Don't get me wrong, I am also taking this seriously (I assume it's the contest you're referring to that you take seriously). That is in fact the reason I took the time to write a post on this thread.

I am mainly wondering if the restrictions you put on the concept aren't too hard. As you stated you don't have a concept yet and you're doing this on a professional basis. Looking at the posts that followed your reply, even more restrictions are put on the concept than I already pointed out in my previous post.

As for the comparison with the Icehouse pieces, I must disagree. Icehouse pieces have three different sizes per stack, one colour per stack (five per set, with numberous different sets) and can be placed up and on their sides (facing different directions). Giving possibilities for i.e. configuration, distinguishing of pieces, ownership of pieces etc. A set of white hexes, all of the same colour, without possibility for printing/marking and no possibility to be placed on their sides, simply do not.

To make a long story short: as much as I loved the 1st and 2nd Nestorgames contests, I don't think it is realistic to expect good game designs within this small amount of design freedom (and putting it as a 'challenge', doesn't change this).

Players: 2-6
Tiles: 60

Setup:
All tiles go into a pool. Players decide who goes first. Place 1 tile in the playing area.

Play:
Phase 1.
For the first two rounds, each player in turn will draw a tile from the pool and place it in the playing area so at least 1 side is shared with another tile. During this phase, no tiles are allowed to be "surrounded", i.e. have 6 neighbors. During this phase, you can place a tile next to any tile in the playing area, including the tile last played. No stacking is allowed in this phase.

Phase 2.
Each player in turn will draw a tile from the pool and place it in the playing area so at least 1 side is shared with another tile. This tile can not share an edge with the last played tile. Tiles can be stacked, but only 2 per stack (2 tiles high). If a tile (or tiles if they are stacked) are surrounded, i.e. the player's tile makes the sixth neighbor, the player removes the surrounded tile(s). The number of removed tiles each player has determines the winner.

End Game:
When the last tile from the pool has been played, the game is over. The player removing the most tiles wins. In case of a tie, the player who removed the most tiles first wins.

Comments.
I have not had time to playtest this game much. I see a potential problem with games ending in scoreless ties (no one wants to set up a scoring play). If that is the case, I would try adding a "playing area" board that is limited to, say, a 5x6 hex grid to force players to make scoring plays happen. Oh, wait. No boards (or anything else) allowed. :-) Hmmm. OK. After each round in phase 2 that no scoring occurs, the sides a placed tile must share is increased by 1. For example, no scoring happens in phase 2 round 1. Round 2 requires at least 2 sides to be shared. If no scoring happens in round 2, then round 3 requires at least 3 sides to be shared. When scoring happens, the next round starts with the 1 side shared requirement.

Comments welcome!
Jim

This sounds like the games i invent - but, sorry, no ideas for this just now, but i will give it some thought

Colin

Click-Clack

A Dexterity Game by Isaiah Tanenbaum (Ilta)

Object

2-6 players flick hexes against one another in an effort to get two or more hits (the "click-clack" of the title). Players who fail in this task are eliminated until only one remains.

Components

36 white, laser-cut acrylic hexes.

Set Up

Select a large, flat playing surface, such as a dining room table, and scatter the hexes on it. Spread them around liberally, ensuring that no two hexes are overlapping or touching one another.

The youngest player goes first, proceeding to the eldest and repeating until the round ends.

Game Play

The active player uses his thumb and middle finger (or thumb and index finger) to flick any hex, such that it hits another hex. However, it is not enough to simply hit one hex -- he must attempt to hit two and create a click-clack sound! The second hit may be accomplished by the flicked hex, or from the first hex it hit.

After a successful click-clack, the active player takes one of the three involved hexes (his choice) and removes it from play. But if the active player fails to generate a click-clack, he is eliminated from this round and no hexes are removed.

In either case, play then proceeds to the next player, until the round ends (see below)

Players are encouraged to move around the table, trash-talk one another, and dance inappropriately upon scoring a particularly impressive shot.

Special Cases

If a player manages to perform a triple-hit, she has scored a click-clack-click! In addition to removing one of the four affected hexes from play, she takes a second hex from these and keeps it. The next time she would be eliminated, she can "pay" this hex (removing it from play) to stay in the game and repeat her turn! A player may repeat her turn as many times as she has saved hexes. Additional hits beyond three have no in-game effect, but any two of the chain may be removed (one as per normal rules, and one for the click-clack-click).

If a hex is sent off the edge of the table, that counts as an elimination, even if the player scored a click-clack. Toss the hex back on the table, ensuring it doesn't touch or overlap with another hex.

