GRIZZLY PEAR

written snapshots

Month: June 2011

  • Pepper. Corn!, 2011

    A feeding frenzy for two bunnies.

    Introduction

    This is a light fishing game of capturing cards off the tableau. After the tableau is cleared, the players add up the values of their captured cards to determine the winner.

    The game was inspired by my pet rabbit who is by far the most enthusiastic and fastest eating bunny I’ve seen. She has no problems yanking food right out of her partner’s mouth, but is readily aggrieved if she does not get her fair share of the produce.

    Setup

    Start with a standard deck and deal 24 cards face up to the table in 3 rows and 8 columns.

    To ensure a fair start, the starting hands are determined using a “split the pie” mechanism. Each player is dealt 6 cards which they will divide into two piles to offer the the opponent. The division of cards does not need to be equal in either points or in the number of cards. After deciding the split, the players simultaneously reveal the cards face up to analyze. After the players have decided which pile they will take from their opponent’s offerings, they simultaneously reveal their selection.

    Each player then combines the pile they have taken from their opponent and with the pile that the opponent did not take from their own offering. They then add up the ranks of the cards in their starting hands (aces are worth 1, crowns worth 10). The player with the fewest points will be the start player. If they are tied for fewest points, the player with the fewest cards will start. If they are still tied, then determine the start player randomly (start position is really not that important).

    Play

    Each turn a player will play one or more cards to capture a single card on the tableau. A capturing card must share a suit with the card being captured. If several cards are played to capture a card, the played cards do not need to share a suit with each other, but each capturing card must share a suit with the captured card. The rank of the card (or the sum of the ranks of multiple cards) being played must be equal or higher than the captured card. The captured card is then placed in the player’s hand and the capturing card(s) discarded into the player’s own discard piles for scoring at the end of the game.

    Aces are worth 1 point but they are wild cards to be used in capturing cards of any suit. However, when they are on the tableau they are still of their own suit and may only be captured by cards showing the suit of the Ace (or by another Ace).

    At the beginning of the game, each player will only have access to the cards on their side of the table – the eight closest cards of the eight columns of the tableau. As the players capture cards, they will be able to capture any cards they can access orthogonally starting from their side of the table. After enough cards have been captured, there will be an open path from one side of the table to the opponent’s side of the table. At that point the players will have the same access to the cards on the tableau.

    Turns alternate between players. If a player is unwilling or unable to capture a card they may chose to pass, however the game will only end when both players are unable or unwilling to make any further captures The remaining cards on the tableau are removed from the game.

    Winning

    The players then add up the ranks of the cards in their discard piles and in their hands. The player with the most points is the victor.

    If they are tied for points then the game is a draw. We’re looking for calories consumed, the number of bites it took is irrelevant.

    Variants

    There are different ways to arrange the tableau. I started with a 5×5 grid and also tried a 4×5 grid but I like getting to the point where each player has the same access to the tableau more quickly. A 2x grid was considered but it is too wide for most tales and it merged the playing field too quickly. And yes, the 3x grid was the most “corn looking” of the arrangements.

    A variant rule of determining access to cards is to assume that players may not go through the opponent’s side to get to a card. Thus when the path is cut through the tableau, it is not immediately opened up for both players – a player must still be able to chart a path originating from their side through the grid to a card to be captured. However, this approach limits the interaction (limited as it is) and dampens the urgency of the game.

    P.D. Magnus has proposed a variant which starts with the center row (of the 3X8 grid) face down. This would certainly help keep the game lighter and avoid analysis paralysis as the original ruleset is a perfect information game!

    The extended deck

    Unplaytested. One could add cards in and play with a 7X5 grid (5 cards to each player for the initial split). Then the Pawns and Courts could be used either as initial gaps (taken away immediately after setup).

    Unplaytested. Using a 8X4 grid (7 and 6 cards to the players for the initial split) you can keep them in the tableau but they are to be played as “converters” with other cards. They would have a value of 0 and would still need to be captured off the board. However, they convert all the cards of a given play into one of the suits on the pawn or court card. If you wanted it to be more complicated you could add the additional restriction that the cards being converted need to share a suit with the pawn or court card.

