Hi!
I'm working on a prototype of a real-time, card-placing, racing game in which I would like to include some type of countdown to increase tension and chaos in the game play. Does anyone out there have suggestions on how to successfully achieve this without the use of a sand or digital timer? I would love to be able to package this game as just a card game for both cost and simplicity reasons.
Thanks!
You could use a token and a board with a track. When you reach the end of the track, the game is over. It could also be circular and then you can have a rule that you can go around the track three (3) time (as an example).
How the track works: after each player turn you advance the token or after all the players play their turn you advance the token, etc.
You could use a green token for the first time around, a yellow token on the second turn around and a red one for the final turn... This is just an example.
Or you could color the squares on the track from Green to Yellow to Red (to signal the end).
I, too, am working on a real time game with a countdown. I'm currently using sand times, but a CD with prerecorded tracks of the right length has also been suggested.
If it is a card game, then you might be able to utilize the draw pile itself. When it is depleted, the game is over.
To be included in the game box?
Yes, there is a randomized end game already integrated in the bottom half of the deck. I guess what I'm searching for is something to create urgency...
What does the timer count - time or plays? If you want it to be a specific amount of time you're gonna need a timer. If its around a certain time then there are come card mechanics you could use
Or cards could have a panic symbol on them, and the 3rd panic symbol ends the round. So after the 2nd one gets played there would be a lot of urgency to get stuff in before the 3rd is played.
Could the winner be the first person to have no cards in hand? Then people would be rushing to play their cards as quickly as possible (a la Scrabble SLAM!).
Maybe a small extra deck that has no other function than determining the game end. Players are free to draw and play cards from that deck to force an early game end, but the time they spend doing it is time they are not playing potentially more valuable cards from their decks.
One of the best ways to create urgency in a real time game is the "beat them to it" effect. If you are racing the other players to "slap the jack" or "find the right card" then you will feel urgency to accomplish your goal before the other players do. The comment above indicated this with reference to scrabble 'Slam'.
If you feel you haven't incorporated a racing element into the game enough, consider allowing players to interrupt other players turns and act when they have the right cards. If they don't have the 'right cards' often enough to add pressure to the game play, then add more good cards, and ways to get them. Players should 'push' the game toward its end based on their desire to act.
If the game is entirely turn based, you don't really have a real time game anyway.
If you make the end of the deck the end of the game, so that players know when it will occur, there will be great urgency. Play Falling (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/75/falling) to see.
This idea makes the game less 'real-time', but uses only one card and would create a sense of urgency.
Let's say you divided the card piles that players could choose from into a pattern that represents your race track. All of the piles are face-up, and players can choose a card from any face-up pile.
Now the key: Have an 'hourglass' card which is different on the top from on the bottom. For example, the top half could be filled with sand and the bottom half could be empty.
At the beginning of the game, you place this card at the 'starting line' pile. As each player ends their turn, they give the hourglass card a quarter-turn. When the card has been turned all the way around, move it forward to the next resource pile and remove the first pile from the game.
This would give players a great sense of how long the game will be. If you have 10 resource piles, the game would last 31 turns (card pile is removed on 4th turn AND hourglass is moved forward, so 3 turns per pile +1 to remove last pile). You would get a sense of urgency as more and more resources are removed from the game.
What do you think?
We added a "slapping" element to the game today and it was quite fun! We're in the very early stages of development so more playing will see if it stands the test of time. Great idea though...thanks!
but would not work for our game. I really love the concept behind this mechanic and will keep it in mind for future projects. Thanks so much for the suggestion :)
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I like your idea, but it will not fit well with this game. For starters, I want the game box to include only cards (unless we have to add a sand timer), and secondly, I think the chaos of the game will be diminished by the added responsibility of having to move a token around a track.
I really appreciate your input, and perhaps this mechanism will work well for future projects!