My research on World War I quickly turned up the horrors of trench warfare. From here, I remembered a novel written by Erich Maria Remarque titled All Quiet on the Western Front. This novel is about a lot of things, principally the inability of soldiers to return to life after experiencing the horrors of war. Other themes the book explores - themes I hope to explore through my game mechanics - include the cheapness of human life in the war, the constant threat of artillery fire in the trenches, and the randomness of life and death among soldiers.
My game requires a single deck of standard playing cards and one six-sided die. The ruleset is significantly more complicated than my previous (one and a half) designs, so buckle up.
The primary objective of my game is collection.
The game is played by two players. These players represent opposing forces during World War I. One player represents Germany while the other represents the United Kingdom.
Setup:
Separate the deck of cards into two piles: black cards and red cards. Individually shuffle these two piles. Without looking, draw eight cards from each of the two piles and place them in a new pile. Shuffle this new, smaller pile and then lay these 16 cards face down in a 4 x 4 square. This square represents the battlefield. If you'd like to play with a larger battlefield, use 36 cards instead of 16 and lay out a 6 x 6 square. Whatever the size, the battlefield must contain an equal number of black and red cards.
The two players sit at opposite edges of the battlefield facing each other. Each player is given one of the piles of cards (all red or all black) divided earlier. The area in front of the player before the edge of the battlefield serves as that players trenches.
Each player draws one card from their respective decks and places it face up in their trenches. This card represents an able-bodied soldier that can be deployed onto the battlefield once the game begins.
Before play may begin, players must determine which corner of the battlefield to serve as the origin point. Once an origin has been determined, an x- and y- axis must be chosen from the two edges connected to the origin (more detail later).
High-level overview:
Every face down card on the battlefield represents a wounded soldier. These soldiers are unable to get back to their trenches without assistance.
Able-bodied soldiers can travel onto the battlefield and carry wounded soldiers back to their trenches.
Able-bodied soldiers become wounded if hit by falling artillery shells (more detail later).
The game ends when all wounded soldiers on the battlefield have perished and all able-bodied soldiers have made it back to the safety of their trenches. The wounded soldiers left out on the battlefield die once a set number of turns has elapsed. Players may choose how many turns they want the game to last. For my playthrough with a 16-card battlefield, ten turns seemed to work well.
The player who has the most soldiers at the end of the game is the victor.
I'm tired of typing. Check back tomorrow to learn how to play.
Cheers,
Danny
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