    Thanks

    A very serious thanks to my girlfriend who helped me in working out this game. From the beginning I wanted to design a game that included the “split the pie” mechanism (ala San Marcos and Biblios) and I wanted to simulate my rabbit’s frantic eating frenzy. However it took several very different iterations to the two to work together and I certainly would have never gotten there without her critique and pointed questions.

    And thanks to P.D. Magnus cause I think that makes him the first to try out one of my decktet games apart from my involvement!

    Links

    BGG database entry
    Initial announcement of Pepper. Corn! on BGG

  • Blulu, a Decktet Game, 2011

    An arithmetically paired fishing game with the Decktet.

    In the Eastern Deserts, the jackrabbits are regarded as a pest and a delicacy. Lesser known is that between eating (and being eaten) they while away their time with a simple fishing game.

    As a fishing game, the goal of the game is to capture cards. Each player will play two cards every turn, capturing cards using either the sum or difference of the played cards. The players that captures the most cards scores points for the round. The first player to reach twenty-two points wins the game and is granted the privilege to be the first bunny out for dinner.

    The game is a reinvention of the classic Moroccan fishing game Ronda. Aside from using the Decktet instead of the Latin Deck, the game is also played with two cards at a time and bonuses are given for suit combinations played.

    Setup

    Shuffle the basic deck and deal four cards to each player and four face up to the table. After the initial deal, no further cards will be dealt to the table, but there will be three additional deals during the round (emptying the deck). The same player will be the dealer during the entire round, and the dealer switches each round.

    Only the two player version has been playtested, so the two player game is the basis of these rules.

    Gameplay

    A player will play two cards on each turn.

    If the sum OR the difference between the played cards equal the rank of a card on the table, the player captures the card on the table along the pair just played. If there are several cards of that rank on the table, then all cards are captured, a player may not leave any on the table. A player is restricted to capturing only ONE rank per turn, even if a play could capture two ranks. (7 and 3 captures 4 OR Crown but not both).

    If the cards played are a pair (of the same rank) they will capture all the cards of the rank just played. (7 and 7 would capture a 7).

    If a player cannot make a capturing play, then he or she must place two cards on the table.

    When both players are out of cards (after two plays each) the dealer then deals out four more cards to each player. At the end of the game, the last player to capture cards takes the remaining cards on the table.

    Bonuses

    There are two possible bonuses during gameplay.

    Flush – each of the cards (played and captured) share a same suit. The capturing player scores 2 points. (eg 7 wave/wyrm 3 moon/wave = 4 wave / leaf).

    Sextet – the group of cards (played and captured) show one of each suit between them without duplication. A sextet must have exactly one instance of each suit. The capturing player scores 4 points. (eg 4 wave / leaf + 5 wyrm / knot = 9 moon / sun, or any triplet of the 2 through 9 rank cards)

    Some warrens will exchange captured cards to keep track of bonus points (ie if you score a flush, the opponent will place two of her captured cards in your capture pile), thus the bonus points are not “scored” until the end of a round. Some warrens do not exchange cards but keep a running tally, thus scoring bonus points immediately and ending the game as soon as a player reaches 22 points.

    Scoring the Round / Winning

    At the end of a round, each player will count their captured cards. The player with more than 18 cards (half the deck) will score a point for each card in excess (20 cards would score 2 points).

    As noted in the introduction, the first player to reach 22 points is the winner. If both players reach 22 points, then whoever has more points is the winner. If both players are tied, play additional rounds until the tie is broken.

    Variants

    There are several variants that were tested. The most promising one is to deal out six cards to each player per deal (none to the table). It may actually be a better game, but after designing and playing it with the four cards, it felt a little strange to me. It may be in part because I have a numerological a fondness for the current game with 2 pairs dealt, 2 plays per round, 4 deals per round, 22 points per game. However, one could easily construct a cohesive numerical system with 3 pairs, 3 plays per round, 3 deals per round, 18 card goal, and 18 or 36 point games. As such, I would not hesitate to switch numerological allegiances, if this variant is clearly the better game after further playtesting.

    A streamlined version (my original idea for the game) is to calculate only the difference between the cards. I think it works but is a little too constricted.

