Metagame - Please test and critique

Hi All,

I putting my Metagame on a forum like this, because it is boardless, and uses only parts you can probably come up with at home. I'd love it it you read it and tried it out at your next gaming session. I had a previous version of this which was pretty cumbersome and got in the way of gaming, but this version should run very smoothly. best of all it's played while you play other games. Let me know what you think.

Yort Watson’s Metagame: A game of playing games

Introduction

It’s Saturday night , game night. The night you have been looking forward to all week. Most of the regulars will be there and maybe a few newcomers as well. Except for the newcomers, you pretty much know what to expect. 1) Dale will have about ½ dozen games he has just bought and want to try out. 2)Buck will insist on getting everyone to play his old favorite game again this week. 3) George will take twice as long on his turns as anyone else and constantly need to be reminded that it’s his turn. 4) Ray will coach other players during games, somehow always giving him the advantage. 5) Guido who was unmercifully squashed by James last week will hold a grudge all night, and exact revenge at every turn. 6) Mark will whine and complain every time he thinks he is losing. 7) Cory will probably come late, and right in the middle of a two hour game that nobody wants to quit. To top this off, much of the night will be spent with the question “so, what does everyone want to play?” this is usually followed by a suggestion that is swiftly shot down by another player for one reason or another, who makes their own suggestion; which in turn is also shot down.
This might sound like a scenario prompting anyone to find some new friends, since it can be very frustrating experience, but let’s analyze the situation a little further. A) You all really like to play games. B) Finding a whole new group is no guarantee this sort of thing won’t happen all over again; besides, it’s hard to find gamers. C) When everything is clicking right it’s a heck of a good time.

Part of the solution is running a Metagame like “Yort Watson’s Metagame“. It’s a game/system that encourages competition and, at the same time, good sportsmanship. The rules are simple, and the result is that all games are linked based on wins, loses, and other advantages and rules that the players bid for. If the turnout is large enough several different games can run at once without concern of how much longer or shorter one is over the other. At the end of the night everyone counts up the beads they won and the one with the most is declared the overall winner.

Equiptment needed:

1) A group, large or small, of willing participants.

2) Several Dozen Mardi Gras type bead necklaces, if this is unavailable temporary tattoos, safety pins or something else that can be conspicuously flaunted will do.

3) A reliable timepiece.

4) The “Yort Watson Metagame” instructions (You‘re looking at them).

Starting The Metagame: First make sure everyone knows it will be a “Metagame” gaming session, and that they will be expected to participate and follow the rules. If they aren’t sure what you are talking about, It is advised that they be given a synopsis. It is also a good idea that everyone be asked to participate during the same time frame; It is recommended that at least a few hours be dedicated to this. To get everyone in the spirit, offering some sort of prize might help. As players arrive they are given 4 necklaces to wear. Votes will take place throughout the night, mostly between games, all players must vote thumbs up or thumbs down; Abstaining from a vote is not allowed. Also changing your mind about a vote is not allowed once beads come into play.

Host Incentives: These are up to the host and not voted on, but do require sound judgment. In order to help the night go well, the host can let everyone know of any optional activities that might earn them beads. For example, Bringing a snack or drinks to share, might be worth some beads. Showing up within 20 minutes of the official starting time might be worth some beads. Whatever the host feels everyone should be capable of, that will make the night go better, can be offered provided everyone is alerted ahead of time (No, “If you can wiggle your ears” type rules).

Picking the First Game: After giving everyone a reasonable chance to arrive, a game should be decided on, an accepted method is to have the host suggest the first game. For the Metagame, players vote on the suggested game, with their thumbs. If a player feels strongly one way or the other he can reinforce his vote by removing one or more beads around his neck. Each bead counts an additional vote. For example: Sven suggests a game of Cosmic Encounter and asks all those in favor of it to give a thumbs up. Out of 6 people (Including Sven) 4 raise do this. Georg who gave a thumbs down, feels very strongly that he doesn’t want to play so he puts 3 beads down. The votes against Cosmic Encounter are now 4 (Yea) and 5 (Nay). If those in favor of Cosmic Encounter wish they can reinforce their choice by putting down their own beads.
If the suggested game fails the vote, another proposal should be made, and the process repeated.
Once a game is successfully decided/voted on, further suggestions may be made by concerned players and these in turn also voted on. For instance: Seating order, official game variations, house rules, timed turns, table talk, do-overs, and more can all be brought up and voted on, before play starts, if a player feels the need to do so. These will be discussed in more detail below.

Designating a time keeper: A timepiece such as a clock or watch should be selected as the official chronograph, and the start time and ending time of each game should be recorded by a designated person. Any lengthy interruptions, such as pizza breaks should also be noted. Time keeping will come into play in the scoring phase.

