The game
I have a dungeon crawl that works mechanically. Modular board made up of a hex grid pieces that players place as they individually move and explore. Monsters, traps, treasure. A wide variety of balanced weapons that feeds a dual classing system. A few lairs with more challenging monsters. It climaxes with a final boss that brings the 2-4 hour game to an end.
Missing piece
I'm looking to add a competitive element to the game, either as a part of the core gameplay or as an optional mechanic. Some reasons I want to do this: 1) to combat Alpha player syndrome; 2) to have a winner even if the party fails to defeat the final boss; 3) to increase longevity by bringing in human cleverness to the puzzle.
Failed attempt
I tried giving each player unique objectives that give them points. These objectives were known to everyone, so newbies wouldn't be at a significant disadvantage. Each objective had an additional one time bonus to be had if players started dying. For example, one card gave points for loot and a one time bonus for looting another player. Another gave points for killing monsters, and a one time bonus for killing another player. At first it worked great. People would betray each other during the final boss fight. It was very tense.
The problem I ran into is that some players would immediately try to end the game when they had the most points, completely changing how the game was played. Instead of building up to a final boss fight, they'd kill each other as soon as they could. Everyone became enemies. I was aiming for untrustworthy allies, rather than outright opponents.
Fishing for ideas
Any thoughts on a mechanic or point system I could add that would:
- Add an element of competition;
- Not punish newbies;
- Encourage people to still work together to a degree;
- Anyone can attack/betray the others (no random "traitor" card)
- Not completely random (not solely based on treasure you get)
