howdy.
this is a quick little game based on goofenspiel (or GOPS) its 2 player and takes 10-15 minutes. i themed it as wizards buying spells but i think i will change that if i can think of anything better
components: 2 sets of bid cards (10 cards marked 1-10)
3 power cards (earth, water and fire)
30 mana cards.
mana cards are numbered 1-5 and have 1 or 2 symbols (to match power cards). there is 1 card for each permitation (ie 5 earth, 5 earth/water 5 earth/fire etc).
set up: each player receives a set of bid cards and a power card (hidden from opponent). the mana cards are shuffled and dealt into 3 face down piles of 10.
game play: this game is played over 3 rounds using the 3 mana piles.
on each turn flip the top card of the current mana pile.
each player selects a bid card and places it face down in front of themselves.
when both players are happy the bids are revealed and the highest bid card wins the mana card.
used bid cards are discarded and the turn is repeated until the mana pile has been exhausted, the bid cards are then collected and you start a new round with the next mana pile.
in the case of a draw flip the next mana card and bid for both (all unwon) cards. if the mana pile has been exhausted and there is no card to flip, all unwon mana cards are discarded.
when all mana cards have been won/discarded the game is over and it is time to score.
scoring: each mana card is worth its face value. any mana card that shares a symbol with your power card is worth twice its value.
i have made this 2 player because a) it keeps the card count under 54 and b) 2 players using 3 power cards adds some extra hidden info.
if i ever made this more than a family game i might add an "expansion" of an air power, a set of bid cards and 20 extra mana cards. this adds 2 extra rounds.
any thoughts are welcome thankyou.
ps. goofenspiel the game i based this on is one of my favourite games (certainly my favorite card game). it is easy enough to teach to a toddler but complex enough to have papers written about the maths of it. i recommend people learn it for those rainy days when you havent got your game collection to hand and another game of go fish may result in murder.
thanks.
i know players would be able to figure out their opponents power but i am hoping (i need to playtest more) this adds some meta gaming " do i want to stop them or save my high cards? " "do i bid high on a card without my power to confuse my opponent?"
i was also considering making powers public, but i dont know if this makes things harder or easier as far as strategy goes.
having cards that you dont want adds a strange twist in that you need to bid each turn, you don't want to bid high for trash but you also never want your opponent to get a point if you can help it.
in the original game you win by getting 46 (half the available poits +1) but there are different ways to get there, you can try to get a few high cards or pick up lots of little cards that your opponent is ignoring or a mixture of the two. my niece liked to play by shuffling her deck and just bidding the top card, i think thats boring but its very hard to play against and she wins alot with this tactic. (GOPS stands for the Game Of Pure Strategy or the Game Of Physiological Strife as you are trying to read your opponent - its like poker for idiots)
the expansion wouldnt be necessary for 3 players but it would require people have a deck of cards (to make a third bid set). 3 players adds an interesting layer of play. in a 3 way tie you play as normal but in a 2 way tie only the drawn players carry on bidding. this means the third player misses out on (at least) 2 cards but potentially has more, high cards than their opponents, which can be awesome if they just wasted cards to get 5 points and you know you can win the king (13) when it shows up