Re: Re TT board game......Where is Dr. Dreadful?

[NeotoyRick@aol.com]

Board Game Design 101

Hi Gang

Its me, Dr Dreadful.  Sorry it took so long to get back to you - I was 
trapped in one of my many laboratories by the most evil of an evil nemesis: 
Corporate Customer.  He was trying to beat me down in a contract battle, but 
I fought back hard.  I have escaped long enough to try and reconnect this 
Thicko Board Game thread with a piece of Nomex thread I just happen to have 
lying around with all my other boxes of inventor junk here in the lab.

As with most of my inventing projects, the creative side is the fun part and 
the bmaking money b part, as with most items of limited commercial 
potential, are most fun to put together like our Thicko Awards and various 
other wacky recognition awards.  So guys and gals of the Thicko Community 
(eek! -yeah right - Manson had a bfamilyb!) have fun scrolling thru my 
musings and chime in with your own additions!

What would I do first?
When I work to design a game the first thing is to bPlay It On Paperb so you 
know it works and its fun to play. Make a white paper prototype and lay it 
all out.  Graphics and tooling come later.  But thatbs hard.  Its more fun 
just to jump into the features and themes.  Hey - webre all having fun 
screwing around here, so letbs go!


Bob Kansa certainly kicked things off right with the various ideas of 
translating the Thicko experienceb into the progress of a game:

In a message dated 7/30/02 9:28:23 AM, KansaR@diebold.com writes:

<< you know, a race car track on the board,  little plastic replicas of our
favorite cars..
man the possibilities are endless..

"team finds you with sheep, loose turn.."
"you eat london broil and survive, advance 3 spaces.."
"run small bore enduro and win, go to next race"
"Rod goes through block, go back to beginning.."
"sucessfully mooch broken part, advance 1 place"
"car passes tech, move 2 places"
 >>


But first to think about:  
In the world of a Thicko race weekend, what is the GOAL of the game?

Try to get as much food all weekend?

Try to complete as many laps on the track before the car breaks?

Its very real that the most important part of a Thicko Weekend might be the 
food over the racing.  Some of you might want to go for the food!
Good Jokes and good music.

What are some other components?

GAME TOKENS
We all fondly remember the cast metal tokens of an old Monopoly game, but 
thatbs a lot of work and also limits the tokens to a specified set.  Youbre 
thinking bI want to be in the game my self!b  So herebs a way to go:  Make 
token bholders.b  Take a flat weighty object like a 1-1/2b fender washer or 
lug nut and weld or epoxy a spring binder clip of some kind in the vertical 
position.  Make a half a dozen and we have card holders.  Now take a little 1 
or 2 inch photo of your car, you in the driving suit, wife, kids, trophy, 
whatever, double tape stick it to a piece of 1/8b chipboard, add a little 
clear laminate material for durability and cut out around the image.  Clip it 
in the token holder and we have tokens without The Jeweler having to sculpt 
and cast pewter.  For those of you who would rush to be this token or that 
you can still act out that closet fantasy:  Although the Team Thicko members 
are very comfortable acknowledging their gay sex and even beastiality 
desires, they would never admit - without a gun to their head - that bGee, I 
wanna be the Porsche!b out loud.  Ok, Ok, go down to the basement and grab an 
old copy of Vintage Motorsport and cut out the cool car you want to be and 
make that a token in the box you can fight over.

GAMEBOARD
Letbs make it easy on ourselves - go get an old game or checkerboard out of 
the kids junk in the basement and webll paste some current graphics over it.  
Anybody get a gift of the NASCAR Monopoly game?  Works great.

SLIPS AND SLIDES
Move ahead.  Move Back.
Advance - get sent back.

Games should be designed to accelerate like a car sprint race and converge at 
the finish.

One of the best features you want to include in a board game is the  feature 
called bfuck your neighbor.b  Just as someone is about to win or pull ahead 
you hit them with a bBlown engineb card or bwheel falls off as Grenade hits 
youb card when they thought you were helping them.  Keeps everyone on their 
toes.

Side deals - trade for parts, trade for food.  Get what you need to get ahead.

Get caught helping the Porsche guy fix his car . . . but it turns out to be 
the ultimate payback in getting to share a ride in the Enduro!


OTHER PARTS AND FEATURES:
Moocher cards: Collect as many as possible!
    Gate Pass Mooch
    Parts Mooch
    Food Mooch
    Help Mooch
    Trailer / tow Mooch
    And the ultimate: Ride Mooch!

Oooh!  Oooh!  I got a Cheatinb Dog card!


As I go thru this an interesting thing has struck me.  Some of the most 
successful products and entertainment properties are those that create a 
bworld.b  You get to know the characters and their world:  The Simpsons in 
Springfield.  All the Sims games.  Shit we have all the characters in 
Team-Thicko.net and we meet from time to time in Thicko Village.  Yes, it has 
all the element of a made for TV movie.  Well maybe on the WB.

If the Flounder had his tech shit together we could all download the game 
from Thicko.com or play simultaneously on line.  Therebs his project for 
August! (and September and  . . .)

Jump in!  

And as in Vintage Racing:  HAVE FUN!

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