[In the Lab] Parade-Themed Game


So I had an idea for a parade game before I realized "Wait, this was Fred's Rafters idea." I was imagining a marching band in a parade, who must keep a very deliberate Left, Right, Left, Right rhythm. If they must turn corners, then they do LRRR or RLLL. That theme works well as rowers working in unison, too. This got me thinking about a push-your-luck dice game with card-based random parade routes. It's a little like Formula D and Death Angel.


The game comes with...

A pawn for each player

7d6 in three colors and custom faces. Three dice with [Left] [Left] [Left] [Right] [Right] [Right]; Two dice with [Left] [Left] [Right] [Right] [+] [+], one with [Double Left] [Double Right] [Left/Right] [+] [+] [o].

The whole group has a deck of cards. Each card depicts a segment of a parade route showing a combination of steps and the size of the audience at that segment. (I imagine a very soft, nintendo-friendly art style.)

MAPLE STREET
[IMAGE: WIDE STRAIGHT ROAD]
  [  ][  ]
[  ][  ][  ]
  [  ][  ]
[  ][  ][  ]
[Audience: 2]

ANGLE WAY
[IMAGE: ANGLED ROAD]
        [  ][  ][  ]
      [  ][  ][  ]
    [  ][  ][  ]
  [  ][  ][  ]
[  ][  ][  ]
[Audience: 5]

In short, each row of the gridded path is half-aligned with the row above and below it, such that you couldn't move directly vertically from one space to the one above it.


At the beginning of the game, create a parade route by drawing three random cards and linking their ends. Play begins with everyone's pawns on the first card, in a space at the bottom row.

On your turn, you first roll all your dice. You may lock one or more of your results and re-roll the rest up to two more times. For each LEFT you lock, you may move your pawn up one row, to the space on the left. For each RIGHT you lock, you may move your pawn up one row, to the space on the right. If you cannot move up, then you may instead move your pawn left or right horizontally, according to the die you locked.

If you roll a [o], that is a pothole and you must stop rolling immediately.

If you make it off the card, you gain one point for the size of the audience on that card plus one point for any +s you kept. If you somehow got through more than one card, you gain points for that audience, too.

If you don't make it off the card this turn, you don't score any points. On the bright side, you begin the next turn at the bottom row of the next card. Basically, you stumbled through this section of the parade and had to rush forward to keep up with the rest.


When all pawns have made it off a card, it is discarded. The next round begins with a new card added to the front of the path.

A "finish line" card is shuffled somewhere in the lower half of the deck. When all pawns cross the finish line, the points are tallied and the player with the most points wins.


The route cards can be customized in a variety of ways. More rows require more rolls, making them harder to pass. Some segments might have power-ups in far corners, tempting you to stray from the path just a little bit and risk falling behind. And, of course, some segments have bigger audiences than others, making them just plain more valuable.

Comments

  1. Tom GurganusDecember 30, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    I like this. It's simple and straight forward. Has a nice, family friendly theme that is rather unique. It's tactile with the dice. It's small and portable. I would be very happy to playtest with my kids if needed.

    ReplyDelete

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