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build up, knock down idea (looking for theme)

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Fri, 09/28/2012 - 15:34
NewbieDesigner
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-Start with a hand of 5 cards (hand limit as well). Players can either draw a card or play a card.

-You can play a card in one of three ways:

1. Play card in front of you
2. Play a card to attack neighbors
3. Play reinforcement card

When you play cards in front of you, you will be building them high and wide with legs and bases. Anything that is successfully attacked will be removed and anything supported will fall down and be removed as well. Points will be awarded on what is left standing at the end. Each card will have a VP value (1-5) on it that will be added together at the end and multiplied by the height of the structure (perhaps 5 height max allowing for table space).

In addition to VP's, each card will have a defense value on it ranging from 2-12. Then when a player chooses to attack with a card instead of playing it to build their structure, they will roll two dice and attempt to hit the bases and legs of neighbors. So a card may say roll three times to attack left and roll once to attack right. Trade-offs will exist among high valued attack cards with high VP values and cards that aren't likely to sustain damage (like 2's and 12's) but won't be worth that much (1 point each). You can also play reinforcement cards on top of ones you have already played. So if you play a reinforcement card on a 7, and it gets hit later (very likely), you only remove the reinforcement card.

Does this sounds potentially fun? Also, what kind of theme would work? Some sort of battle siege theme seems natural but I'm not sure the smashing down and building up makes much sense. Thanks as always in advance.

P.S. Plan of testing the tornado game next weekend.

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Fri, 09/28/2012 - 21:05
#1
questccg
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NewbieDesigner wrote:...Also,

NewbieDesigner wrote:
...Also, what kind of theme would work? Some sort of battle siege theme seems natural but I'm not sure the smashing down and building up makes much sense. Thanks as always in advance.

I'm thinking something like "Mason Wars" or "The Leaning Tower"...

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Sat, 09/29/2012 - 11:44
#2
Tob
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Dam beavers!

I can think of a few oddball themes that are pretty obscure and relatively depressing, but I can only think of one that is fun/mainstream; beaver dams.

Rival beaver clans are attempting to take control of a particularly sweet spot in a stream. The beavers try to build up their own dams while trying to knock down others.

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 07:45
#3
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Neat idea. The only worry I

Neat idea. The only worry I have is the construction of the dam. They look like clumps of sticks piled on top of each other so I'm not sure if there would be much strategy in the building. I want to encourage players to build a solid foundation if possible and then upwards.

Two other ideas I had in mind were bridges that represented wartime supply lines that other players tried to interrupt or building pyramid formations that lends itself to collapsing structures (the game, The Bucket King, uses this). Not sure about the theme in the case of the latter though.

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 13:59
#4
Tob
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No dams

NewbieDesigner wrote:
They look like clumps of sticks piled on top of each other

To your human eyes. If the beavers didn't have a sense of structure, they would have died out a long time ago.

If you really want to maintain a rectilinear structure, I can think of a few other things. Bowling pins are constantly set up and knocked down, but I doubt you're after a bowling game.

Players could be competing construction contractors building houses in a subdivision using Africanized Termites to sabotage each other's efforts.

Players are wedding cake bakers...

Players are building sand castles at the beach...

Players are cup stacking champions...

Hmm, what else?

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 14:25
#5
NewbieDesigner
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Check out the images for this

Check out the images for this ios game was the inspiration for my idea:

http://cdn.pocket-lint.com/images/dynamic/30a8dc645c5359b09c678e99d0391d...
http://armorblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Screen-shot-2011-12-16-a...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/5708829200_bd286d7e79.jpg

Players fling rocks, bombs, etc. at defense structures and try to make them collapse.

What do you think of the second image that takes place on a ship? Maybe players can start with a few foundation cards and try to build their ships up while canon blasting others trying to make them sink.

