New Rule

Introduction: Everyone knows what it’s like to be stuck in traffic; few life experiences are more infuriating. Your foot gets tired from the stop-and-go, the other lanes always seem to be moving faster, and people never let you get over when your exit’s coming up. Sometimes it can seem like the universe is just out to get you! In this game, players won’t need much imagination to identify with their roles: hapless drivers just trying to get through the jam, find their exit, and off that awful freeway.

Players: 2-4

Materials: One standard deck of playing cards.

Setting Up: Shuffle well and deal one card to each player, face down. This is their driver card–it represents the exit they need to reach. Players should examine their own card but keep it secret from their opponents. Next, deal six cards face up in the middle of the table, arranged in three rows. These are the exits the players are looking for. Finally, deal hands of nine cards to each player, setting aside leftovers into a spare driver draw pile.

How to Play: The player’s objective is to match their driver card to one of the exits. If at any point during the round (no matter whose turn it is), their driver matches an exit, they may declare a point, reveal their driver card, and draw a new driver card from the draw pile.

As long as no exit matches their driver, they may attempt to close in on the exit: they designate an exit card and play one card from their hand that is adjacent in value on top of it. This card replaces the previous exit card until another adjacent card is played over it on some subsequent turn. Remember: players can declare an exit at any time, including just after another player had played a new exit card. Example: The player’s driver is a 7, and one of the exits is 9. They select an 8 and play it on the 9, moving that exit one rank closer to their target.

Each round lasts until one player runs out of cards–nine turns at minimum. Players attempt to exit as many cars as they can from the traffic jam before the round ends. A point is awarded for each exited driver a player holds at the end of the round, and then all cards are collected, re-shuffled, and dealt again for a new round. Three rounds are recommended for a standard game, but players are welcome to experiment with playing as many rounds as they like.

Winning the Game: The player with the most points at the end of all rounds is the winner.

Next: Designing “Rush Hour”

This game idea began where last week’s design left off: trying to build a mechanic around secrecy. Players keep their driver card hidden from other players, but future driver cards are also hidden from the players themselves. Thus, as in the aMAZEing Labyrinth, players scramble to readjust every time a new driver is picked–they can never be sure what they’re going to get next. Additionally, as players try to shift the exits closer to their driver, they block each other’s efforts… but in complete ignorance of who is being blocked and to what extent. Not unlike a real-life traffic jam, where every driver has an agenda known only to themselves, confusing and frustrating their neighbors.

Again, I found playing cards well-suited to the idea in the way they can represent thirteen different values but in a base-four probability structure that degrades over time. I borrowed and adapted a mechanic from another card game I know, Killer Bunnies, wherein players must “run” cards to play them–they keep a stack of two cards face-down in front of them, playing the first on their turn, then sliding the second into its place and replacing it with a new card from their hand. This means all moves are made two turns in advance, and cannot be altered or delayed except in special circumstances. I didn’t integrate this idea fully, but I did hint at it in the way each player keeps their driver on the table in front of them–unchangeable until it is satisfied.

In a nutshell, this game feels a bit looser than some of my others, and I know I’m still gravitating towards regurgitation of classic card-game mechanics. Still, it’s a game, and a simple one, and fits my mission. Even an average game like this helps the iterative process and adds to my mental library, and with luck it’ll show up again as inspiration for another, far superior game in the future

Tags: Game Design //