Middle School Game Designs: the New Hotness!

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

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Hello!

My amazing, funny, and creative middle school students are at it again. Over the course of the semester, they design a strategy game and we would very much like to show off what they have done.

I posted last May about our designs, and the response was HUUUUUGE...and the kids were so excited! They worked so hard to come up with really challenging yet fun games, and we hope you enjoy their efforts. Pictures will be uploaded as soon as each prototype is finished.

Here's a link to last May's list: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/142206/what-game-would...

How do we do this?

We spend two months playing a wide variety of strategy games and analyzing theme, mechanics, and victory conditions. Then, students design their own. They spend about two months on their design and by the end, have created a complete prototype and rule set.

I think game design is the best thing that I've ever taught. My students love games and that hooks them from the start. The project is challenging in so many ways and gets harder, and more rewarding, with every step. Choosing the theme allows them to immerse themselves deeply into a subject that matters to them. Then, by focusing on mechanics and victory conditions, they must think deeply about the experience they are trying to create for their players. Writing the ruleset is the next level of challenge because they must distill their ideas into a cogent, functional set AND then explain it so others can have the same experience in playtesting. After a cycle of playtesting and refinement, students create a polished prototype and we publish the results here for all the world to see.

The project requires holistic, visual-spatial thinking as well as analytical, sequential thinking. They must design the game they want while keeping what gamers want and need in mind. They have to be creative on deadlines and manage their time in class to determine their own courses of action. I never let students design a game with a partner because at the end of class, each student has full ownership of everything in their box--all 8,000 decisions are theirs forever.

All things considered, the results are pretty impressive for students whose only strategy gaming experience might have included Risk and Stratego before this class.

Please feel free to make comments, show love, ask questions, and help support the future game designers of tomorrow. (My students and I will be actively reviewing responses every day, but due to the end of the semester Thursday, they may not be able to respond.)

Thanks so much for everyone's attention and comments so far. It's going to be tricky to get students to respond before winter break, but they were so excited to see the thumbs coming in, AND were very much competitive (in a good way) about how many thumbs each game receives. I'm fine with individual games being thumbed more than others--this is an idea marketplace, after all, and the best ideas tend to win.

Special thanks to my game design friends in St. Louis who've been so supportive, especially Mark Sellmeyer (

mark sellmeyer

(artmark)

United States
st louis
Missouri

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who's going to be bringing his fresh-off-the-press copy of his new Rio Grande game, Spin Monkeys to show the class and to look at their prototypes. Thanks to the BGG community for your support too, it means so much to them after a very hard semester. Hooray!!!!!

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Edited Wed Dec 19, 2012 5:21 pm
Posted Tue Dec 18, 2012 4:26 am

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1. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Arachnid by L. H.

You are a spider. There hasn’t been anything to eat for several days, so you decide to create a web to trap animals in. However, the neighboring spiders have the same idea. Will you be able to catch the insects in you web? Or is your opponent the champion?

The goal of the game is to build your spider web with the least about of varying colors, and then trying to capture/steal flies from your opponents web. Players pick from a 4x4 matrix of web pieces, including T pieces, L pieces, X pieces, and I pieces, fly pieces (every player in the end wants the most flies), and traps (these prevent players from stealing their opponent’s flies. The red pieces are used to create barriers for players, so their opponents can’t get into their territory. The green pieces are placed in front of barriers, and allow players’ spiders to “jump over the barriers”. Finally, there are blue pieces, which sink another player’s piece, and the piece can’t be resurrected ). If a player builds their game board with the same web colors next to each other, in the end, they will get the most points, therefore most likely winning. However, one can win by having the most flies (every tile, including flies, are worth different amounts of points).