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 16:13
#6
questccg
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Angry birds vs. Mason wars

NewbieDesigner wrote:
Check out the images for this ios game was the inspiration for my idea:

http://cdn.pocket-lint.com/images/dynamic/30a8dc645c5359b09c678e99d0391d...
http://armorblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Screen-shot-2011-12-16-a...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/5708829200_bd286d7e79.jpg

Those examples remind me of "Angry Birds".

I was thinking more about "Mason Wars". Maybe each Mason can be from a different style of architecture. Like Roman, Greek, etc.:
-What I was specifically thinking is each player has a COLOR.
-Instead of building like "planks", you could have much more rigid structures like arches, walls, etc.
-The goal would be to achieve a certain height.
-But each structure not only has a color but also a point value.
-By building stronger bases, you can protect your part of the structure.
-You can use all kinds of other cards like explosives to destroy the opponents structure.
-You can use other protective cards like cement and ivy plant to solidify certain portions of the structure.
-Obviously the structures at the top (or close to it) are the less solid and easier to destroy.

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 18:58
#7
Tob
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HA!

questccg wrote:
I was thinking more about "Mason Wars". Maybe each Mason can be from a different style of architecture. Like Roman, Greek, etc.

Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite. That would be hilarious.

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 19:59
#8
questccg
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*Redo* card

Tob wrote:
questccg wrote:
I was thinking more about "Mason Wars". Maybe each Mason can be from a different style of architecture. Like Roman, Greek, etc.

Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite. That would be hilarious.

And I would add a special *Redo-card*, sorta like armagedon, which blows EVERYTHING up! So not only do you battle against the other players, you also battle against time or more specifically before someone decides to blow up the entire board and force everyone to start over!!!

Oh yeah Tob, those would be good styles of architecture... I call it *fancy-smancy* architecture... But it could make for a cool game! Or at least the beginning of one!...

Here are a couple of links also:
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/greek-architecture-doric-ionic-or-...
http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/arts/architec/MiddleAgesArchitectura...

What could be nice is that the cards would have a DIRECTION on which you can build... So topmost one could be designed to fit one on top of the other and could have possible OPPOSITE directions (up and down)... So you could build your "temple" and then invert the structure to try to win! Something hilarious like that...

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 20:23
#9
NewbieDesigner
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Thanks for the Mason Wars

Thanks for the Mason Wars suggestion. Thematically, why would they be at war attempting to sabotage each other or is it more of a light-hearted fictional setting? And how would players draft cards and would they be from the same deck of cards that had all of the different styles?

Picking up on another idea I mentioned above about supply lines, what if players built bridges in front of them and had to deliver supplies across the bridge? Instead of high, wide bridges would be encouraged and players would get points for every space they moved a supply vehicle across. If the bridge collapses under the vehicle or if the vehicle moves off a space into the water, the movement points are negated. Shorter bridges might be safer but longer ones would score more points since there is more room for movement (1 space= 1point, 2=3, 3=6, etc.). You would be able to choose how robust you want the construction to be; more cards for the support bases will take longer to build but are less likely to collapse. Perhaps a minimum size bridge would have to have two bases to support it.

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 20:40
#10
questccg
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Some more ideas

NewbieDesigner wrote:
Thanks for the Mason Wars suggestion. Thematically, why would they be at war attempting to sabotage each other or is it more of a light-hearted fictional setting? And how would players draft cards and would they be from the same deck of cards that had all of the different styles?

I'll leave those two questions to you. Clearly you could mix and match elements from different styles/orders. Different styles have different points for different parts of the building/temple you are building. Like I said if you want it more light-hearted, you could allow building one temple on another... With OPPOSITE directions indicated. :P

You could have like 3 spots for each player to build. He must maintain at least one (1) structure to keep everything intact.

I was thinking you start each structure with a *Pedistal* it's one card and you have different types of different values (but low since it's only one card). Next you move up to the *Column*, it *requires* three elements. To play a *Column* card you would need the 3 required elements (Base-Shaft-Capital). You keep cards you are planning to build with hidden in your hand until you have what you need to build the next element.

