Once again, the challenge: Design a non-digital game whose theme relates to World War I. The primary objective of players cannot be territorial control or capture/destroy. You must perform some amount of research while completing this project.
Flow of play:
The starting player is the player whose able-bodied soldier has the highest value. Twos are low. Aces are high. Face cards do not share values, so a queen is higher than a jack. If both players have an able-bodied soldier of the same value, roll dice to determine the starting player.
Each turn, every able-bodied soldier a player has control over can make one move. These moves are described in detail below. After the starting player has completed all of his/her moves, play passes to the opposing player who moves all of his/her able-bodied soldiers.
At the end of every turn, artillery shells fall onto the battlefield. The number of shells is determined by taking the number of able-bodied soldiers currently occupying the battlefield and (using integer division) dividing by two. Trenches are separate from the battlefield, so able-bodied soldiers in the trenches are not included in this calculation. Integer division simply means to discard the fractional part of the result after division. So, if there are three able-bodied soldiers on the battlefield, only one shell would drop. 3/2 = 1.5. We drop the 0.5 which leaves us with 1.
This next part is easier to understand if you visualize the battlefield as a coordinate system.
The location of where each shell hits the battlefield is determined by two dice rolls. For each shell that is to fall, the first roll determines the column the shell will land in (spaces are counted along the x-axis starting from the origin). The second roll determines the row (spaces are counted along the y-axis starting from the origin).
If a roll is greater than the length of the battlefield, then the appropriate row or column can by found by using the remainder of the roll divided by the length of the battlefield.
If a shell lands on the same space that an able-bodied soldier occupies, then that able-bodied soldier becomes a wounded soldier. Wounded soldiers are always presented face down, while able-bodied soldiers are always presented face up. So when an able-bodied soldier is hit with an artillery shell, simply turn the card representing that soldier face down. It is possible for more than one wounded soldier to occupy the same space on the battlefield. If more than one able-bodied soldier occupies a space that gets hit by an artillery shell, all of those able-bodied soldiers become wounded soldiers.
If no able-bodied soldiers are present on the battlefield, then there is no reason for the players to roll dice to determine where the shells fall that turn because these shells would not have any effect on the game.
As stated earlier, each able-bodied soldier is allowed one move per turn. These possible moves are detailed below.
For able-bodied soldiers in the trenches:
- The player may choose to shuffle this soldier into his/her deck and draw a new soldier. This new soldier is placed in the trenches and can do nothing further until the next turn.
- This soldier may leave the trenches and enter the battlefield. Once on the battlefield, this soldier is susceptible to artillery fire. This move enables the soldier to be placed on any of the spaces that lines that player's trenches. If the space chosen is occupied by wounded soldiers, enemy soldiers (able-bodied soldiers belonging to the player's opponent), or friendly soldiers (able-bodied soldiers belonging to player), simply place the able-bodied soldier on top of whatever cards already occupy that space. It is also possible for a soldier to occupy an empty space of the battlefield (a space where a wounded soldier once laid, but has since been moved).
For able-bodied soldiers on the battlefield:
- The player can move this soldier orthogonally (horizontally or vertically, not diagonally) one space from its current position.
- This movement allows for the soldier to move onto any space of the battlefield. As stated above, this includes the ability for the soldier to move onto a space occupied by wounded soldiers, enemy soldiers, or friendly soldiers.
- If a soldier occupies one of the spaces that lines the player's trenches, then that soldier may use its move to leave the battlefield and enter the trenches. Soldiers in the trenches are safe from artillery fire.
- Soldiers can not enter the trenches belonging to their opponent.
- Before a soldier moves, if that soldier occupies the same space as a wounded soldier, rather than move from that space, this soldier may take a look at the color and value of the face down card representing the wounded soldier. The importance of knowing the color and value of a wounded soldier is explained below. (Reminder: all wounded soldiers are presented face down on the battlefield)
- In addition to simply moving around the battlefield and identifying wounded soldiers, a soldier can choose to pick up and move a wounded soldier. A wounded soldier can be picked up if at the start of a turn, an able-bodied soldier occupies the same space as a wounded soldier. The rules governing movement while carrying a wounded soldier are identical to the rules governing movement of an able-bodied soldier detailed above.
- An able-bodied soldier cannot carry more than one wounded soldier at a time.
The goal is for players to carry as many wounded soldiers as possible back to their trenches before the chosen number of turns has elapsed.
What happens to wounded soldiers once brought back to the trenches?
- If the wounded soldier rescued is the same color as the player who did the rescuing and the wounded soldier's value is less than or equal to the value of the able-bodied soldier who carried the wounded soldier back to the trenches, then this wounded soldier becomes an able-bodied soldier that can be deployed back onto the battlefield.
- If the wounded soldier rescued is the opposite color of the player who did the rescuing and the wounded soldier's value is less than or equal to the value of the able-bodied soldier who carried the wounded soldier back to the trenches, then this soldier is too wounded to re-enter the battle. This wounded soldier is placed in the infirmary. Soldiers in the infirmary count towards the player's soldier count at the end of the game, but they cannot influence gameplay directly.
- If the wounded soldier rescued is the same color as the player who did the rescuing and the wounded soldier's value is greater than the value of the able-bodied soldier who carried the wounded soldier back to the trenches, then the card representing the wounded soldier is shuffled into the player's deck.
- If the wounded soldier rescued is the opposite color of the player who did the rescuing and the wounded soldier's value is greater than the value of the able-bodied soldier who carried the wounded soldier back to the trenches, then the card representing the wounded soldier is shuffled into the opposing player's deck.
Other important things that probably should've been mentioned already:
- An able-bodied soldier carrying a wounded soldier can drop the wounded soldier.
- If multiple wounded soldiers occupy the same space, only the wounded soldier at the top of the pile can be looked at or carried.
- There is no direct interaction between able-bodied soldiers representing different sides of the conflict on the battlefield.
- Able-bodied soldiers of the same team may be stacked. Stacking increases the number of spaces these soldiers are allowed to move in a single turn. If two soldiers are stacked, they can move two spaces. If three soldiers are stacked, they can move three spaces. And so on.
- Stacked soldiers can still only carry one wounded soldier at-a-time.
- If a group of stacked soldiers successfully brings a wounded soldier back to their trenches, the rules governing what happens to that wounded soldier are the same as those detailed above. When determining the value of the able-bodied soldier that did the rescuing, use the value of the highest-valued soldier in the stack.
- Once the specified number of turns has elapsed, all wounded soldiers still on the battlefield die. This includes any wounded soldiers currently being carried by able-bodied soldiers. The game continues, however, until all able-bodied soldiers make it back to the safety of their trenches. Artillery shells continue to fall until the battlefield is cleared of all able-bodied soldiers.
Wow. It all seems so convoluted now. I promise the game makes more sense in practice. I didn't realize how difficult it was to convey game rules and mechanics in writing. Sorry for the disorganization. Sorry for the lack of consistent voice. It's a learning process. Now I know some considerations I need to make when I attempt to detail my next game. The miracle of progress!
I think some pictures might make things more clear. Come back tomorrow for some pictures.
Cheers,
Danny
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