    A more complex version would be to allow a pair of cards to capture BOTH the sum and the difference of the two cards. However, I think it adds a little unneeded complexity to the calculations and detracts from the suit bonuses.

    Extended Deck (untested)

    There is no place for the excuse, but there could be uses for the Pawns and Courts. Both the Pawns and Courts are worth 0 points in summing cards. In all cases, scoring at the end of the round is based off of the deck size divided by the number of players.

    A 3 player game could add either the Pawns or Courts making a 40 card deck. Deal four cards to each player and four to the table. There will be three deals in a round. One could just use a standard deck and start with no cards dealt to the table.

    A 4 player game could also be played using the standard deck with two deals per round (four cards to the table during the initial deal) but I suspect each round would be a little short and unsatisfying. Maybe this will work better with a double deck.

    In a 2 player game, add both Pawns and Courts to the deck for a deck of 44 cards. Deal and play as in the main rules, but there will be an additional round.

    Many domesticated warrens are rumored to play a variant called Brulu, using a 40 card deck including pawns. There are no cards dealt to the table during the initial deal and they play to 41 points. Many aficionados consider this the purest way to play.

    Thanks

    The Blulu variant is a direct nod to the Moroccan card game Ronda which this game is based on. Let me start with my friend Margaret who gave me a Moroccan deck, inspiring me to look into the game and eventually develop a rough draft of the rules (Ronda is surprisingly hard to find on the English speaking internet). I sent these rules to John Pagat who then did an amazing job doing real research and completely rewriting the rules; thus publishing the only comprehensive Ronda rule set in English.

    Of course, many, many thanks to my girlfriend who helped me playtest the game – not only Blulu but also Ronda when I was trying to figure out how that darn game worked using fragmented descriptions found on different websites. And to my old bunnies Buster and Lulu, wherever they’re hopping now…

    Links

    BGG database entry
    Initial announcement of Blulu on BGG
    Rules of Ronda

    Boardgamegeek.com database entry

  • If Badger was a Bunny, 2011

    An asymmetric climbing race game for two.

    The tortoise and the hare are staging a series of races!

    To be the champion keep shedding your cards first.

    Setup

    The player who most recently held a bunny shuffles the basic deck, discards two cards (to introduce uncertainty) and deals one face up to each player to be their starting positions for their race tracks.

    Take the remaining cards and deal them face down equally to each player (sixteen each). The hare then draws the top eight cards off his deck, while the tortoise draws none (zero). The hare starts first.

    Game play

    As a “climbing game” the card play will consist of a player leading with a set of cards to his race course (the allowable plays are described in the following section). The second player may then play an equal or higher ranked set of the same type to her own race course. The second player must pass if she does not have a playable set. If the second player passes then the first player may then lead with a set of any type. If the second player follows with a set then the first player may then either play an equal or higher set or pass, giving the lead the the second player. Note: unlike most traditional climbing games, players are not restricted to playing the same number of cards as the previously played set to continue the series.

    Racin’
    There are three types of sets: Singles, Multiples (groups of cards with the same ranks), and Straights (ascending consecutive ranks of two or more cards). The hare may play as many cards as he desires, but the tortoise may play at most two cards at a time.Note: straights are not required to share a common suit

    A set must always be connected to the player’s race course. The first card played must either share a suit, or share the rank, or be of one higher rank than of the top card of his or her race course. Each player’s race course will always remain their own, they will never play cards on their opponent’s course.
    At the end of the race, each player’s course should be completely connected from beginning to end. It is suggested that the players announce their plays and mention how it is connected (such as “I play a 6,7,8 straight, the 6 is connected by the sun to the orange crown”)

    After the lead, the second player may either pass or play the same type of set and the final card must be of equal or higher rank than the first player’s final card (and yes, it must be connected the second player’s course). Only the final card matters in determining the rank of the set. When a player passes, the series ends and the other player may then lead with any type of set on their race course. The newly lead series does not have any relationship to the previously played sets, but it must still connect to the player’s race track. A player that captures the lead may pass his or her turn, and will still draw the appropriate number of cards from doing so.

