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Can someone give me their opinion

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Anonymous

Hey I have created a new board game. I am going to give you the rules. Read them and lmk what you think.

The game is called Luck and Misfortune

Rules

Game Pieces: 2 Dice, 2 20 Cards stacks(Curse and good fortune), 4 Colored Marbles, 100 yellow plastic circles (gold coins), and Arrows.

Game Objective: Have the most gold coins at the end of the game

Game Rules:

1)Roll the die to see who goes first. Person with the lowest roll goes first.

2)Start the game by rolling your dice. You may move the same number of spaces indicated on the die but you must choose the
direction that your marble will go.

3) You can only move in that direction once. When you use (ex: Forward) then you can only move left, right, and back. The same goes for any direction you chose. When you have used all directions, then your direction choice will restart and this will continue through the whole game.

4) If you land on an arrow, you can then use your arrow to move forward, backward, etc. but in order to use your arow you must sacrafice a direction on your dice for two turns.

5)If you land on a Black square, you must draw a card from the curse pile. You must follow the directions on the card.

6)If you Land on a Blue square , then you must draw a card from the Good Fortune Pile and follow the directions on that card.

7)To collect the coins, you must land on a gold square.

8)The Game Ends when there are no more coins.

9)At the end of the game each person gets a card from the Curse pile. If you only get a curse such as (ex: Lose two turns) you keep your coins but if you get a card such as (Role 2 dice and Multiply the two numbers and lose that amount of coins.

10) After all has been done , the player with the most coins wins.

Theres the rules. What do you think. This is my first attempt on making any kind of game.

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Anonymous
Can someone give me their opinion

The first thing that stands out as not clear, is what does the board consist of. I'm assuming (which can be dangerous) that the board is a grid of colored squares?

If so, then the movement rules are pretty interesting. You can kind of steer yourself into landing on the squares you want, but you have to be careful and calculating, even though it's mostly up to chance. I guess that's the name of the game though isn't it?

However, the rules for the arrow seem a bit confusing, and hard to keep track of. Does using the arrow mean you can use the same direction more than once? Just Twice? or what? Also, it seems a bit hard to keep of not only which direction you sacrificed, and how many turns ago you sacrificed it. Perhaps not too difficult to keep track of, but definately plenty of room to cheat.

My first impression is that 100 coins seems a bit much. The game ends when all the coins are gone, yet there are cards that subtract coins from players so that coin pile get's somewhat replenished... to me, it would seem the game drags on and on, then again I don't know how many gold squares are on the board, so perhaps with 4 people, 100 coins could be collected in a reasonable 30 minutes.

The biggest problem is it's a pure chaos game that allows you to at least take the reins a bit and steer it in a more favorable direction. It just seems that players would be sitting there rolling dice and moving without much strategy other than to collect coins.

Are there rules for players being on the same square?

Also about the arrows. They're listed under the components, but yet you land on them on the board? Are there certain locations that arrows are placed on the board? Are they used on that same turn, or are they kept as optional items to be used at your disgression?

I guess the rules just need some more fleshing out. To me though the game could use a lot more player interaction and strategy. Keep it up though, and post a revision if you make one.

FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Can someone give me their opinion

I'm not sure what kind of game you're hoping for, so I'll just comment on it based on the kinds of games I like to play.

First a good thing. I like the idea of having to use all 4 directions but getting to choose the order. It potentially makes for some interesting decisions, especially if the various colors are somewhat "clumped" together in small clumps around the board.

Now the things I don't care for. Some are more of a big deal than others.

Low rolling going first is just different for the sake of being different and makes the players remember a new rule that serves no actaul purpose. I suggest simply removing it.

Tracking which kinds of moves you have left is unclear. I suspect you'll need some kind of little mat or something where you mark (with counters?) which ways you've already moved.

Sacrificing direction dice for two turns has the disadvantage of needing to keep track of how many turns have been sacrificed so far, and may also be too harsh a deterrent.

The Curse and Good Fortune cards add a very, very random element to the game. This is something that I personally don't like at all. Any game where I can play really well but lose because of the random cards is a game I won't enjoy at all. There are so many random things in this game thatt we may as well simply roll dice at the beginning and simply say that the winner is the high roller. There's no easy way to fix this that I see, so you'll definitely need to target people who like random games.

The example curse of rolling two dice and multiplying the numbers, losing that amount of cards is the kind of curse that would likely make me quit the game. Two sixes and I'm out 36 gold which pretty much puts me out of the game altogether if it happens mid-game or towards the end. It seems to me that you need to tone that one down for certain.

Overall it's an interesting first design and indicates to me that you definitely have some promise, but it's not a game I'd willingly play (not unlike some of my first designs).

Anonymous
Can someone give me their opinion

Thanks for your input. I now seew what my problems my games have.
I will try a new idea. I have many, but yet have not gotten into work. I would really like to thank you again for your opinions.

zaiga
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Can someone give me their opinion

I actually think there is a decent idea hidden here. But first, get rid of the "fortune" and "curse" cards. You might introduce them later into the design, but for now I think it is easier to just design the game without them.

Replace the dice with a deck of cards with numbers on them (say 1 to 5 or so).

A player starts with 4 cards in hand and he plays one on his turn, but this card must point in a direction that is different from his previously played cards, then he draws a new card into his hand. A player keeps his previously played cards in front of him in a row. After a player has placed his 4th card, he removes the row of cards in front of him (so that he can start with a "clean" row).

I think that is a very basic idea from which to start designing and I would leave it at that for the first testsession. I think even a simple ruleset such as this already provides plenty of things to think about.

