New Rule

Introduction: Celebrating the 4th of July is tradition… as is the picnic, the family reunion, and baking all day in a crowded city park waiting for darkness so you can see the fireworks. And when you’ve got little kids, keeping them entertained and out of trouble can be a real chore. It’s easier to reign them in after you’ve picked your spot and settled down, but then again, if they can’t see the show very well, they won’t be happy no matter what. Your challenge as a parent is to find a way to get the best spot with the best view, while keeping your kids from throwing a tantrum.

Players: 3+

Materials:

• Playing tokens (such as a penny or counter) to represent each player.
• A six-sided die for each player.
• The game board, or a facsimile thereof. The board is a triangular grid of circles representing “spots” players can occupy. If necessary, the grid should be expanded so that the back rank is equivalent to the number of players.

Setting Up: Players place their tokens in the back rank of the game board. The oldest player goes first, and play proceeds to the left in turns.

How to Play: On their turn, each player rolls their die to see what their kids do, and what their options are.

• On a roll of 1: Your kids throw a tantrum. You must abandon your spot and move to any unoccupied spot in the back rank. If no spot is available in the back rank, simply stay where you are and end your turn.
• On a roll of 2 - 5: Your kids are happy… for now. You may choose one of the following:
  • Stay where you are and keep your kids entertained: +1 to your roll on your next turn.
  • Drag your kids off to look for a better spot: You may move to any adjacent empty spot, but your kids become grouchy. -1 to your roll on your next turn.
• On a roll of 6: Bonus! You may move to any adjacent empty spot, or you may trade spots with any player in a spot adjacent to yours. No roll modifier next turn.

The Fireworks Begin: After twelve rounds, the fireworks begin, and the player in the spot at the tip of the board (or the nearest spot to it, if unoccupied) wins the game. Tie games are allowed.

Next: Designing “4th of July” I conceived the game while I was waiting for church to begin. My father is a minister so my parents tend to arrive early, and when I travel with them, I often have some free time before the service starts. The previous evening I had read Scott Jon Siegel’s 9am Class article, and it inspired me to “think small.” I took on a similar set of design constraints: single die throws, one choice per turn, short game length, and sat down to chew on it.

I took another cue from his game as far as premise and flavor. Early morning classes were something that every college student could relate to. What was another common experience, appealing to a broader audience than students? Sitting and musing in the back of the sanctuary, I roamed across a number of themes until I hit upon one that seemed universal: parents trying to control their kids in a public place. That bloomed into a number of different ideas: church (obviously), shopping, going to the movies, going to the pool, etc. I thought about going picnicking, and that led to thinking about family picnics for the 4th.

Immediately I could see the relationship to a classic gameplay core: territory acquisition. While 4th of July picnickers don’t vie for the most territory, they certainly struggle for the choicest territories–the ones with the best view. A public park is easily representable as a grid of spaces, and I shaped the board into a triangle to funnel the players and force them into conflict. It also offered an obvious way to score the game: the person in the peak of the grid is the winner.

Now to the interaction: the players needed a mechanism of choice that would simulate the trials of trying to find a better spot, but some randomness to simulate doing so with cranky kids to look after. Assuming one die and one roll per player turn, I went for a 2-1 ratio between player control and random event. The 1 and the 6 would represent setbacks and windfalls–being forced to move, or getting a special chance to push someone else out (important, or else it would be very hard to strategically work your way to the peak spot). 2-5, then, would be your chance to plan and play tactically. The incentive for waiting would be the chance to stack future odds in your favor, and the risk for moving would be having those odds stacked against you. Looking it over, it seemed a clean balance of choice versus chance, and well-suited to the simple board and simple rules.

At this moment, I have not had the chance to playtest the game. If anyone reading this finds themselves doing so, please post a comment and tell me how it went!

Tags: Game Design //