These are some initial general notes I've jotted down for my International Shipping Education Game (ISEG) prototype.
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Idea for a game to illustrate the vital need of specific documents needed for international transactions.
- Dice with certain symbols on them: Dollar Sign, Shipping Movement Arrows, Speech Bubble, Document
- Shipments: Stack of cards with different colors of ships or card-backs: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green
- Money Tokens
- Tokens for different vehicles: Shipping Vessels (four colours), Airplane
- Game Board: N. America in the Center, Europe & Africa to Right, Asia to Left. Pathways from one region to another: 3 sea travel lanes from NA to Asia, 1 sea travel lanes from NA to Europe, 1 sea travel lane from NA to Africa, 1 air lane from NA to Asia, 1 air lane from NA to Europe.
HOW TO PLAY:
On your turn, throw dice up to 3 times, assembling the symbols you need to complete all criteria on a shipment card. Once all symbols are collected, if the shipment makes it to one of the continents, flip that card over to collect its cash value at the end of the game.
When it's not your turn, choose any one symbol from the active player's results to add to any shipment you've started.
CRITERIA
There are different documents needed to complete specific shipments. There will be some different from one type to the next, which will alter the value of different shipments (and perhaps influence players to choose one type of shipment over another). These include, among others:
- Bill of Lading
- Letter of Credit
- Certificate of Origin
- Importer Security Filing/ISF
- Export License
- Consular Invoice
- etc.
MOVING VEHICLES
Players move the shipping vessel with Movement Arrow Symbols, or move airplanes with Dollar Signs. When a vehicle makes it to a port (shown on the map) any completed shipment that matches its colour should be flipped face-down to indicate that it was completed.
Once the first player becomes the active player again, advance the game timer forward one space. Once the game timer reaches the end of the track or one specific colour of shipments is completed, it's game over. The player with the most money from completed shipments is the winner.
TO DO
- Need surprises to happen at certain times, maybe determined at the beginning of the starting player's turn: shipping delays, storms at sea, lost cargo/lost documents, tariff changes, etc. These are situations that are in effect for an entire round of play.
- Maybe "specializations" for players so they can focus on certain types of shipments?
- Frequency/balance of different symbols on dice.
- Breakdown of different shipments, including their prices/value and the symbols required for certain documents.