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?
In one round, every player can take two of three action points. The three action points include:
- pick a web piece
-placing a web piece, therefore increasing the web size
-moving one space onto another player’s web

On the tile set, every player places their one colored game piece (also called their spider).
This tile is a 4x4 matrix of the white web pieces, the green pieces, the red pieces, and the blue pieces. Your spider will remain on the tile set the entire game. Every turn, you can collect one of these tiles (this counts as one action) , and replace another tile in the empty space. Your colored game piece can move one space every turn (on the tiles)
Once selected, place the tile on the board. After being placed on the board, your colored game piece can only move on the line of the web. One of the tiles WILL always stay on the tile selection, while the other one will always stay on the game board. If you create your web with the same color next to each other, you will get 2 extra points. If you create your web with one color in a row/column of 3, you will get 3 extra points.

Why did you choose this theme?
I chose this theme because I think spatially and geometrically; the idea of colors and lines (of the web) I started to develop and eventually it turned into my game prototype!

Game Mechanics:
Tile Selection, Tile Placement, Action Points

How do players win or lose?
Players win by having the most points. Every combination of colors/traps/flies are worth a different amount of points

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?

My game is AWESOME and AMAZING because it is a fresh idea. Almost all games are about conquering other territories, but not many games allow you to actually build the route you want to take. Also, in the end, my game isn’t about how much territory you have, rather, it is about the different routes you took to achieve the expanding. Also, not many people think about the struggle faced if you were a spider. In conclusion, my game is a new idea!

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2. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Philly Landlord by B. W.

Players buy properties to rent out. Properties are worth different amounts of money. The more money the property is worth, the more income you will receive on each turn.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?
On a turn players must first decide what they would like to do: buy a property, or collect income for their property. On the first turn it is mandatory that players buy at least one property. Not all properties are available at one time. Eight market cards show which properties are available. The board is divided up into 16 sections, or areas, and then the board is labeled A, B, C, D across the top, and 1, 2, 3, 4, along the sides. The card says what price range the property is in, and what section or area it is in. At the start of the game there are 6 orange properties (which are the lowest price with the lowest income), and 2 yellow (2nd least amount). As the game progresses the market cards are shuffled and green and purple properties. The player income increases the more expensive the properties that you buy are. As a player you must determine whether you would like to save money and buy a few expensive properties (purple) , or buy many of the cheaper (orange) properties. You may also decide to buy the two middle properties green and then yellow.

Why did you choose this theme?
I decided on this theme because it would be something that would be different every time. The housing market goes up and down.

How do players win or lose?
Players win or lose by the amount of money they have in the end. The player with the most money wins. A variation of the game could add to the victory circumstances. You could add to the victory conditions that you have to have a certain amount of properties to win.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
Philly Landlord is a fun game. You get to decide which properties to buy, but it isn’t that easy. You only have the 8 properties to choose from. This adds a challenging element to the game.

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3. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

On the Green: The Golf Game by D. S.

You are a new professional golfer fresh off the amateur tour. You had a fairly successful amateur career, and you are being offered three different sponsor endorsements. You have to make as much money by the end of the season to stay on the tour.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?
Players go from event to event each turn. Players can do one of three things each turn. Play an event, go to a sponsor stop, and improve skill. To play an event you have to make the ball into the hole. To determine how far away from the hole you hit from depends on the amount you’ve trained in that certain area (specified by event). You subtract the amount you’ve trained in that area from the amount specified on the event card. You then set the stand on the sum of that problem. To do a sponsor stop you have to hit from the 5 marker. The more sponsor stops you do the higher your sponsor level The higher your sponsor level the more money you make. To improve you set the stand on the amount you want to improve it by. There are many different skills to improve. Focus, bunker, lava, etc. Those are a few of many. If two players win the same event then they go into a shootout. First to make and other misses wins.

Why did you choose this theme?
Golf is one of my favorite sports, and I haven’t seen many sports board so it’s perfect.
Game Mechanics:
Card drafting, point to point movement, variable phase order, and pencil paper. Ball into the hole

How do players win or lose?
Person that makes the most money wins. Everyone else loses.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
My game is awesome and amazing because there is a unique mechanic. Hitting the ball into the hole. Thanks for reading.

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4. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Cupcake Pandemonium by E. L.

