Week 5 – Resources, Collecting and Trading

Sushi Go! Game review

1. Was it fun?
   • Yes, it took a bit of time to get used to, but it was very fun once learned.
2. What were the player interactions?
   • Everybody took turns choosing sushi cards and rotating hands. Players would count up their card points based on certain card rules.
3. How long did it take to learn?
   • The game actually took a but to get used to, because each card type has its own scoring system. Though the cards were diverse, the concept was simple, so it only took 10 minutes.
4. Would you ever play it again?
   • Yes, I’d play it again. Although it would take some time explaining it to my other friends.
5. Analyze the game using the 3-act structure.
   • The first act of the game was learning the card types, as well as dealing nine cards to each player. On top of that, a piece of paper was prepared for the point system.
   • The second act involved choosing the right cards to help you score points. Players would not only rotate decks but make careful decisions that would garner them the greatest number of points.
   • The final act of the game was the tallying of points written on the paper. There are three rounds per game, so all of the points from the cards played are added from all rounds.
6. What are the collaborative/competitive aspects of the game?
   • There are no collaborative aspects to the game. The game is 100% competitive, as players fend for themselves in making the right decisions in earning points. There is no sharing, and players must choose their own cards from rotated decks.
7. What is the game’s metaphor and which of the game’s mechanics standout?
   • I’d say the game’s metaphor is eating. The mechanic that sticks out the most to me is the dessert. The dessert cards act as a long-term investment, since if you have the most dessert cards at the end of the game you earn six points. This is unique with the notion that the cards don’t do any favor at first, but they can be sneaky at the end.

5 game ideas that revolve around the theme of collecting

1. Butterfly fiends – Players choose paths around a garden that gather butterfly pieces. Some paths are longer or riskier but might have more butterflies to collect. The placement of the butterflies can be randomized based on a wheel.
2. Coin-Cash – Players are given a coin they use to pass around during their turn. They must take the 50/50 shot of whether it will land on heads or tails. If it lands on the called side, they earn tokens. The tokens can be used to either keep being safe or doubled to go again. You can also choose to face off with other players to steal their tokens. (All options are during a turn).
3. Tomb-Robbers – Players flip over tomb tiles for a chance to either earn a reward, or a curse. In order to win, all tiles must be flipped over and the player with the most rewards wins.
4. Ball-bashers – Players are provided with an array of cups and one ball. The objective is to collect other types of balls, but to do so a player must make the ball into another cup with a ball in it. Once they’ve unlocked another ball, they can use the other ball to try to throw in other cups. There are different types of balls which can be a ping pong ball, rubber ball and so on.
5. Pizza Palooza – Players must roll dice and spin a wheel to collect pizza toppings to complete their own pizza. They can also choose to sabotage the pizza of other players by sending mice out to eat the cheese.

Builder Buccaneers Ruleset (2-3 players)

Setup – Players are given a pile of loose ship pieces, which should be placed in the middle of everybody playing. Cards are put into separate piles ranking in difficulty from easy to hard.

Objectives – There is only one goal, which is to be the first person to complete the ship building. After so many rounds, someone will win overall. (The ship must be standing without falling over)

Actions to take – All players will pick a card from the “hard” “medium” or “easy” pile. This will determine how hard the ship you will build will be, but the harder the build, the more points you earn.

Ending the game – There is a tally-board, which tracks how many points you earn. With the number of points you earn, is the number of spaces you move, until you reach the end of the scoreboard. Once the end is reached, the player wins.

Example – Jimmy chooses a card from the “easy” category. There are only a couple pieces to find for the ship, but Jimmy will only earn 1-2 points. Jimmy is the first to finish. After yelling “ahoy!” he moves his piece two spaces towards the goal.

Example #2 – Dave picks up a card from the “hard” pile. Although it is hard to keep his ship standing, he ends up pulling off his build without it falling over. Dave wins 5-6 points, earning him a massive boost on the tally board.