15 Minute Board Game Challenge
Overview
A quick roll and move game for two players with conflict, decision and negotiation. Each player represents a fat dude at the opposite end of a narrow hallway. The players inevitably encounter each other somewhere in the middle. Will they negotiate a way around each other? Or, will they simply bump big bellies in conflict? The winner gets to boast the title of Honorary Skinny Dude! Play time lasts between 5 and 20 minutes. This game took 15 minutes to design, but about an hour to get the images created and rules written out.
Components
1 Game board sheet with hallway track, score chart and encounter counter (see below)
2 player tokens (preferably red and blue)
1 four sided die (or a coin)
1 edge token (any token that can be passed between the players)
1 turn marker (any marker that can be passed between the players to mark whose turn it is)
1 small sand timer or stopwatch
Object
The player who has the most points at the end of the game wins the title of Honorary Skinny Dude! In the case of a tie, the player that exited the hallway at the end of the final round wins. If both players tie in points and they both exit the hallway during the final round, then the victory is shared.
Setup
1. Players choose a colored player token and write their names in the provided score sheet headers matching the player color.
2. Players put their player tokens on opposite ends of the hallway track in the semi-circle space of their own color.
3. Players roll the die to determine the start player. Put a star next to the start player’s name in the provided score sheet. The start player begins with the turn marker. The player who is NOT the start player puts the edge token in front of him.
Rules
1. The game is played over several rounds. Each round consists of one turn from each player.
2. The start player rolls the die and moves his player token that number of spaces towards the center of the hallway track.
3. Each rectangular space on the hallway track has a color and a number associated with it.
4. If the player token lands on a space representing his own color, he adds the number on the space to his score in the score sheet.
5. If the player token lands on a space representing his opponents color, the number on that space is subtracted from his score.
6. If the player lands on the green space with the number 0 on it, this space does not affect the players score. (Put a zero in the score sheet to keep place)
7. After the start player moves and records his score, he passes the turn marker to the second player and he does the same. This completes a round.
8. Play continues with a new round. The player rolls and continues to move his token towards the center (and ultimately the other end of the hallway) from the space he landed on last turn.
9. At some point, the two players will meet somewhere towards the middle of the hallway track, when this happens it is called an encounter.
10. Player tokens may not immediately pass each other, so if a die roll would logically move a token past the other players token (or land on the same space as the other players token), the player moves his token to the space closest to his opponents space and stops there. This would trigger an encounter.
11. Encounter Rules:
a. The player that triggered the encounter records his score as if he had landed on that space by a normal die roll.
b. That player also checks off the next available space on the encounter counter, to keep track of which encounter this is (You can have up to 5 encounters in a game. 4 normal encounters, and if there is a 5th and final encounter, the rules change for that last encounter)
c. Start the clock - The players have 60 seconds to negotiate!
i. The players can try to negotiate to pass each other on the hallway track. (getting to the other end of the hallway triggers the end game)
ii. The only requirement of negotiation is that both players agree to pass each other.
iii. The other rule of negotiation is that an exchange of points is allowed. One player may want to “sweeten the deal” by offering one point, some points, all of his points or even more points than he actually has (putting that player in the negative) to his opponent to allow the player tokens to pass each other.
iv. If the players reach a successful negotiation, they exchange the points and then switch spots on the board (passing each other). They both record the scores based on their new positions and endgame play continues.
v. If the players couldn’t successfully negotiate within 60 seconds, then the player with The Edge Token is known as the player with The Edge and has a choice to make:
1. The player with The Edge can go back to his end of the hallway and lose 5 or 10 points (depending on which encounter it is) while his opponent stays where he is.
2. The player with The Edge can send his opponent back to the opponents start space; the opponent also pays the cost of 5 or 10 points (depending on which encounter it is). The player with The Edge stays where he is.
vi. After making the choice, the player with The Edge passes The Edge Token to the other player. That player will have The Edge on the next encounter.
vii. During encounters 1 and 2, the cost to move a player token back to its start space is 5 points. During encounters 3 and 4, this cost goes up to 10 points.
d. If the players make it to a fifth and final encounter, the encounter rules are as follows:
i. If the active player’s roll would logically cause him to land on the same space his opponent currently occupies, he instead lands on the space closest to his opponent (not past him). This does not trigger the final encounter. That player records his score and play passes to the next player.
ii. If the active players roll would logically cause him to pass his opponent, then he does pass the opponent, but only by one space. (If the player tokens are next to each other and the active player rolls a 4, the token would just squeeze past his opponent and land on the opposite side of his opponent – in this scenario a roll of 2, 3, or 4 will give the same result as a roll of 2. A roll of 1 would not allow the players to pass each other.) Players always record their score (positive or negative) at the end of their turn corresponding to the space they are on. (At this point our fat dudes have worked up a sweat and between them have lost about a pound. They are now slippery and just thin enough to awkwardly pass each other without conflict or the need for negotiation).