You are a cupcake general in the distant world of cupcakes. You need to protect your land and stay protected by making the ultimate cupcake army. You can do this by strategically collecting points, and attacking other players territories. Once you have reached six in all three icing, cake, and filling sections on your scorecard, you win. You have created the ultimate cupcake army.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?

During game play your ultimate goal is to reach the number six on all of your cupcake sections on your scorecards. You can achieve this by attacking other peoples cupcake centers. These centers remain in the owners territories throughout the game. Once you land on the centers (the yellow hexagons) you gain one point. You track this by moving the corresponding score tracker on you scorecard as the cupcake game piece that scored the point in the first place.
Game turn
On each turn you do two to three actions.
Move your cupcake game piece or pieces two spaces. (this can be moved with one piece going two spaces or two pieces moving one space).
Move one of your cupcake centers one space. (yes this move is mandatory)
If you land on a cupcake center, you must mark it. Do this by moving the cupcake point marker on the scorecard that matches with the one that score the point.

Why did you choose this theme?

I was interested in making a war themed game. Once I realized that, that wasn’t an option (due to the game theme regulations) I decided to add a light twist that would make it appropriate. I came up with this, and peopled seemed to like the delicious idea, so I used it.

Game Mechanics:

Area movement.

How do players win or lose?

You win once you have reached 6 on all three icing, cake, and filling sections on your scorecard, you win. The rest of the players lose.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?

My game is awesome because of the theme, and strategy. It is special because one does not overpower the other.

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5. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Nyan Battle by B. F.

Short Description:
In the distant future an alien race of cats have sent the mercenary Tac Nayn to wipe out the human race, the only thing standing in their way is Nyan Cat. Choose your side and fight for the earth in this intense strategy game.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?

In Nyan Battle you experience the exciting aspect of tactics and strategy while getting the thrill of hand to hand combat. You can go one on one or teams of two and go in a head to head strategic clash. A fun, social game great for ice breaking.

Why did you choose this theme?
Because I thought it was a fun theme that has never been done.

Game Mechanics: Area control

How do players win or lose?
If all of one player’s pieces are wiped out
If all of one player’s territory is claimed

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
Because it’s something fun and new thats never been done before and is very strategic and tactical.

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6. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

EARTH TO ALIENS by S. D.

Short Description: As many people know scientists haven’t found life in in space yet, but thats all going to change. Aliens from different galaxies have come into the milky way and are now trying to take over the milky way planets and the main target EARTH.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?
The objective of the game is for the different aliens from different galaxies to conquer as many planets and then try to conquer EARTH. To do this players will have their own territory and will have to set up there clones on the planets they have conquered. Once they have done that they will have to try and get chunks from EARTH and bring it back to their territory and make the biggest planet( kinda like territory.)

Why did you choose this theme? I choose this theme because I do like aliens and sci fi stuff so I decided to do have an alien game.

Game Mechanics: First in the beginning turn you start off as a mini ship with no clones start in your own territory( A player can move two times a turn). Then the beginning player will start by going to whichever planet they want to go to and conquer it by taking up 2 turns. Upgrade cards are used for people who have enough money and ship parts.

Upgrade cards: Upgrade cards can be used for two things.( Upgrading clones and upgrading ships are the EXACT SAME THING):
Clones: You can upgrade your expedition by having clones. Each player can have up to 5 clones. For one upgrade you get one clone and then for another and so on. When you conquer planets you have the choice to either put one or two clones on any planet you want or you can let them come with on your expedition to EARTH and other planets. If you choose to put the clone(s) on a planet they will defend it if someone else wants to try and get it. If you want to take them with you, they will help you conquer other planets by taking up less turns(1 turn) and when you go to get pieces of EARTH they can help you by getting more chunks.

Upgrading ships: Another way you can upgrade is by upgrading your ships. It needs the same exact thing as upgrading with your clones. there are many levels of ships you can upgrade to. The ships have some advantages to them if you upgrade to them. They will show the features
on the cards.