Round End

The round ends, and a round winner is declared, when one of the following occurs:

1. There are two or fewer hexes left on the table. In this case, the last player who scored a click-clack (or click-clack-click) won the round.

2. All players but one have been eliminated. In this case, that player must attempt to make a shot. If he succeeds, he is the winner. However, if he fails, it's Sudden Death! Every player comes back in, and game-play continues until all but one player is eliminated (or Victory Condition 1 is met, as above). Sudden Death may only happen once per round; the next time all but one player is eliminated, that player wins the round without having to take a final shot.

Either way, the round winner scores one point. Play as many rounds as there are players, plus a final do-or-die tiebreaker match if necessary, to determine the Click-Clack Champion!

"Tower of Doom" Variant

During set-up, place one hex on top of another to form a two-hex tower. Repeat as desired to create multiple towers. These towers are immobile obstacles for the course of the round. Any player who hits them, either with their flicked hex or with a hex hit by their flicked hex, is eliminated!

A game of Magnetics for 2-6

Setup:
A central Hex is placed and surrounded by hex stacks of size 2-7 (2 on one side, 3 on the next side, and so on) to surround the central hex. These stacks represent up to 6 players and their turn order (smallest to tallest).

The remaining hexes are placed in concentric circles around the hex in line with the central hex's sides but at every other hex space - almost forming a hexagon 4 to a side missing 4 corner pieces - again, with 1 hexspace between each hex (except the player stacks which touch hexes).

http://www.bgdf.com/node/2314

Play:

Players take turns moving 1 movement along a hexside to a space or on top of existing hexes (making sure to turn their stacks slightly when on hexes to differentiate themselves as player stacks). No more than 1 space may be moved and players may not play where other players are. Each movement must place the player's stack between at least 2 hexes in a line along their opposing sides.

Example (assume each number is a hex side):
12
3 4
56

If the above figure was a hex, that hex must move so that at all times there is either a hex in a line at both 1 and 6, 2 and 5, OR 3 and 4. When a piece is on top of a hex, this hex can count as one, but not both sides of a hex's line requirement.

When a player moves off of a hex, it is removed from the board and one of the line sides of that hex will collapse. The player chooses which line will collapse, but the number of hexes will determine the direction of collapse.

Let's say a player has moved off of a hex to position 2 (an empty space). The player removes the hex and states that the 3-4 hex line will collapse. Looking at the 3-4 line, there are 3 remaining hexes to the left (3 side) and 2 remaining hexes to the right (4 side). The smaller side always collapses. So the 2 hexes that are on the right side each move 2 hex spaces to the left in line with the sides. If there is a tie for amount of hexes on either side, the vacating player of the collapsing hex chooses which side to collapse.

Any players pieces that are in between 2 hexes that collapse are along for the ride and maintain the same distance they had before the collapse with the collapsing hex nearest to them in terms of hex spaces.

So, in the example above, if there was another player at the position 4 of of the collapsing hex and another hex was immediately to the right (4 position) of that player's stack, that hex would move into the vacated hexes position and the moved player's stack would be on that hex's position 3 (immediate left).

http://www.bgdf.com/node/2315
http://www.bgdf.com/node/2316
http://www.bgdf.com/node/2317

Winning the game:

A player is eliminated and removed from the board if he cannot make a legal move. A player CAN be eliminated when it is not his turn. Last player on the board wins.

NOTE: When collapsing or checking for legal movement, there is no limit to the distance of opposing pieces... as long as they align on the side of the space moved to or the pertinent hex, they are legal for play.

I will try to upload an image or two to illustrate things better.

What a challenge!

I wanted to try something non-dexterity... it was rough. I have a couple more, but they are not able to accommodate 2-6 players.

Thanks for the opportunity.

Can you show us an example picture of these components?

I liked the original challenge as it struck the minimalist chord in me. I hope I can make something cool from the wrinkle.

Questions:

Is it possible to totally hide one of the new pieces under a hex? What about under a hex that has six hexes surrounding it?

Nameless Abstract Hex Game, Round 2

Summary:
A game of strategy where you surround a piece to capture it. Capture the most pieces to win. Sound simple? What if you had to tell your opponents where your next move will be before they have to play? Still sound so easy?

Players: 2-6
White Hexes: 60
Counters: 6 (1 of each color)

Setup:
Arrange 18 hexes into a hollow outline of a hex (4 per side). These are static pieces that can't be removed during the game, but they do count for surrounding other tiles. The playfield is the area INSIDE this outline. The remaining tiles go into a pool. If playing 4 or 5 players, remove 2 tiles from the pool - they will not be used. Players decide who goes first.