12. End game Rules:
a. Once the player tokens have passed each other (whether through negotiation or the final encounter) the end game is triggered.
b. Now the players continue to roll and move on their turn towards the other end of the hallway (where your opponent began) – the race is on!
c. Players continue to record scores on their way out (mostly negatives at this point)
d. If the start player makes it to the end first (semicircle space of opponents color) the other player gets one more turn to finish the round.
e. If the second player makes it to the end first, the game ends immediately and we go right to end game scoring.
f. Players do not need an exact die roll to land on the end space (opposite color semicircle)
13. End game scoring:
a. The player who exited the hallway track first: The score is simply the total of all points gained and lost throughout the game.
b. The player who is left on the board must account for every space value between his current location and his ending space (opponents color semicircle) and combine that total with his existing total score.
i. Example: Let’s say the blue player token is on the blue 4. He must then add the remaining blue numbers and subtract the remaining red numbers. 3 + 2 + 1 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9. This means the blue player would need to subtract 39 points from his existing score.
c. The player who has the most points at the end of the game wins the title of Honorary Skinny Dude! In the case of a tie, the player that exited the hallway at the end of the final round wins. If both players tie in points and they both exit the hallway during the final round, then the victory is shared.
How to use a coin as a four sided die
Simply flip the coin twice and use the die result from this table:
1st Flip
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2nd Flip
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Die Result
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Tails
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Tails
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1
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Tails
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Heads
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2
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Heads
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Tails
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3
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Heads
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Heads
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4
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Board Notation
The little blue and red numbers to the left and right of the hallway track shows the number of points a player subtracts from his score if that is his board position at the end of the game. The red player refers to the red numbers and the blue player refers to the blue numbers. These numbers were derived from the calculation presented in Rule 13b (End game scoring)
Comments (6)
Dave Seidner said
at 11:31 am on Jul 1, 2009
Hi all. I hope this silly little game doesn't offend any overweight people out there. I'm a "fat dude" myself, so the theme is not meant to be malicious, just lightly poking fun.
Leana Galiel said
at 2:14 pm on Jul 1, 2009
hahaha this is hilarious. my only question is, why would a player with the edge want to send themselves back to the start? As this would give the other player an advantage, putting them closer to the end of the hallway.
Dan Carreker (NarrativeDesigns.com) said
at 2:56 pm on Jul 1, 2009
@leana yes, but they'd be able to amass more points during this time.
I really like this game. I think maybe there's some things that I'd try to simplify, there seems a little bit much to track and deal with. For example, instead of requiring a timer, maybe the players can take turns making a proposal but it cost them points, when neither wants to make a proposal then the negotiations ends.
Monte Nichols (Drizzy) said
at 2:57 pm on Jul 1, 2009
@Leana
If you send yourself back, you have a chance to make more points as you will go down your own number track again. The distance only ends the game, but it is the points that decide the winner.
Also if it is the 4th encounter, and the player doesn't think he will exit the track before his opponent, if he were to go back at the end of the game he wouldn't have to subtract as many points from his over all score.
I want to play this one, It sounds fun and has a funny theme at the same time.
Dave Seidner said
at 3:04 pm on Jul 1, 2009
@leana - Dan's correct. Sending yourself back gives you the opportunity to accumulate more points and typically leaves your opponent in a spot where they will generate negative points. I just playtested this a bit with a colleague during lunch and my strategy was to send myself back in the first/second encounter to accumulate points and then send my opponent back in the third/fourth encounter to try to position myself for end game.
@Dan - You're right. There's a bit too much bookkeeping for what it is. The idea of spending points for the right to make a proposal is an interesting one. I'll have to try that out next time I playtest it.
Thanks both for your comments!
Dave Seidner said
at 3:06 pm on Jul 1, 2009
@mnicho22 - thanks!
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