Adventures in game design

In class today we were given the task of taking two existing games and, while using pieces from both games, invent a new one.

We were given Settlers of Catan and pass the pigs and with it we created, the board game of a generation: Pigs of Catan.

Pigs of catan

up to 4 players max

SET UP

set up board: leave board as is, but place the same number of tokens as the danger level in each of the terrain tiles. 

Danger level:

grasslands:  1

forrest: 2

mud lands: 3

mountains: 4(house)

deserts:  5(grey token)

player starts with 4 food cards (wheat or sheep cards)

You can only have 4 or less in your hand at once.

You can buy additional food tokens during your Harvest phase (see below)

each player starts with their pig player piece in the farm land tiles

roll to see who goes first, clockwise after 

move along the edges of the terrain tiles, land on a blue stick to enter that terrain to try and collect the coins. 

You can move less than the amount you roll for if you choose.

In terms of counting moves, moving from 'inside' a tile to the blue entrance edge does NOT count as one of your moves.

game  is over when:

1. a player gets 10 tokens
2. if all the other pigs are eliminated
3. the board is completely wiped of tokens, the player with the most tokens wins. if there is a tie the player with the most food cards wins. 

phase 1: movement phase

roll die to see how many spaces you move. 

the number you roll is the amount you move, in three sections:

If you roll a 1 or a 2, you can move one spot.

If you roll a 3 or a 4, you can move two spots.

If you roll at 5 or a 6, you can move three spots.

You move along the edges of the tiles, and you may enter a tile if you land on the blue entrance piece. Going from inside a tile to the blue entrance piece does not count as movement.

combat phase: this occurs before harvest phase if 2 players are in the same tile. if you are on the same tile as another player you must each roll to see who wins, if you tie then you roll again. if you lose the roll you give the winner one of your food cards and leave the tile.

phase 2: harvest phase 

roll to see if you harvest the tokens on the tile you occupy. If you are not in a tile/the tile you are in has no tokens, you cannot roll for tokens. if you roll lower than or equal to the zone's danger level, then you give up a food card. You can choose to stay in the tile and skip your next movement phase if you want to try again next turn. 

Alternatively, if you want to buy food, you may skip your harvest roll and pay 1 TOKEN and get 1 FOOD. You cannot buy more than one food a turn, and you cannot have more than 4 food in your hand.Surprisingly, the game worked out quite well, and while it ended up being significantly worse than either counterpart, it had some unique cost and effect choices as well. The assignment gave a good example of how versatile a board and pieces can be.
Some pictures.