Things to think about and/or to add later:
* what happens if two player markers hit the same square (maybe nothing, maybe something good/bad)
* different type of coins, for different types of scoring. For example, coins score 1 point, but the player with the most gems scores 10 points at the end.
* some spots where a player cannot move his marker to, or where something bad happens when a player hits it.

Anyway, good luck designing games!

Anonymous
Can someone give me their opinion

I wond't scrap this game at least, not yet. The basic idea sounds pretty good. Taking out the "curse and fortune" cards, and I think this has the beginings of a pretty good children's game (ages 4-8?). Many of the kid's game have simplier strategy with slightly more luck than the adult games.
Somthing to consider, anyways.

The "Lowest roll goes first' made me think of something else. Why not have the first turns move the spaces on the turn-desciding roll? That way, the player with the biggest disavantage (Moves less spaces) goes first?

sedjtroll
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Joined: 07/21/2008
Can someone give me their opinion

Moving fewer spaces isn't necessarily a disadvantage.

I liked the idea of the different cards that have a number, and when you play them you choose a direction. I think players should play the cards first, then choose a direction when they resolve them though, so as to allow for some planning. You can look and see where people might be moving.

We talked about this game in the chat last night, and I think we all pretty much agreed there ought to be a global roll. We were of different minds as to how often to have this roll, or what it should apply to. My opinion was that there should be a global roll at the beginning of the round, then you use that roll for each of 4 turns (in each turn you move 1 of the 4 directions). Then there would be board elements that move you around so it's not as easy to see where you'll end up. Furthermore, if you land on someone by exact count you bump them over 1 space (you choose direction) and you either get to steal some gold from them, or maybe turn over one of their direction cards (which means less movement for them, and/or less options)...

Just some ideas.

jwarrend
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Joined: 08/03/2008
Can someone give me their opinion

Congrats on your first design effort! My gaming preferences seem to run pretty similar to FastLearner, and so my remarks as to the specifics of your game probably run pretty similar to his. I agree that there are some systems that sound pretty neat, but it's hard to picture them without actually seeing the board and the cards; the one sample card you gave (roll 2 dice and lose coins equal to the product) is a *disastrous* and game-breaking card, so I'm not sure whether it was an extreme example or representative of the other cards you have in mind.

I would say that if you're new to the design hobby, the best starting point is to play as many games as you can. or, at least, read about lots of games. This is easy to do with web resources like www.boardgamegeek.com that provide rules, photos, and reviews for just about every board game anyone has ever heard of. Learning about what kinds of games are out there, and identifying which you like is a crucial starting point to designing games yourself.

Next, you must identify first what kind of experience you want your game to create. Do you want the players to be sitting quietly across the table from each other, staring intently at the board and concentrating deeply? (like in Chess) Or frantically trying to beat the clock as they perform some task (Pictionary)? Should they be relying on "lady luck" (Monopoly, yahtzee) or is the game meant to be skill-heavy (Scrabble, Clue (?))? Should they expect to feel totally absorbed in the game's atmosphere and theme (Axis and Allies, Dungeons and Dragons) or is the theme unimportant to the actual gameplay (chess, Parchesi) or somewhere in between (Risk, Stratego)?

Note that there are better examples for all the above criteria, but since I don't know your gaming background, I've chosen only "popular" games that everyone's heard of to make my point.

The point is, you must decide what kind of a game *experience* you're trying to make. Does it reward good luck, or good strategic planning? Is it better to be able to make plans quickly, or is a slow methodical approach more appropriate? Again, these kinds of questions become easier as you play more games and have a sense for the range of game experiences that can be provided (and maybe you'll even find a way to create a new experience!)

Next, you must decide how to create tension in your game; what is going to be fun about it? Where are the challenges going to come from? For example, in Clue, the tension comes from trying to fill out your information guide, while not being sure how far along everyone else is in identifying the crime elements. In Yahtzee, it comes in deciding which dice from your first throw to keep, and which to risk re-rolling. In Monopoly, it comes partly in hoping you won't land on someone else's Hotel -- or, perhaps, in building a Hotel in the hopes that people will land on it and you'll get your investment back; but which space should you put it on?

So identifying a source of tension for the game is important. Then, finding a set of mechanics and/or a theme to bring that about to greatest effect is a logical next step.

So, here's a simple process I might go through: Let's say I want to design a game that is whimsical and luck-heavy about trying to cheat at cards in Vegas. So, where is the tension going to come from? Presumably, from the possibility that I am going to get caught cheating by the house; I want to maximize my payoff, but also make sure I don't get caught. So, how can I find a set of mechanics to evoke this theme, to give it a light feel, and to evoke the tension I'm looking for?

How about this: I have a game board that represents a Casino with 6 tables, and there are two bodyguards who make the circuit of the tables. Each round, each player gets to decide which table he'll visit, and has some way by which he can cheat at that table. Then, a die is rolled for each bodyguard, indicating which table the bodyguard will visit. Players who are cheating at that table suffer some penalty, or perhaps there's an additional "check" to see whether they're caught by the guard, or something...

I don't know, this is all very silly and off the top of my head, but hopefully you get the point that there is a definitely a "process" to designing games. I think it differs for everyone, and becomes kind of internalized after you've designed a few games, but what I think most of us have in common is that we have a pretty good sense of the kind of game experience we're trying to create when we get started on a game (and sometimes this is guided by the theme, or the idea for a mechanic we have in mind).

So, I would suggest you keep working on your game, but also check out the archives of this group, and read some articles on www.thegamesjournal.com to get some info on games in general (especially Wolfgang Kramer's article "What Makes a Game Good?"). Play a lot of games, and your games will continue to get better as a result.

Keep at it! Good luck!

-Jeff

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