captain_slinky: (Default)
captain_slinky ([personal profile] captain_slinky) wrote2010-03-18 09:32 pm

Wanna play a game?

Came up with this game today, been thinking about it all day, just typed it up so this is the first draft. Wanna play-test it for me? It's cheap, it's easy, and best of all? It's already sold in just about every store you've ever been in! I call it...

M&M WARRIORS

YOU WILL NEED: Two packages of M&M's Candies... same variety, same size. One 10x10 or larger grid (hand drawn is okay, Checker/Chess Board would be good... size is not important as long as it's at least 10x10).

Each player gets a pack of M&M's. This is your ARMY. The object of the game is to capture (and eat) all of your opponents warriors. Last person with candy on the board WINS!

START OF GAME: Each player starts with three pieces on the board; these pieces must be placed within the first two rows closest to you.

Decide who goes first. Flip a coin, whatever.

Each turn progresses like this:

You may either: Bring a new warrior on to the field, or play an existing warrior.

BRING A NEW WARRIOR ON TO THE FIELD - Choose one of the M&M's from your bag to put in any unoccupied square on the front row of your side. Your turn is over.

PLAY AN EXISTING WARRIOR: Choose one of your M&M's on the board and give it two actions. Actions are MOVE and ATTACK. So for an average soldier, you may either move two spaces, move one space and attack, attack and move one space, or attack twice. This may be modified based upon the color of the warrior (see below).

BROWN: TANK - Move 1, Attack 2, HP 2. Can only move one square per turn (regardless of how many actions it has left), but needs twice as many hits to take it down and hits count twice as hard.

YELLOW: STANDARD SOLDIER - Move 1, Attack 1, HP 1.

RED: BERZERKER - Move 1, Attack 1, HP 1. Gets one extra attack each turn regardless of how many actions are left. Can attack two separate targets each turn. When he dies, takes out all surrounding M&M's.

ORANGE: NINJA - Move (up to) 4, Attack 1, HP 1. May move up to 4 spaces per action.

BLUE: MEDIC - Move 1, Attack 0, HP 2. May not attack. You may eat a Blue Medic in order to save one of your other M&M's from being eaten. A MEDIC DOES NOT NEED TO BE ON THE BOARD IN ORDER TO USE THIS ABILITY, you may eat him straight from the bag to save another warrior.

GREEN: SPECIAL OPS - Move 1, Attack 1, HP 1. Gets up to two additional actions each turn.

TO ATTACK: You may attack any warrior that is in an adjacent square, provided that you have enough actions left to do so. It is then just a simple matter of comparing the "Attack" rating to the "HP" rating. So even though a Standard Soldier could not take down a Tank by himself, a Special Ops, a Berzerker or another Tank could. Once you have defeated an M&M in combat, check with your opponent to see if he wants to use a Medic to save that M&M's life. If not, then you must eat the defeated M&M.

Keep doing this till one player runs out of M&M's. Whoever runs out of candy first is the LOSER (there are no winners in this game).

So! Go play this, let me know what you think... gimme any feedback... I have ideas already for variations on the game, "Candy Bar" expansions, and maybe even incorporating dice in to the combat system. Have fun!

[identity profile] seattlegeekly.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
This is a really cool idea! We're gonna have to try this although I foresee the potential for the game to degenerate into an excuse to NOM on large quantities of M&Ms...

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
INSIDER TIP: Don't buy your "Starter Deck" at Costco unless you've got a lot of time on your hands and a Dentist on speed-dial :)
aurora77: (Default)

[personal profile] aurora77 2010-03-19 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
How do you not get confused by which M&Ms belong to who if they're the same type?

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 06:04 am (UTC)(link)
One person plays with M's up, the other plays with M's down. Sorry, forgot to mention that part!
aurora77: (Default)

[personal profile] aurora77 2010-03-19 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Excellent idea!

