My Game... in the middle of the street... My Game (sing it!)

(long)

Hey All,

I'm looking for people's opinions (critisism included!) about my game.

I posted a thread earlier about a gambling game, and I've taken that game and made it 'better'. (Thread title: "Look at my Gambling Game").

The game is fairly 'simple' and after reading OrlandoPat's post about maintaining the experience of the game, I've changed it around. (To read Pat's inspirational post, go here: http://www.bgdf.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3011)

Imagine: It's the prohibition era and gangs are running loose across the city. Moonshine is Gold. Every gang wants their share of the profit to be made. The market for selling is ripe.

The Law never sits still though, and if your smart you'll prosper and turn a profit. Otherwise, you lose. And you lose big.

Each player plays with their own 60 card deck. The cards are custom - not the standard 52 playing cards. But the deck is preconstructed, meaning you can't change it around. You can't add cards or take cards away from the deck. You're not allowed to customize the deck (i.e. it's NOT a CCG). So each player plays with identicial decks, it's just that each player has their own deck and players do not share decks. The game is a gambling game, meaning poker chips are involved and includes betting and bluffing.

The object of the game is to win the pot of chips (money from selling Moonshine) in the center of the table. TWO people win - the person with the greatest wealth stored in their warehouse, and the person with the greatest wealth on the city streets. Each card will have a worth (i.e. a number) printed on them. That number represents that cards worth in Moonshine. So, if I have three cards with the following values: 2, 4, 5 - then I have $11 worth of Moonshine. Read on... it's more elaborate than this though...

A few terms and descriptions first:

The 'Warehouse' I speak of is your hand of cards. All the cards you hold in your hand are considered to be in the "Warehouse" while in your hand.

The 'City Streets' is the play area (the table top). Cards in play are considered to be on the 'Streets'.

Certain cards allow you to put Moonshine on the street (in play). These cards are called "Carriers" because they carry your moonshine from the warehouse to the street. The Carrier cards themselves are represented by many different things: Horse and Carriage, Little boy on a bike, A man with a trenchcoat, etc. The Deck is preconstructed with 22 Carriers.

The deck of cards you draw from is considered your Brewery. It supplies you with the Moonshine.

The Deck also has Corrupt Police Officers. These Officers perform jobs for your gang throughout the game. You pay these Officers with Moonshine. An example job is to Raid another players Warehouse (and force that player to discard a card from their hand). There exist 8 Officers in each deck. Each officer does something different.

Most Moonshine cards also effect the game in certain ways. Since Moonshine is worth soo much, gangs are able to trade it to individuals in the City to have that individual perform jobs for them. An example job might be 'You ask a citizen to work in the Brewery to increase your production (Draw a card from your Brewery)'. There are many other effects on the game as well. Including lots of player interactions and conflicts throughout the game.

Rules of the Game:
1. You may only play one Moonshine card per round, and only on your turn. Keep reading to hear how to play cards.
2. Cards with the keyword "Reveal" may be revealed (shown to all players) from your HAND at any time. You may reveal any number of cards in a round.
3. Cards with the keyword "Expose" may be shown while in PLAY to all players at any time. You may Expose any number of cards in a round.
4. Players can only drop out of the game during a betting phase.
5. Your cards are hidden from all players until the cards are shown (by revealing them from your hand or exposing them from play). Or until the end of the Hand, when all cards are shown.
6. Police Officers can be played at any time. Any number of police officers can be played throughout the round.

How to Play a Card:
Remember, you can only play one Moonshine card per round, and only on your turn. To play a moonshine card you need a Carrier (you wouldn't risk carrying the stuff yourself, would you?) OK, some cards allow you to play them without carriers (i.e. you're carrying them yourself! Yikes). This is very risky though. If you get caught by an Officer, you have to pay big time (pay into the pot of chips that is...)! To play a Moonshine, take your Carrier card and place it on top of the moonshine card while holding them in your hand so no other players can see your Moonshine card (physically put the Carrier card over top of the Moonshine card while holding them). Now, put it into play (on the table), ensuring the Moonshine card is covered up so nobody can see it. Now your hired carrier is transporting your Moonshine across the City! You're allowed to look at your moonshine cards at any time. Only Moonshine cards can be played this way.

Each officer card has an amount of Moonshine listed on it. In order to play an Officer card, you must discard from your HAND an amount of Moonshine equal to that stated on the Officer card. Then you simply show the Officer card to all players and perform the action described on the card.

To Reveal a card, simply show it to all players from your hand and perform the action described on the card.

To Expose a card, simply remove the Carrier card from on top of it and perform the described action that's on the Moonshine card.

How to Increase Your Moonshine Value:

Each Moonshine card has a value to it (i.e. a number is printed on each card and that's it's value). Remember that two people win the pot: the player with the greatest value of moonshine in the warehouse (in your hand) and the player with the greatest value of moonshine on the streets (in play). So you can fight for either, or you can fight for both. It's entirely up to you.

For moonshine to be worth anything in play you must play it with a Carrier card. So what about the cards in your hand? Well, you must have a Carrier card for each card in your hand you want to count. The reason for this is that while it's in your warehouse, you need people to tend it and look after your collection of Moonshine. Also, what if a customer wants some Moonshine right away and shows up at your warehouse? You need to have a Carrier (or a worker would be a better term) in your warehouse in order to accomodate these customers. That's why you need a Carrier card in your hand for each Moonshine card in your HAND that you want to count. Lets do an example here: Say I have the following in my hand at the end of the first round: An Officer, Moonshine - worth $3, Moonshine - worth $5, and a Carrier. If I was trying to build my Hand value, to win the half of the pot devoted to the hand, then I would use my one carrier card in my hand and couple it with the $5 Moonshine card. The $3 Moonshine card needs another carrier in order for me to count it. I can't use the same carrier twice. So the value of my hand is $5. All officers and Carriers are worth $0.

The Game Play:

All players decide on the following before a game starts: the ante, the maximum raise, the minimum bet, and the starting amount of the chips each player starts the game with. Each player must have their own deck of cards. (as described above)

The player with the greatest worth of Moonshine in their hand wins half the pot, and the player with the greatest amount of Moonshine in play wins the other half of the pot.

There are 6 phases in each Hand. The term "hand" is used as in poker, as a synonym for "round", a unit of play consisting of a deal, betting, and possibly a showdown. The term "hand" is preferred because "round" is sometimes used in the context of a "round of betting", and there can be multiple rounds of betting in one hand.

The Beggining Phase: Consisting of little blind and big blind paying, and then each player drawing three cards. Following that, each player may pay the ante to remain in the game.

Round 1: Each participating player draws a card. Then, in clockwise order, each participating player takes their turn playing Moonshine cards (if they wish. They may also do nothing) Then players Bet. The person with the highest value of moonshine exposed in play starts the bet. Otherwise, it doesn't matter who starts the bet.

Round 2 - 4 is the same as round 1. Rinse, Lather, and Repeat

Showdown Phase: All participating players reveal the value of the Moonshine they have. Remember, for each Moonshine card in your hand that you want to count, you need a carrier card for it.

The game is over when people get bored or when everybody but one person runs out of chips (just like poker!)

And that's It. I want to post some example cards at some point and see what others think.

Thanks for reading.

Rob Decaire

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