Play:
1. Each player in turn will draw a tile from the pool and place it in the playing area so at least 1 side is shared with the tile his/her counter is on (for the first move, when your counter is not yet in play, it must share a side with any tile in the play area including the outline). The tile you are playing can not share an edge with the previous player's most recently played tile. Tiles can not be stacked.

2. If a tile (or tiles) are surrounded, i.e. the player's just-played tile makes the sixth neighbor of a tile already on the board, the player removes the surrounded tile(s). The tile the active player just played may NOT be removed. Each tile so captured counts as one point toward your goal of capturing the most tiles.

3. The player then places his/her counter on any desired tile, including the outline, keeping in mind that the tile they place on their following turn must touch this tile housing their counter (i.e. share an edge) as described in step 1. Counters from multiple players can share a hex. If a tile housing any counters is removed as part of step 2, all players that had counter on that tile must miss their next turn.

If a player can NOT play on their turn (i.e. they can not play a tile without sharing an edge with the last played tile, or the tile their counter was on was removed), they must remove a tile from the pool and discard it. Then they must place their counter as normal.

End Game:
When the last tile from the pool has been played, the game is over. The player collecting the most tiles wins. In case of a tie, the player who collected the most tiles first wins.

Comments.
I had time to playtest this time. It is harder than it first appears. Sometimes you are forced into a play giving your opponents a score. I realize I changed two mechanics: there is no more stacking and I have a limited playfield (the hex outline). I will understand if I am disqualified.

Special thanks to Nix_ for the initial border idea!
Special thanks to Alan for proofing the rules.

ANY FEEDBACK IS APPRECIATED.

A game of Magnetics for 2-6

Setup:
Players set up the board as in the first illustration (the double stack chips are the player pawns for the game).

http://www.bgdf.com/node/2417

Players take turns placing their color markers on the exterior hexes until all players have played an even amount of markers. The next illustration shows an example of finished setup in a 6 player game.

http://www.bgdf.com/node/2418

Play:
Players take turns moving their piece (double stack) 1 movement along a hexside to a space or on top of existing hexes (making sure to share their stacks with existing markers if there are any). No more than 1 space may be moved and players may not play where other players’ pieces (double stacks, not single) are. Each movement must place the player's stack between at least 2 hexes in a line along their opposing sides.

Example (assume each number is a hex side):

http://www.bgdf.com/node/2419

Player pieces can move to any side of any hex (1-6) or on top of a hex with their double stack piece, provided there isn’t another player’s double stack piece in the desired move location. Additionally, each player piece must move so that at all times so that there are hexes in a line at both 1 and 6, 2 and 5, OR 3 and 4. When a piece is on top of a hex, this hex can count as one, but not both sides of a hex's line requirement. Hexes can be far apart or close together on the opposing sides, but there must be at least 2 hexes on opposing sides of a player piece at all times or be eliminated.

When a player moves off of a hex, that hex is removed from the board and one of the line sides of that hex will collapse and the hexes on the line’s sides will retract. The player chooses which line will collapse, but the player pieces and markers, and/or number of hexes, will determine the direction of collapse.

The majority player decides which way the line collapses. In case of a tie, the larger number of hex tiles will pull the smaller number of tiles… the moving player chooses which side of hexes moves in case of a further tie in the number of hexes on either side.

http://www.bgdf.com/node/2420

Let's say the red player has moved off of a hex following the arrow (an empty space). The player removes the hex and states that the line side indicated by the black arrow will be collapsed. Players then add up the number of counters they have in the line (including the 2 markers that are part of player pieces).

The yellow player decides to move the line down and to the left and take a free ride with the trip… players in between hexes move with the collapse.

http://www.bgdf.com/node/2421

All the hexes will move so that they are exactly one hex space apart (as they were setup in the beginning of the game line-wise except the center).

NOTE: The closest collapsing hex will take the place of the removed hex. This will cause the push of the yellow piece to its position.

Winning the game:
A player is eliminated and removed from the board if he cannot make a legal move. A player CAN be eliminated when it is not his turn. Last player on the board wins.

NOTE: When collapsing or checking for legal movement, there is no limit to the distance of opposing pieces... as long as they align on the side of the space moved to or the pertinent hex, they are legal for play.

OK... done and done finally... any more changes and I might have to cry "Uncle!".