Game Design Showdown
March 2006 Challenge - "A Dark and Stormy Game"
Status: Results.
There are only 2 games up for voting this month.
Start Date: Wednesday, March 15.
Last Date for Submissions:Thursday, March 23, Noon E.S.T. (approx.)
Voting Dates:March 23 - March 30.
This month's goal is to design a game with the following two Design Limitations in mind:
DARK: The game needs to have a mechanic and/or rule that allows for the game to be played in the dark at least part of the time. Playing the game in the dark should provide a different experience than if you were playing the game in the light. A game that is partly played in the light and partly in the dark is prefered but not required, so a game totally played in the dark is ok, but only if the game would be played differently if you had the lights on.
Some examples:
Deflexion. While it can be played in the dark, turning on the lights does not change in any way the game is played, or any strategies or rules. So, this game, in my opinion, would not fit the DARK requirement well.
Vampire Hunter. A good example of a game played totally in the dark. With a little rework could possibly be played with a light-time commponent.
Die Nacht der Magier . Another good example of a game played totally in the dark. Push glow in the dark pieces around in the dark, however, non-glowy pieces get in the way.
STORMY: The game also needs a thematic mechanic of letting the players somehow control "the weather" which affect all players in some fashion. It should be noted that day/night changes, while fitting the DARK requirement, does not fit the STORMY requirement, as the day/night cycle is an Astronomical kind of thing, whereas the weather is a Meteorological constant, evolving event.
Some examples:
Everest. A design from a BGDF member (Fastlearner), which had players racing to climb Mount Everest. The weather, which could be changed by the players would affect how well the player's teams could climb.
Bermuda Triangle. In my opinion, this game's gimmick would fit under the pre-tense of weather. However since the "sinister boat-sucking cloud" is not controlled by the players, this would not fit the above STORMY requirement of player controlled.
The above examples are merely shown as some guideline explanations. Ultimately, it will be up to the judges to determine how well the two requirements fit into any given entry.
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Comments, questions, and clarifications can be dealt with at this location.
http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3938
Critique of the showdown entries can be done at this thread:
http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=31635
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For more Showdown info, see this thread for background rules regarding entries and voting and other such fiddly things:
http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2230
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Scott
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Entry #1:Divers Alarums by Scurra
The sea bed is covered with all sorts of artefacts. Players will send divers out to find the most treasure, but rocks, erratic weather conditions and the Kraken will hamper their search. Hmmm. I guess I shouldn’t have mentioned the Kraken…
Components:
The Lighthouse. 18” high with a light unit on top which is angled downwards to illuminate the board area. The light only revolves when the light unit is pressed down. There is a speed setting to vary the time it takes the light to make a complete 360-degree circuit (never adjusted during a game.)
The Weatherbox™. This shows the current weather and wind direction. The display is illuminated so that it can be clearly seen in the dark and the light.
36 hexagonal tiles.
Treasure cards.
A boat and three pawns for each player.
3 damage counters for each player, kept in a central pool.
Set-up
The game needs to be played in a room in which the major source of illumination can be obscured, turned off or otherwise removed when required.
Place the Lighthouse in the middle of the table. Place the six Rock tiles around the base. Shuffle the remaining thirty tiles and place them face-up to create two larger rings. Care should be taken not to see the reverse side of the tiles as they are being placed. Turn on the Lighthouse in fixed mode. The light should reach just past the outer edge of the sea tiles and illuminate approximately a sixth of the board at once (three of the outer ring tiles.)
Choose a starting player. They should turn on the Weatherbox and press the button when the screen indicates that the game is ready to start. The game always starts with Sunny weather.
In clockwise order, each player now places their boat (containing three pawns) in one of the spaces between two hexes (i.e. not adjacent to a single outer edge.) Subsequent players cannot place boats such that they are adjacent to any hex another boat is already touching.
Gameplay
If the weather is stormy, then on their turn the player must first move their boat one space in the direction that the Wind Arrow is pointing, unless their boat is already off the edge of the board. The player takes a damage counter if the boat would enter a tile containing rocks, another boat or adjacent to the Kraken. If the player now has 3 damage counters, their boat sinks. They lose all treasure cards and damage counters but may re-enter play on their next turn at the edge of the board. A boat cannot enter the tile containing the Kraken.
On their turn, the player must move their boat into an adjacent hex, as long as it isn’t moving into the wind (i.e. into the direction the arrow on the Weatherbox is pointing. If they move off the edge of the board, they may discard all their damage counters. The boat cannot move into the spaces around the Lighthouse. The player can intentionally incur damage as noted above.
After moving their boat:
If in an unexplored space, they may send down a diver to retrieve an artefact. The player removes a diver from the boat and places it on the hex tile. A player may only have a maximum of two divers at sea at any one time (i.e. there must always be one diver in the boat.)
They may retrieve a diver from the sea bed if they have one in the same tile. The player returns the diver to their boat and turns the hex tile over to indicate that it has been explored. This may add additional rock tiles to the board or may awaken the Kraken (immediately take a damage point and move to an adjacent tile.) They then draw the indicated number of treasure cards.
After they have taken their action, the player presses the button on the Weatherbox. This may change both the wind direction and the current weather status.
If the weather turns cloudy, the player should turn out the light/draw the curtain in the playing area. They then press the top of the Lighthouse to start it moving.
If the weather turns sunny, the player should press the top of the lighthouse to stop it moving and turn the light in the room back on again. Play continues with the next player clockwise.
When playing in the dark, a player’s turn begins when their boat is illuminated by the Lighthouse and ends at the moment it isn’t even if they haven’t completed their action and press the button on the Weatherbox. Several players may therefore be active at the same time.
The game ends when all the treasure cards have been drawn.
The winner is the player with the most valuable treasure collection.