Greetings all, New to BGDF, but not to games, having a few small card games based on travel and hospitality out. However I have a larger concept in mind for this game and wanted to see what other designers thought.
The initial idea of the game is you and your opponent have both been stranded on a deserted island during a hurricane, both on opposite sides of the island. Unfortunately your opponent is the one person in the world you can't stand and the feeling is mutual. So your obective is to control the majority of the island and it's resources by the time the signal fire is lit.
The game is multi-faceted, with several play aspects (again initial concepts here so these may change heavily). The game consists of a map of the island which is divided into grids (either hex or squares), each player has a complete set of pieces that match each grid piece on the map. Second is a card set of actions and events. Third would be markers which are used to denote special circumstances on specific map pieces.
In a nutshell, during a players turn they would choose to either explore the island (adding a piece to the map to show their ownership), Taking over a piece from the opponent (replacing the opponents piece with one of their own), all pieces played must be adjacent to one of the pieces the player has already played, which of course is one piece of the strategy involved in the game. Some of these grids will include resources or objectives that are needed to advance further (ie you have to have explored and control a river grid to build a bridge). If they choose not explore they can play and action/event card these cards will include things such as building a bridge (needed to cross the river), building a trap, building shelter, etc. For some of these cards to be played, certain parts of the map may already need to be controlled or other conditions must be met. A majority of situations must be met before the signal fire can be lit. Some of these action cards will allow the player to place a marker on certain pieces. If a marker has been played a matching marker is placed on the card representing that marker which is turned upside down only to revealed when used (or when the opponent attempts to take over the grid). Those cards could be needed resources OR traps. I'm still debating on a third option in a turn where an actual battle between castaways is fought. Once a series of actions have been completed (or the opponent destroyed/driven off the island in battles if used), the signal fire can be lit and the player with the most grids controlled, wins the game.
I think this could be an interesting strategy game where the players must decide when and where to take over the island, when to play specific events/actions, and when to challenge their opponent.
Thoughts? I may set up a Game Journal or Blog then eto keep track of the game if folks think this is worth developing.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks for the suggestions so far! Based on comments here and on other boards, here is the revised game concept.
The initial idea of the game is you and your opponent were in a yacht race when a storm very quickly and unexpectedly blew up around you. Now you have both been stranded on opposide sides of a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately your opponent is the one person in the world you can't stand, you even suspect him of tampering with your radio equipment before the race, after all you did the same to him. So your objective is to explore the island while completing a series of tasks that will help you (and if you're feeling generous your opponent) get rescued.
The game is multi-faceted, with several play aspects (again initial concepts here so these may change heavily). The game consists of a map of the island which is divided into grids (either hex or squares), each player has a set of markers that are placed on the board as they explore each section. These markers are placed upside down and can represent either no events (just visited the grid), or objects constructed or placed, ie: traps, shelters, etc.. Second is a card set of actions and events. Third is the player's pawn.
In a nutshell, during a players turn they would choose to either explore the island, by moving their pawn one space if it has not been explored or two spaces if it has already been explored.. Some of these grids will include resources or objectives that are needed to advance further (ie you have to have explored a river grid to build a bridge). If they choose not explore they can play and action/event card these cards will include things such as building a bridge (needed to cross the river), building a trap, building shelter, etc. For some of these cards to be played, certain parts of the map may already need to be explored or other conditions must be met. A majority of situations must be met before the signal fire can be lit. If a player moves over or lands on a location that has already been visited (marked)by either player, they flip over the marker and must use the marker if an action is listed. After visiting a grid that has already been marked, the player has the option to either replace the marker that was there or place one of their own markers in its place. Those markers could be needed resources OR traps. Prior to the game starting a series of markers representing a native tribe to the island are mixed with some random (and unknown) markers and placed randomly around the board. These along with some of the action cards will bring a series of random and unplanned events to the island. Once a series of actions have been completed and resources gathered the signal fire can be lit and the player who lit the fire is rescued wins the game.
New Thoughts on the Game? Does changing the game to more of a gather resources and complete objectives instead of controlling the island work better? The addition of exploration and still keeping pieces unknown by upside down markers. Other ideas?