Entries are in
This was a tough one! Only a few entries this month, so we're going to actually forgo the standard voting process and just get to the critiques. The entries are still posted below, but let's get on with the critique thread and make your thoughts known!
Take your favourite tabletop game. Now imagine it is MEGA-sized. I'm talking the size of a room, or building. Are the pieces huge? Does it look like a giant Tsuro set?
Now imagine a tabletop game meant to be e played at that scale. How would it be different? What kinds of gameplay could happen at this scale that doesn't at a sit-around-a-table level? Let's call this "human-scale."
Mega-sized versions of tabletop games are one thing, but they have much the same feel, interactions and mechanics as the smaller version. In other words, it doesn't take advantage of being at Human scale.
Your challenge this May is to make a game at human-scale that takes as much advantage of it as possible. In essence, it is a game that could ONLY be played at human-scale.
On to the details!
Please Read: Details on entering the Game Design Showdown.
Component restriction: People! The game must be at "human scale"
Mechanic restriction: The "human scale" of the game should be a main part of the game, and influence the mechanics used.
Theme restriction: None
Word Limit: Standard 500 word limit. Remember this is a pitch, so focus your thoughts on the task and a summary more than explaining every detail
Voting: Award a Gold, Silver, and Bronze (worth 3,2, and 1 points respectively) Medals to your three favorite entries. Any entrant that does not award all three Medals will receive a Pyrite Medal (that's "Fool's Gold") worth -3 votes!
When submitting your entry: PLEASE USE THE FORM LINKED HERE.
Submissions: Sunday the 1st through Sunday the 8th
Voting: Through the 15th. Votes will be through a form (link posted after submission period is ended).
Voting Format: Each person has 3 Medals (Gold, Silver, and Bronze - with values 3, 2, and 1 vote respectively) to distribute any way they choose among the GDS entries with the following restrictions:
Entrants may not assign any Medals to their own entry!
Entrants must assign all 3 Medals.
An entrant who does not assign all 3 Medals will receive a Pyrite Medal (-3 votes) as a penalty.
Comments or Questions: Comments and questions about this Challenge are handled on the Comments Thread
CRITIQUES: After voting has closed the entries will be posted for comments and critiques. Post constructive critiques and commentary about the entries to this Challenge in the Critiques Thread.
GDS Details: For more details on how these Game Design Showdown Challenges work, visit the GDS Wiki Page.
Enjoy, and good luck!
-Rich and Mindspike
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House Detective (For 9 players; the rules will change slightly with different numbers of players)
In this game, players are either thieves, civilians or the detective. The civilians try to determine who the thieves are with the help of the detective; the thieves try to avoid detection.
Set up: this game requires a non-player host (This can rotate since the game is short)
The host makes a map of the house. Rooms are numbered 1-11 (Any room in the house with a door that can be closed will do. This includes bathrooms and hall closets). The rooms should be numbered such that a fairly simple path will go from rooms 1-11 and back to 1. The host gives a copy of the map to each player.
The host places 4 “treasures” (playing cards for example) in random rooms. The treasures should be in plain sight in the room but not visible to anybody who is not in the room.
The players randomly chose a character card. There are four thieves, 4 civilians and 1 house detective. The house detective is revealed; the other identities are kept secret.
Each player(besides the house detective) also gets a random starting room # and is given the location of 1 treasure (The host has 2 cards with room numbers for each treasure, these are distributed randomly and kept secret).
Each player than goes to the room that they are originally assigned. A thief may take the treasure, but the civilian may not.
After a short period of time, each player moves to the next room in order (and from 11 to 1).
The civilians must leave the treasures alone. The thieves may choose take the treasures. However, if there are any untaken treasures at the end of the game, the thieves lose.
The players may talk between turns, but it should not be loud enough for the detective to hear. Whether they tell the truth is up to them.
After all of the players have been to every room, the players go to a common area where the detective is waiting. The players will arrange themselves randomly; the detective does not know their numbers. The players will go through 2 rounds of simple statements such as the following:
“I was number 3”
“There was a treasure in room 4”
“There was no treasure in room 4 when I got there”
“I saw Charley go from room 6 to 7.”
“I am not a thief”
There will be 2 rounds of statements and the detective will ask one question to each player.
The thieves may lie at any time. The civilians, obviously should not lie.
The detective may take notes.
At the end, the detective will try to decide who the thieves are. If he guesses 3 correctly, the civilians and the detective wins. Otherwise, the thieves win.