We're doing a Game Night this weekend. Want to come playtest it over in Bellevue? :D

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 03:45 pm (UTC)(link)
I would LOVE to, but having a 4-year-old almost always puts a damper on outside plans... it's why the only time I really get to game at all is if I plan some sort of family-friendly to-do at our place :(

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
Don't forget the Jelly Belly version, for those strange beings who don't like/are allergic to chocolate.

Kaiti has this weird question about not wanting to eat the M&M's and saving them to the side or some such nonsense.... I think she's lost it. Who WOULDN'T want to eat M&M's???

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 06:48 am (UTC)(link)
I understand the question of just wanting to keep the pieces to the side, but then the game loses it's novelty. I mean, why not just play with pieces of cardboard or flattened marbles at that point?

Doing the game with M&M's and having to eat them as they die is important to the game...

Using bags of M&M's guarantees a completely random army each and every time you play. I love that and think it makes this more awesome than any other game; it's like playing Chess, only you might get to play with 4 queens while your opponent is stuck with pawn and bishops.

Eating the dead warriors is important to make sure no one cheats. Just putting the pieces off to the side invites people to just cheat. "Dang, how many M&M's were in that bag anywho?" You *could* inventory your bag before the game and allow spot-checks and pinky-swear you'd never-ever cheat, or you could just eat the damn M&M. Also, there's a nice sense of finality/seriousness about it when your guys are gonna get EATEN. "Oh crap! He's really gonna eat my M&M!"

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 06:53 am (UTC)(link)
Also, if you want to play with Jelly Beans? Yer gonna have to wait for the EXPANSION PACK! I got plans for Jelly Beans, Skittles, Fun-Size Candy Bars and Necco Wafers if people end up liking my game :)

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 06:59 am (UTC)(link)
What's not to like?

Chocolate? Check!

Strategy? Check!

Ability to "kill off" opponents pieces and "devour" the carcasses? Check!

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 06:55 am (UTC)(link)
Then again, Jelly Beans Vs. M&M's might be a good battle... mkes you want to think twice before using your medic! "I've got my fillings full of sour Jelly Beans, now if I want to save my Tank I need to eat an M&M? I dunno about this...

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:00 am (UTC)(link)
You do know Jelly Belly has this covered, right? They're called Bamboozled or something like that... Candy shell and chocolate, like an M&M, but it's over a jelly bean center.

Personally, I think they're gross. But I hear they sell well.

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:01 am (UTC)(link)
Wait... They're called Beanboozled.

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
Nevermind... not only did I get the name wrong (Beanboozled are something entirely different), they apparently don't make them anymore :/

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:05 am (UTC)(link)
...Aaaaaaand you just made it all up because you wanted attention. You're so lonely :

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:06 am (UTC)(link)
You're right... Everyone at my house went to sleep and it's just me, sitting up all night with my computer. Whoa is me :(

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
Y'know what you need? A cat. Or 27 cats. You would make an AWESOME Cat-Lady! Dress is casual (bathrobe and slippers), hours are flexible...

They offer courses on Cat-Ladying at the Community College, don't they?

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
I'm sure I could find one...

But alas, I'm allergic to cats. Could I be the crazy Dog-Lady?? I already have a 2 dog lead on that career path.

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:14 am (UTC)(link)
No such thing as a Crazy Dog Lady... dog owners are the *sane* ones.

Except when it's a flock of those little yap-dogs that look like Rachael Ray. People who own those dogs are INSANE.

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:18 am (UTC)(link)
Those are dogs. They're trained rats.

Dogs are big. You can roll around on the floor with a dog without fear of killing it.

Dogs don't yap, yip, or snivel. Dogs BARK! You know when a dog is talking to you.

I think I'll aspire to be the worlds first crazy dog lady. Sounds like fun :)

[identity profile] thecookielady.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll assume you know I meant to say "Those *aren't* dogs."... It was late. You understand.

[identity profile] captain-slinky.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
They should go a step further and fill it with a minty-fresh Toothpaste center so the dentists of America will shut their yaps!

[identity profile] sasjhwa.livejournal.com 2010-03-19 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmm. This is an interesting idea. It has a lot of potential. :D