Something like that... Ironing out the details is the *design* part of the endeavour! :)

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 20:46
#11
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It would be neat if everyone

It would be neat if everyone had their own decks with unique styles but I'm not sure how that would work mechanically. Alan Moon has a game called Clock Towers that I might look at again since I recall some sort of tower building with card differentiation and prerequisite card play.

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 20:59
#12
questccg
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One deck vs multiple

NewbieDesigner wrote:
It would be neat if everyone had their own decks with unique styles but I'm not sure how that would work mechanically. Alan Moon has a game called Clock Towers that I might look at again since I recall some sort of tower building with card differentiation and prerequisite card play.

What you could do is use game MATS: Each mat represents of the architectural styles (orders).

You could vary the number of *Pedestals* (base of the structure), three for one player, two for other, maybe one has four... But each mat has some savings or extras...

You could use each player having their own deck (that could work), but I think using one deck together would get the biggest *laughs*. If you place a card of your OWN style, it could be like CEMENT: nobody can touch it... So you would be balancing between scoring high points (for fancy stuff) and the stuff appropriate to your style to ensure you are the one that will win the game.

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Mon, 10/01/2012 - 21:51
#13
Tob
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Heavy Mortar

questccg wrote:
If you place a card of your OWN style, it could be like CEMENT

Could have different kinds of mortar of varying strengths too. This would give columns the equivalent of hit points.

NewbieDesigner wrote:
what if players built bridges in front of them and had to deliver supplies across the bridge?

You'd be adding another object of the game; another axis in your equation. What's the object of the game? To build your bridge, or destroy your enemy's bridge, or get supplies across your bridge? Figuring out the winner will be more difficult than limited-overs cricket.

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Tue, 10/02/2012 - 00:00
#14
ReluctantPirateGames
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Here's a fairly twisted idea

Here's a fairly twisted idea (even though it looks like you found one you like already):

Everyone is playing as an 8th grade girl, and you build up your own ego and popularity while trying to humiliate your opponents. An original idea, but probably because it's stupid.

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Tue, 10/02/2012 - 06:04
#15
ilSilvano
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Cake King

Another theme: pastry chefs working on the tallest and best looking cake for a VIP wedding.

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Tue, 10/02/2012 - 08:38
#16
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Tob wrote:questccg wrote: If

Tob wrote:
questccg wrote:
If you place a card of your OWN style, it could be like CEMENT

Could have different kinds of mortar of varying strengths too. This would give columns the equivalent of hit points.

NewbieDesigner wrote:
what if players built bridges in front of them and had to deliver supplies across the bridge?

You'd be adding another object of the game; another axis in your equation. What's the object of the game? To build your bridge, or destroy your enemy's bridge, or get supplies across your bridge? Figuring out the winner will be more difficult than limited-overs cricket.

The object would be to disrupt your opponents supply line via bombardment while trying to transfer supplies on your own bridge.

Once a bridge is built, a player will place a card (say a picture of a truck) on one side of the bridge and can move it one space each turn trying to get it to the end of the other side. If damage is done to the bridge in front of the vehicle, no movement is possible until repair occurs or the vehicle is removed if damage occurs underneath it causing it to fall in the water. The points can be arranged so that depending on how long the bridge is, they will get a victory point card from a stack of cards off to the side. So maybe the longest bridge can be six spaces long and there will be one "6" card worth 21 points. There might be two "5" cards worth 15 points, three "4" cards worth 10, etc. The end game could be once all the VP cards are gone or going through the deck twice. Cards will still be played to construct/repair your bridge or to use them to attack by rolling dice and trying to take out segments opponent's bridges.

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Tue, 10/02/2012 - 08:39
#17
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ReluctantPirateGames

ReluctantPirateGames wrote:
Here's a fairly twisted idea (even though it looks like you found one you like already):

Everyone is playing as an 8th grade girl, and you build up your own ego and popularity while trying to humiliate your opponents. An original idea, but probably because it's stupid.

That's dark, real dark. lol

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