Scoring a completed game: Once a game has been completed, it should be noted which place each player finished in ( 1st, 2nd , etc.), and how many rival players they placed better than. For example in a six player game, the first place player would have beat 5 other people, the second place winner would have beaten 4 other players, and so on. The last player would have beaten no one. How many other players a player beat is their base score. This is then multiplied by each half hour increment the game was long. A game that took ½ hour or less would multiply the base score by one, a game that took between ½ hour or 1 hour would multiply the base score by 2 and so on. So the third place winner in a six player game that lasted between 1 and ½ and 2 hours would get a final score of 8. A persons final scoring number, indicates how many beads (in addition to ones already worn) they take from the supply and put around their neck.

Picking the subsequent games: The overall loser of the first game should be allowed to make the first suggestion for the next game to be voted on.

Newbies: Players who are new (This is the first time they have played) to a game do not count for points when they are beaten, except when beaten by another player who is new to a game.

Issues that Will eventually arise

Rule Foul-ups: Unless someone else had openly accepted the responsibility, the owner of the game is responsible for knowing the rules, looking them up when in question etc. If it is found out that a rule was played incorrectly. The owner of the game loses 2 beads from around his neck for each ½ hour increment the game was long. If the player runs out of beads to lose, the other players instead gain 2 beads each for each ½ the game was long.

Seating Arrangement: a player may decide that a run of bad luck may be because they are sitting to the right or left of whomever, or maybe because two friends who are sitting next to each other always seem to help each other out. A player may make a voted on suggestion to where they would rather sit, or where they would rather have someone else sit. The least resistance from other players might be suggesting some sort of random seating order. This is voted on in the normal fashion.

Lucky Color: If it can’t be settled between them, randomly or otherwise, the two or more players who want to play the same color can offer each other beads in exchange for the privilege.

Turn Order: You are determined to go first, last or something in between, because you think this will favor you. You can, of course make the suggestion and vote on it, most likely you will be voted down unless you have many beads to dedicate to this. Other suggestions may be determining starting player randomly (why should the youngest always go first anyways?) re-rolling a random order determination that turned out exactly like the last game.

Absolute tie breaker : Some games do not consider what happens in the event of a tie, some games do, but even this can be a tie at times. Suggest a rule that breaks a tie not officially provided for in the rules.

Do-overs: Eventually a player will make a move they will regret and want to take back. This can drive people crazy. There are two ways to approach this. First suggest that once a player has taken his hand off of a piece and it is a legal move, they must keep that move. This can make a game last longer as players will overanalyze each move, but definitely benefit’s the careful. The second method, which should be the default is ruling non-interferata. That is, if a player wishes to take back a move, and it will not effect the anyone else’s game they can do it (after getting everyone’s okay).

Timed turns: This works best with a kitchen or sand timer. A player can suggest that everyone has a set amount of time to do their turn, or that the game should only last X amount of time. To make it more interesting players going over their allotted time should be forced to lose a bead. If they run out of beads to lose, every other player gains a bead instead.

Table talk: A player can suggest “no talk about the game” (ie. “Wow, you sure look vulnerable on your eastern border Steve”, “Don’t pick on me, Patrick is winning, …her’s what I would do Hank…) is allowed. This includes coaching, deflecting (pointing out that someone is winning), and other value judgments as to what other players are doing or have done. If a player slips up, he must lose a bead. If the offender is out, then all other players gain a bead.

Unsportsmanlike conduct: All issues will not be fixed by the above rules. If some event arises in which a player feels they have been treated unfairly, or their gaming experience has in some other way been compromised (ie. Just because “no time limit” was in play, doesn‘t give someone the right to mess around for 15 minutes while everyone is waiting on them), the game must be paused for a temporary vote. No player may abstain from the vote, he must either vote thumbs-up (the grievance is substantiated) or thumbs-down (the grievance is unsubstantiated) Beads do not play a part of this, and the host is the tie breaker. In the event that the claim was voted unsubstantiated, the plaintiff loses a bead. In the event that it is substantiated, the offender loses a bead (provided they haven’t stormed off). The same rule applies for those who no longer have beads to give up.

King Maker Rule: In the event that another player obviously plays a king maker role (makes a choice to help another player win over someone other than himself) (decide on this by a vote), he must pay the tokens to the wounded party that they lost by their downgraded placement. Therefore if the kingmaker activity cost a player first place and they instead got 3rd place, in a 4 player game, the kingmaker would owe that player 2 beads. If they don’t have the tokens to pay, the wounded party may take them from the supply.

Sorry gotta Go: In the event someone has to leave before official quitting time, they simply leave their beads behind which remain untouched until the winner is determined. Depending on how early the player left, his chances of winning the Metagame are decreased.

Determining the winner: Perhaps the easiest part of the Metagame, at the end of the evening each player counts up their beads. The player with the most is declared the winner (preferably with much fanfare).