?
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 18:03
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 19:11
#1
Pipes, fuse, abstractified
Pipes, fuse, abstractified program/software, army, farm, terrain (tile placing represents searching new territory on a quest perhaps).
You really could do anything for tile placement. What lends itself best to the rest of your rules is the question.
Tue, 01/17/2012 - 22:05
#2
Arrangement
First a question: When you say 15 tiles, do you mean in a row, or possibly some other shape? And if there is another shape in mind, does the location of each tile in relation to the others matter? This could be very important thematically.
Next a suggestion: If you were to go with an arrangement that was 3 tiles wide and built upward and away from the player, you could maybe go with an office building theme. Think the flash game Corporation Inc. Different departments do different things, and their arrangement becomes meaningful somehow. The competition between players is easily explained as corporations competing to make the most profit.
Wed, 01/18/2012 - 00:32
#3
Sets of Tiles?
Just off the top of my head:
* Computer hardware components.
* Military Base of some sort.
* Farmville
You can also go more abstract (knowledge trees, sources of mana/world pillar mythos, standard fantasy stuff), but that would require some world-building. Character sheets for RPGs might also be a good inspiration since they all start with the same "base" and build from there, only the rules are in the books.
Good luck!
James Games
www.stompinggroundsgame.com
Mon, 02/13/2012 - 07:16
#5
shapes?
What shape are these tiles? Must they all be the same shape?
You can get some very interesting formations tiling equilateral triangles or rhombuses. Hexagons also tessellate well, as do octagons (which can create square gaps, but allow you more directions of movement).
Tue, 02/14/2012 - 02:40
#7
a river system, deep space
a river system, deep space (or galatic filaments there in)
are the tiles the terrain on which the game is played? do they have a function yet, or is this the stepping-off point for the game concept?
Wed, 02/15/2012 - 11:40
#9
You might want to look into
You might want to look into Alhambra, a great german game. It combines building your palace out of rectangular tiles while trading different currencies with other players. Your palace is scored according to several rules.. I believe the number of tiles by their worth, the length of the longest wall etc. I think 15 tiles actually is something like the maximum size of your finished palace. Anyways, it's a fun game - look it up!
So... castle building? Maybe you could spice it up with some interaction... Like having a catapult tile that removes an opponents tile... if that works with your existing design or concept. The third dimension offers itself naturally then.. Check out Torres for german-style 3d castle building concept.
There's a theme that's been in my mind for some time but I can't find a satisfying mechanic.. Goblin Mushrooms! Fantasy goblins have often been depicted as living in mushroom-filled caves.. Maybe something can done with that - especially if you want the game to be humorous/colorful.. Diferent colored mushrooms can have different powers and you can easily add the third dimension with mushrooms growing during the game.
(A disclaimer: I'm not a 'shroom head :) I just like the concept of weird and wondrous underworlds)
Thu, 02/16/2012 - 16:11
#11
The shroom topic made me
The shroom topic made me think of Mario. Mario meets Alhambra? You could side-scroll across tiles, collecting [coins] or something else. Special powerups (one shroom makes you larger and one shroom makes you small, invincibility star mechanic?)
15 tiles was approximate with the limitation being table space in front of players. Playing the tiles orthogonally like Alhambra is what I had in mind and I wanted to stay away from the land/farm/city theme since it's been done to death. I would like the placement to matter so playing some tiles next to others scores bonus points. I've been trying to think of something where players create something like an amorphous creature (tiles consist of body parts) but it seems players would have to discard tiles if they didn't fit. I like the idea of tiles being prerequisites for other tiles but if you collected tiles that weren't prerequisites, you could still place them even though they don't earn points.