I have a competitive push-your-luck dice rolling game. What are your thoughts about rolling the dice and only your dice count towards your winning the prize, or is it better to have everyone's dice add up to winning the prize. To clarify, here is how it plays:
For example, the "prize" has a minimum threshold of 14 and a "bust" value of 20. That means no one can win that prize unless they roll at least 14, but they lose if they roll 20 or higher.
In my "aggregate" concept, I could have someone roll dice and get 17, at which point they would stop their progress and pass. The next player could then choose to continue to progress the score up and roll a die, hoping to roll a 1 or 2 (for 18 or 19) and win the prize. If they roll a 1, they could choose to stop, and leave the next player with the decision to push their luck and roll another 1 to get 19 and win the prize. While I do not have this rule set up, it was suggested that there could be incremental bonuses for achieving certain levels in that range (e.g., threshold is 14; get 1 currency at 16; get a card at 18; win the prize at 19; bust at 20).
In my "independent" concept, the first player would roll the dice and stop at 17. The next player would roll dice, starting at zero, and hope to reach 18 or better. They must attempt to beat the 17 if they wish to challenge the first player. They may do so, or exhaust all their dice in the round and not beat 17, or possibly bust. The first player either wins that prize or "doesn't lose" because of the busting and gets some points instead.
This minimum and maximum thresholds are varied; some ranges are tighter, some are wider. It is certainly possible to roll all your 8 dice and not meet the minimum.
NOTE: There are cards, variable player powers, and currency that can potentially help with mitigating the randomness of the dice rolls. It's not pure push-your-luck.
Do either of these gameplay mechanisms sound better than the other? Please explain your reasoning if you provide an opinion. Thanks!
I have played it, and that is an intriguing consideration for my game. The theme of my game that you are ghosts trying to scare out intruders, but you don't want to scare them to death. The original intention was to play it like blackjack...play independently against each other.
But someone had suggested bonuses for going for higher which made me consider the aggregate concept. So, if you contribute to scaring and you all bust (i.e., scare to to death)...you could be on the hook for some part of the loss. However, if you hold out an stay in, greater reward may await.