Planets: Planets are the areas where your player can conquer them. Planets can be protected by the clones you upgraded too. Some of the planets will provide protection, supplies( are meant for upgrading ), and extra territory. Extra territory can help by allowing you to add 2 or more clones on that planet or you can use it for your main player to pick supplies up from.

Defending Planets: When another player tries conquer your planet you can defend it. If you have 1 clone on the planet and a player with one clone comes to you, you both have to leave. If you have two or more clones on that planet and one clone come you automatically win. Also when another player who is a lower level than you wants to conquer your planet they can. But they can’t conquer your planet if it has a clone on it.

Main Ship: Your main ship is your main piece you move. It is the piece that that can conquer planets. You can also upgrade your ship.

Leveling: Each player will get a level card. The level card will determine who will get the planet or planets. If you are on planet and another player wants to get you can use your level card to determine who wins. If you have the higher level you win if you don’t you give up the planet. If you both have the same level you both give up the planet.

How do players win or lose? The way you win is if you have the most chunks of the EARTH, the biggest planet ( territory ), and the most planets conquered. The way you lose is if you have 2 or less planets conquered, have the least chunks of EARTH, and have the smallest planet (territory).

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING? My game is awesome and amazing because it has a cool theme to it and it’s fun and new.

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7. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Game Title: Perfect Storm By: J.G.

Short Description:
It is a Dark time for the world of Helix. The world is being attacked by a vicious slew of storms. That slew is you and your peers. You compete with your friends and family to create a “perfect storm” to create havoc, and destroy other storms. The goal of the game is to have the most area covered, and the most pieces of storms taken. But there is a catch. Every round Helix’s atmosphere chooses at random a sector in the planet, and completely gets rid of every storm on it.
Think you can create a perfect storm? play the game to find out.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?
The objective of the game is to wipeout other storms. But make yours cover the most amount of squares. At the end of the game when all of the players tiles have been placed, each player counts up their squares, but if one has a train of 10 or more each tile is worth 2 instead of one. You also receive one point for every tile taken. After 1 round ends, one person rolls a 20 sided dice. Whichever number lands up right is the sector that gets wiped-out. You can get lost pieces back by trading in 3 storms tiles for one base back.

Why did you choose this theme?
It was around the time of hurricane Sandy, and the idea of storm cells. Was very aesthetic to me, so I decided to make a storm battle game.

Game Mechanics: Area control

How do players win or lose?
The winner is decided when all tiles have been placed. The winner of the game is the one with the most tile and tiles taken at the end of the game. In case of a tie the winner is decided by whoever has taken the most storm tiles.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
My Game is awesome and amazing because it could happen, it is a fight and contest against your friends and family, and it is a test so see if you could create a “Perfect storm”.

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8. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

The Bird Messengers by D.Y.

You are a bird. A note carrier, to be exact. Your job is to deliver notes from one house to another, earning points along the way. You fly around the neighborhood delivering letter to different houses for different amounts of rewards (points). But watch out for the birds of prey...
Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?

On a turn:
A player has the option of picking up a card. If they do, they must pick up first thing, with one exception of the bird of prey card. If a player moves, before they pick up a card, they may not pick up a card. After the player picks up the card, the player can move three spaces. Even if you do not have any cards in your hand that are not bird of prey cards, you still move three spaces.

A player can carry up to 3 notes and any number of bird of prey cards. The delivering of a card is always at the end of a turn. A player should not deliver a card if they still wish to move. The player can use his 3 (or two or one, depending on how many cards the player has) movements to move in any direction. It will always be between picking up and delivering.

Bird of prey cards:
When you play a bird of prey card, you can move one of the bird of prey pieces on the board (specified on the card) with the movement number specified. You can move it in any direction. If it lands on a space with another player’s bird, the other player loses one point. If a person lands on a space with a bird of prey after it was moved, the person does not lose a point.

