Thứ Tư, 11 tháng 11, 2015

Stowaway: A Quick Idea for a Tavern-Style Card Game


Here's a quick idea for a little tavern-style card game where everyone has a hand of cards, but one of which is moving around secretly from hand to hand. I imagined it as a stowaway on a boat sneaking around trying not to get caught.

---

The Stowaway
A tavern-style card game for large groups, from 5-10 players.

You’re the crew of a pirate ship hiding an innocent stowaway. The Stowaway sneaks from one dark corner of the ship to the next, trying to avoid being caught by the cruel Captain. Eventually the crew will have no choice but to point out where they think is currently harboring the Stowaway.


Setup:
  • From a standard deck of cards, gather two cards per player, minus one.
  • Take the joker and add it to these cards. The Joker is called the Stowaway.
  • Shuffle the cards (including the Stowaway) and deal two cards to each player’s hand.
  • If you ever hold the Stowaway, you’re called an Accomplice.

Gameplay:
Each player simultaneously and secretly passes a card to the player on their left. Repeat this two more times.

Then players discuss where they think the Stowaway is hidden. Players may negotiate and debate as long as they like, but eventually all players must simultaneously count to 3. Then each player must point a finger at who they think is currently harboring the Stowaway. Whoever has the Stowaway must reveal it now.

If you have the Stowaway and fewer than three fingers are pointing at you, you and the Accomplices win.

If three or more fingers are pointing at the player with the Stowaway, anyone pointing at the Stowaway wins. The Accomplice and whoever is harboring the Stowaway loses.

---

This is the bare seed of an idea. Not even tested yet. I'm sure there are all sorts of bugs and broken strategies inherent in it, but I find it useful to get these loose thoughts down into something "discussable." What do you think?

Related Posts:

  • Fragments of a GameTheme first or mechanic first? Tabletop game designers get asked that question a lot, but it misses a key ingredient in any analog game: Components. In this case, I've got a component in mind that I think could be really inte… Read More
  • A Social Deduction Game with Much Less YellingAt the last Game Designers of Carolina meetup, four of us (Burke Drew, Mark McGee, and Josh Mills) went aside and playstormed a few different ideas using cards with only numbers and colors. One was this oddball little social … Read More
  • Cardamom: Perhaps a Silly IdeaThis weekend I tweeted about a product that I'd been mulling over for some time, but I just thought might be too silly to even try. I was feeling restless though, so I just quickly sketched out some cards by hand. I figure, w… Read More
  • Sketching a 3x3 Tactical Tug-of-War microgameThis summer I'm trying to get into the habit of running 5k each weekday morning, then sketching some ideas over breakfast. The running is the easy part to keep up, but the sketching has been a little more difficult. But today… Read More
  • Stowaway: A Quick Idea for a Tavern-Style Card GameHere's a quick idea for a little tavern-style card game where everyone has a hand of cards, but one of which is moving around secretly from hand to hand. I imagined it as a stowaway on a boat sneaking around trying not to get… Read More

0 nhận xét:

Đăng nhận xét