New Rule

Introduction: A game of young love with all its wonders — especially the rumors, gossip, and secrecy! The annual school dance has arrived and the night is alive with possibility. Choose your sweetheart and court them as the dance wears on, but beware! Gossip is delicious, and your opponents will expose you and your tender secret if you get too careless — as you would do to them, naturally. Try to keep your heart concealed as you work to uncover the hidden desires of your opponents’ fancies.

Players: 4+

Materials:

• Pens or pencils, one per player.
• Small scraps of paper, four per player (a standard sheet of letter-sized paper torn into eighths works well).
• Medium-sized sheets of paper, one per player, for scorekeeping (a standard sheet of letter-sized paper torn in half works well).
• One ten-sided die.

Setting Up: All players take positions around a table or in a standing group such that they form a circle — no player should be able to see the back of any other player. Distribute the scraps of paper and pencils, one per player. Each player writes the name of another player on a scrap, folds it, and conceals it. This name is their sweetheart for the game. They sign the other three scraps and set them aside. Designate one player to act as master of ceremonies, or ‘MC’: this person is responsible for moderating each round (see below).

How to Play: Each player’s goal is to dance with their sweetheart as many times as possible while minimizing the rumors written about them. The game proceeds in rounds with all players acting in random order, as follows: the MC announces each round by saying, “Boys and girls, the next dance is beginning. Choose your partners.” After this is spoken, each player places both hands behind their back (or under the table) and indicates a number from one to ten with their fingers. The MC will count down from three, and all players will reveal their chosen number simultaneously. The MC will then roll the die to determine in which a player (or group of players) acts. In the event multiple players hold the same number, they will act simultaneously when that number is rolled. For simultaneous actions such as this, the MC will count again from three and each player will announce their chosen action (see below).

Players should continue to hold their chosen number until after the MC has rolled it and they have taken their action; the MC continues to roll until all players have acted.

When it is their turn to act, players choose one of these three actions: dance, start a rumor, or gossip. 

• Dance: The player indicates a person with which they wish to dance by pointing at them and saying, “Care to dance?” Acceptance of dance requests is compulsory The pair writes the name of their partner on their score sheet. Neither player may take any further action this round, with one exception (see “Gossip”). Dance requests always take precedence over other actions for resolving simultaneous actions. If two dance requests conflict, the MC rolls off to break the tie.
• Start a Rumor: A player may choose to make a guess about another player’s sweetheart. They write the names of the players on one of their three small scraps in the following manner: if they believe that Player A has Player B’s name written down as their sweetheart, they write “Player A loves Player B.” After this is written, they fold the scrap and hand it off to any other player. Note that, because each player has only three small scraps, they may start only three rumors during the whole course of the game.
• Gossip: A player may choose to read the rumors written by other players. They simply select the scrap of their choice, read it, then write their initials on it and return it to the player from whom they took it. However, if the rumor was handed to them by another player, then the rumor is held by them and they may read it for free at any time without using their action, even while dancing (Note that they must still initial it after reading). A player may read the same rumor multiple times, but they do not initial it more than once.

Winning the Game: Play continues for a number of rounds equal to the number of players multiplied by three (twelve rounds for four players, fifteen for five, and so on). After all rounds have been completed, each player reveals their sweetheart. For each dance they recorded on their scoresheet with their sweetheart, the player gains one point. Additionally, for every other player who named them as their sweetheart, the player gains one point.

After the sweethearts have been revealed and scored, the MC collects all the rumors in play and reveals them. For each accurate rumor, the targeted player loses one point (in the example above, Player A is the target of the rumor “Player A loves Player B.”). For every set of initials written on an accurate rumor, the player who started it gains half a point. The player with the highest score wins.

Next: Designing “Sweethearts:” Coming Soon…

Tags: Game Design //