You can use a bird of prey card any time during your turn, as long as it is not last. When using bird of prey cards, you must discard it at the end of the turn. Place it into a culmative pile next to the game board.
All the players start on the square with the ‘START’ on it, D1. The first player is decided by who was the last to fly in an airplane, and goes counter-clockwise after the first player is chosen. After the last person goes, all the players move their colored stone, and the first person starts again. If there is a tie during the scoring, the players will play rock-paper-scissors to determine the winner.

Why did you choose this theme?
I chose this theme because I really love birds, and I like to run errands for people too. ^-^

Game Mechanics:
It’s a race to see who can deliver letters and be the first to get to twenty-five points. You also have to pick-up cards and deliver them to another ‘house’.

How do players win or lose?
The player to get to twenty-five points first wins, but if there is a tie while scoring points, the players play rock-paper-scissors to decide the winner.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
My game is awesome and amazing because birds doing delivering things for you is fun even now. Falcons, hawks, and eagles are also real birds of prey, and are a threat to the ‘lower bird’ population. It’s fun for people of all ages.

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9. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

The Great Clockwork Cheese Chase by fabricator J. H.

An abridged account: You are a mouse. Not just any mouse. A mouse bound to an evil rabbit lord that resides upon a magnificent clock tower, fine and regal, shining of brass and glimmering of jewels. Now, this rabbit lord enjoys carrots like any sensible leporidae, and a fairly decent amount of the delicious orange treat fell off the penthouse. As a worthy minion, you will start at the bottom of the clock tower with your carrots that you recently picked up, and work your way back up the tower. Cheese will be your reward for bringing the carrots to the rabbit lord first. A quick note before you begin your mighty odyssey; the rabbit lord turned on the clock gears for a bit of fun. Things will start to get spinny.

During a turn...
Moving: Players have 3 movement points. A gear jump is 2 points. A tooth jump is 1. A gear jump is when a mouse travels from one gear onto another gear. For example, 2 gears are interlocked. The teeth that are connected are the magenta tooth and the green tooth. Your mouse is on the green tooth. You can travel onto the magenta tooth for 2 movement points. A tooth jump is when a mouse moves one space, but stays on the same gear. For example, a gear has a red tooth and a green tooth one space away. A mouse that is on the red tooth may travel to the green tooth for 1 movement point.

A quick note on moving: Before the game starts, a colored die is rolled 3 times. Those 3 colors are the only colors that are allowed to be used for the duration of the game. For example, red, green, and magenta are rolled. That deems yellow off-limits for the game.

After a turn:
The player in possession of the rabbit lord can move the gears after each turn. The evil rabbit lord is passed from player to player after every turn. Gears can be turned up to a maximum of 3 teeth per turn.

Interaction:
This is a race game, so players with the rabbit lord can interfere with the paths of other venturers, as well as assist themselves proceed with increased haste. The rabbit lord changes hands after each turn as to even out the power.

Reason of theme selection:
The race game is very simple, but with the right obstacles can be quite enjoyable. I thought to add my own special spin (pun VERY intended) on this genre with gears. An evil rabbit lord, carrots, mice, cheese, and a jeweled clock tower develop the rest of it.

Mechanics:
Action point allowance-Players have 3 movement points to spend each turn.
Specialty-Gears can be activated each turn

Victory:
The first player that reaches the top of the tower wins. After 12 rounds, if no one has won, then I suppose no one wins.

Reason for superiority and exceptionality:
Those words might be a little strong, but I still believe that the gear element of moving realizes a tid bit more of the potential of the race genre. The feudal political system between rabbit and mouse differentiates from other themes, however silly. The ability to turn the gears one in four turns can affect the whole board, but not enough to be extremely fatal when one player gets the ability to turn a gear and the right time.

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10. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Hot Rats by E. Z.

