New Rule

Introduction: In honor of my lateness in conceiving and posting this design — a game about being late! Roll the dice and rack up your score as the turns go by, but be sure you cash in before the deadline hits. If you’re late, you get one chance to make it right before your score goes back to zero.

Players: 3+

Materials:

• A number of six-sided dice, at least three per player plus one extra.
• A notepad or similar to keep score.

Setting Up: Distribute the dice evenly to all players. Place one in the center, turned to show a value equal to the number of players — this is the time die (If more than six players are playing, set it to six). Designate a first player; play proceeds to the left.

How to Play: Each turn, players roll dice and either score them as points or contribute them to the deadline — a value that represents the time remaining until the round is over. All players roll their dice simultaneously and leave the results showing on the table. Beginning with the first player, they may choose from the following actions: select one of their dice declare how they wish to use it, or cash their current score. Options for using dice are these:

• “Score:” They set the die aside and add its value to their score on the scoresheet.
• “Time:” They place the die in the center of the table and adjust the value of the time die as appropriate (see below).
• “Discard:” If a player cannot or chooses not to use a die for score or time adjustment, they simply set the die aside and pass their turn. The discarded die is now used.

Cashing a score simply means locking in the value so that it is not lost when the round ends. However, cashing in a score disallows the player from adding to it for the remainder of the round. All their remaining dice must be discarded or used to adjust the time die. When cashed, each round’s score adds to the player’s total game score, tabulated and updated at the end of each round

Time and The Deadline: The game begins with a time value equal to the number of players, indicated by the time die in the middle. Every round — after all players have used one die — the time decays by one: flip the die to show the new value. Every time a player uses a die for time, the time die is adjusted as follows: add one to the current value if the value of the player-added die is greater than the current time value. Subtract one if the value of the player added die is equal to or less than the current time value.

If the time die ever reaches zero, the deadline has arrived and the round is over. Every player who has not cashed their score by this has an opportunity to avoid losing it. They designate a number and roll the time die. If they roll the value they have declared, they succeed in “squeezing in” before the deadline and may immediately cash their current score. If they miss the number, they may “buy” re-rolls by spending points from their total game points — the score they have accumulated from previous rounds. Each re-roll costs ten points, and each player may buy a maximum of five re-rolls per round.

If they still fail to hit their number or opt not to buy re-rolls, they lose all the points they have accumulated for the round, adding nothing to their total game score.

Winning the Game:  At the end of all rounds (recommended eight to twelve), the player with the highest accumulated score is the winner.

Tags: Game Design //