    Because the hare and the tortoise may play different numbers of cards in a play, the amount of cards (aside from minimum of two(!)) in a multiple or a straight is irrelevant. Even though the hare must follow type, he may always play as many cards as he wishes to the play (ie 3-4-5-6 in response to a 5-6 straight played by the tortoise). Similarly, no matter how many cards the hare plays, the tortoise must merely follow type (ie she may follow four Aces with a pair of Aces or higher)

    Drawing cards
    As mentioned previously, the tortoise starts with an empty hand. However, she will draw two cards at the beginning of each turn until her deck runs out.

    The hare does not replenish his hand regularly, he will draw cards only in three situations:

    1. If he passes and has cards remaining in his hand, he will draw a single card.

    2. If he passes and has no cards remaining in his hand then he will draw the remainder of his deck.

    3. Finally, he will draw the remainder of his deck after the end of the series during which the tortoise draws her last card.
    The hare will never draw a card without following a pass. In the second situation, even if the hare won the series where he shed his last hand card, he will still have to pass the lead to the tortoise as he cannot play until he draws his cards. In the third situation, he will not draw the remainder of his deck until someone passes.

    Winning
    The first player to play all of his or her cards is immediately the winner of the race. If both players are unable to play their final cards, the winner will be whoever has the fewest cards remaining. If they are tied in remaining cards, then the race is declared a draw. The winner of the race scores 1 point for every card remaining in their opponents hand. In the case where neither player was able to empty their hand they score the difference in number of cards between the two remaining hands.

    A full tournament of races would involve four rounds with the players alternating as the hare and the tortoise, and see who has the best record. If after four races, the series is a draw, then continue racing and the next winner is the champion badger.

    Example 1: Jen plays her last card to her race track and is declared the winner. Brad has 3 cards left in hand so Jen scores 3 points.

    Example 2: Angelina and Brad both pass because they have no legal plays remaining. Angelina has 2 cards left while Brad has 4. Angelina is declared the winner of the race and scores 2 points. (4 minus 2).

    The extended deck

    The pawns and courts could be inserted in the deck, they would rank between the nine’s and crowns. As such the setup would still involve discarding two cards and starting with two cards, but instead of starting with eight cards, the hare would start with ten cards.

    If the Excuse has no rank and no suit and is considered lower than an ace. As such it can only be played as the very first card of a series (the one who plays it must have the lead) but it can be played onto any card and any card may be played to follow it. It counts as leading a series of Singles. If you use the Excuse you should discard 3 cards at the beginning of the game.

    Credits

    Playtested with Jing Gu.

    Thanks also to Kenny VenOsdel who reviewed the rules and suggested clarifications.

    Links

    BGG database entry
    Initial announcement thread on BGG

  • 25 Games I wanna Play

    listed here on boardgamegeek

    but I’ve decided that I should start doing some things on this blog site too just to keep it moving along after a half hear of stagnation!

    So here’s the list as I wrote it down with notes, not as ordered by boardgame geek ranking.

    Brass – Martin Wallace
    Troyes – Dice and Hype
    El Grande – A classic I haven’t tried
    Tigris and Euphrates – good online, I hope its better in person
    Le Havre – I liked Agricola
    Modern Art – Auctions, good first play
    Princes of Florence – Auctions, I didn’t like the first play but its well regarded
    Hansa – Mark Johnson
    Africa- Mark Johnson
    Bohnanza – Mark Johnson
    Caylus – Great Game
    Tichu/Thirteen Combo – I’ve been trying to get this game played for a while!
    Caroom – Pool meets Crokoinle
    Arabian Nights – sounds crazy
    Australia – area control and another continent
    Manhattan – very abstract but sounds like light crazy nastiness
    Aton – great 2P area control
    Foppen – Trick taking AND shedding, interesting
    San Marco – you distribute I pick…and a gorgeous board
    Through the Ages – it seems long but well regarded
    Stone Age – it was very popular at one time
    Shogun / Wallenstien – seems to be well regarded
    Mu and lots more – a bunch of interesting card games
    Mexica – part of a trilogy where I didn’t like the first game that I played, but this one has a nice looking board.
    Power and Weakness – somehow it intruiges me