Earth has barely survived World War 3. Rats are desperate and there is no real source of food. Many species have died and rats are banding together to hunt like the Indians. (Except with their teeth and not spears and bow and arrows.) But fried squirrel won’t last forever. Many regular meats have gone extinct such as cows, chickens, pigs, and even turkeys. Then one day, an outbreak of a new food came, jungle stew. Rats, with their advanced technology, have found out that making jungle stew with seeds and water is a very nutritious meal. Now that they have found out, they are looking for a nice source of seeds. They find one, but the four major groups have a disagreement over who gets the seeds. They argue, then decide to go to war. They savage their cities for any technology or things they can find. They find some good powers but the engineers say that they will need to be payed for them to fix and use it. Then, they notice that the only way for them to make money is to make jungle stew and sell it to the population of their group. Frustrated, all four major groups decide to fight for the stew.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?
Each player may move his/her piece and may take down other players pieces. The players pieces will collide with each other and they will battle to get stew from other people.

Why did you choose this theme?
I had a special love to a stuffed rat back in the day, (Uh, like a year ago.) and I really adored it. I petted it and I had an obsession with stuffed rats in a blink of an eye.

Game Mechanics:
Area movement, Simulation

How do players win or lose?
A player wins when he/she successfully steals five bowls of soup from someone else's territory.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
My game is awesome because the theme is awesome and it is quite silly to knock out someone else’s rats and run off with their stew. It’s as if you are saying, “Ha! Come and get me! I am running off with your precious stew! I assure you that my game box's cover picture will blow your face off!

[+] Dice rolls

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11. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

My Garden Shed by L. L.

The local nursery invites you to enter a gardening competition and you decide to enter. So you work hard, withdraw from the bank frequently and go to the nursery often.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other? You can withdraw from the bank or edit your garden on your turn. If you get a certain amount of each flower or garden supply, you get an action card. The action cards are very good for revenge. They let you either: remove 5 tiles from another player, rearrange 5 tiles from another player or get more action points in one turn. You try to make symmetric designs to score more points from the competition judges that come to judge your garden in the end. The winner is obviously the person with the most points in the end. They was you score points is by solid colored area, Symmetric area or an area with rotational symmetry.

Why did you choose this theme? I chose this theme because I thought it was interesting and has lots of different options and possible game twists.

Game Mechanics: I liked the idea of action points because it allows players to choose what they want to do and gives people more option without getting out of control. I chose a pattern matching game because I love math and randomly doodling patterns on graph paper in my free time.

How do players win or lose? The winner is the person that gets the highest score for their garden. You get points for your pattern and you can get points for leftover coins and unused action cards. The loser is the person that has the most things in their shed which their storage space. You want to have the least empt dirt space in your garden because the judges by your area too.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING? My game is awesome because you get to interact with other players while expressing yourself with different colors and patterns. you get to be creative and silently fight and compete with other players.

[+] Dice rolls

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12. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Colonizing Craze by A. S.

You are coming from your home planet in order to colonize a suitable location for life. Unfortunately, several other planets had the same idea. You have to use construction drones to prepare colony areas and build roads between your colonies, so they can trade once they are built. Meanwhile, you must take your hovercraft and place blockades to slow their drones down. The more you colonize and construct, the more likely it is that the others will be rooted out, so you want to colonize as much as possible!
Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?

On your turn, you can move your hovercraft and construction drones. The hovercraft will move to other player’s chosen colonizing areas, and place blockades to slow people down. When your supply drop construction drone (Shaped like a plus sign) lands on a colonization area, each turn it stays there afterward will drop a supply cube. The road building drone can place roads anywhere ( I’d advise placing it so it connects areas). The drones move faster along roads, which provides some opportunities. It takes a construction drone a full turn to move through blockades.

Why did you choose this theme?
It seemed unusual and interesting. At first, it took place in space, with you colonizing planets, then I switched over to this. I have seen some games with similar mechanics, but it’s tricky to do original mechanic ideas. Besides, I like space-related things.

Game Mechanics:
Action Point Allowance, Pick-up and Deliver, Route/Network Building

How do players win or lose?
You win if you have the most Victory Points, which you obtain from building roads, and preparing colony areas.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
My game is awesome and amazing because it’s a pick-up and deliver game, but there is lots of conflict and strategy as well. There are many opportunities that you might have to get ahead or fall behind, some based on your own decisions, some not. Thank you for reading, I await everyone’s advice and suggestions!

[+] Dice rolls

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13. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

FIRE FURY by I. E.

You are in a small city bordered by three other small cities. you are in a small branch of government dedicated to relations between the cities. There has always been a silent tension between the four cities, and when an uncontrollable fire breaks out in the forest where their borders meet you have an Idea. Instead of putting the fire out you decide to use it to your advantage and burn the other cities to the ground. But heres the kicker they thought the same thing.

Before the game starts players place their city anywhere in their territory In the center of the board is and Eternal fire that cannot be extinguished. By placing and moving fire breaks( pieces that represent trenches dug in the earth to stop the expansion of a forest fire) you can manipulate the fire out of your territory and into your opponents(you may not use fire breaks directly on the eternal fire . Every round players will place their fire breaks on the board in a way in which they feel will best slow down the quick progression of the fire. the fire expands into one territory square every round horizontally. the fire is represented by the fire pieces. If you surround a section of fire completely it will “burn itself out” and the fire piece will be removed from the board.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?
On every turn the players go around and place their fire pieces then the fire expands repeat so on and so forth. There aren't many components of the so only the fire and the fire breaks interact with each other and you already know how that works.

Why did you choose this theme?
I really liked the mechanic of the expanding whatever and I thought that fire was the best choice.

Game Mechanics:
The expanding fire, and tile placement.

How do players win or lose?
The game ends when a city is consumed by fire. the winner is determined by whoever has the most territory unscorched.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
It is amazing because it is new different and fun.

[+] Dice rolls

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14. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Doodle Wars by S. F.

Short Description:Sitting in math class bored to death all you hear is the clock ticking, as your teacher going on, and on, and on. Then, your friend passes a note. It reads
i challenge you to a...
doodle war

In this game your goal is to capture school supplies using your army of drawings.
You draw on the board and try to erase others drawings, setup walls, and win the war.

Describe the gameplay—what do players do on their turns, how do the components of the game interact with each other?
Each turn you get 3 action points. With these you can:
make a drawing(1 pt)
move a drawing(1pt)
erase other drawings(1 pt)
capture school supplies(1 pt)
draw a wall (1 pt)
erase a wall (2 pts)
move teacher(3 pts)

Drawings
Drawings are like pieces, except you draw them onto the board. You use them to capture school supplies and erase drawings on other teams. You can move them forwards side to side and back. When two drawings of different colors land on a square, they cancel each other out or fight.
Walls
Where walls are drawn Drawings can’t cross. However, walls can be erased and cannot completely close off a square.
Teacher
The teacher eyesight covers a three by three space and whatever drawings it covers are erased. Also, drawings in school supplies it covers cannot move out and drawings can’t be made there.

Why did you choose this theme?
Because I really like to draw and me and my brother used to always have drawing wars.

Game Mechanics:
Action point system and area movement

How do players win or lose?
Whoever is the first to capture five pieces of school supplies win.

WHY IS YOUR GAME AWESOME AND AMAZING?
Because you can draw on the board allowing you to make the pieces look like whatever you want.

[+] Dice rolls

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15. Board Game: Unpublished Prototype [Average Rating:6.97 Overall Rank:2621]

Kathleen Mercury

(funkdonut)

United States
St. Louis
Missouri

Please check out my student game design Geeklists! You rock!

Kids on the Run by M. A.

During the game players place tiles to escape from the mom and dad. At the beginning of the turn all players replenish their decks, parents to four cards and kids to three. Then the kids decide whether to place a tile or move on an already placed tile.

Game Mechanics: Tile placement and variable phase order.

Kids win by escaping the mom until the deck runs out and the mom wins by collecting fifteen victory points, 5 per capture.

My game is great because it has unique game structure and uses a different combination of game mechanics.

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