Coop Chess

It’s a game about money laundering. Needs a much better name.

You have money in your hand.

During the game: regularly, “police” investigates hands. The player who scores highest on some metric (highest total money, highest number of cards, highest money card) will get a penalty

Money laundering: during play, you can pay/use money for things. This is often done face-down and by number of cards. (So you might pay “3 cards” for something, but their value is unknown to everyone else.) This is how you get rid of “bad” money.

Game end: but when the game is over, the player who paid the most money in this (secret) way, loses immediately. (Or, rather, they’re disqualified from winning the game.)

Setup

Deal all players their starting money. (TODO: Make table/decide some amount.)

Objective

The player with the best cards in their hand wins. Each money card is worth 1 point. Other cards are worth the point value on them, or 0 points otherwise.

However, the player who paid the most secret money during the game, is disqualified from winning!

Gameplay

The game plays over X rounds.

Each round, new cards are drawn from the deck and openly displayed on the table. The number of new cards is always “number of players + 1”.

From the start player, go clockwise around the table taking your turn.

On your turn, you can

Buy one card from the table. Pay the money, get the card in your hand.
Play cards from your hand to execute their action.

Both of these are optional (?) => @TODO: or something like “if you didn’t buy anything, you must play an action”?

There is no hand limit.

Once the final round is over, score your hand and reveal your secret payment pile.

Buying

Cards can be bought in one of two ways: public or secret.

Public = pay the money shown (exactly). Place your money cards, face-up, on the discard pile.
Secret = pay the number of cards shown (exactly). Place them face-down on your personal payment pile.

Some cards only have one of these icons. They can only be bought that one way.

Police

Police cards investigate the player’s current hands. The “winner” of the challenge is penalized: they must replace two cards from their hand with “bad reputation” cards.

You can play one at any time between two player turns. When played, all players give the information needed to execute what the card says.

The possible challenges are …

Player with the most cards in their hand
Player with the highest value money card
Player with the highest total sum of money in their hand
(Rare) Player with the most bad reputation cards
(Rare) Player with the most objects of type “X”

At the end of a round, all police cards that weren’t bought execute immediately.

Cards

Bad Reputation => worth -10 points at the end (and takes up space?)
Police
Start player
Buy multiple cards
Sell a card from your hand (to get back money)
Something with hand limit?
Take money from your secret pile back in your hand.
Objects => these simply cost a lot of money and are worth a lot of points
- SIMPLIFY: All special actions are also just objects. You can choose whether to play them or keep them for points.
Missions => when you go on a mission, you get the money from it. (But only if it succeeds? Are there missions you have to do together?)

Missions

Yeah, feels like this should be an expansion. With some solid, fun rules for going on missions together and a luck-based/risk-reward mechanism.

It's a game about **money laundering.** _Needs a much better name._ You have money in your hand. **During the game:** regularly, "police" investigates hands. The player who scores highest on some metric (highest total money, highest number of cards, highest money card) will get a penalty **Money laundering:** during play, you can pay/use money for things. This is often done *face-down* and by *number of cards*. (So you might pay "3 cards" for something, but their value is unknown to everyone else.) This is how you get rid of "bad" money. **Game end:** but when the game is over, the player who paid the most money in this (secret) way, *loses immediately*. (Or, rather, they're disqualified from winning the game.) ## Setup Deal all players their starting money. (TODO: Make table/decide some amount.) ## Objective The player with the best cards in their hand wins. Each money card is worth 1 point. Other cards are worth the point value on them, or 0 points otherwise. **However,** the player who paid the most secret money during the game, is disqualified from winning! ## Gameplay The game plays over X rounds. Each round, new cards are drawn from the deck and openly displayed on the table. The number of new cards is always "number of players + 1". From the start player, go clockwise around the table taking your turn. On your turn, you can - **Buy one card** from the table. Pay the money, get the card in your hand. - **Play cards** from your hand to execute their action. Both of these are optional (?) => \@TODO: or something like "if you didn't buy anything, you *must* play an action"? There is **no** hand limit. Once the final round is over, score your hand and reveal your secret payment pile. ## Buying Cards can be bought in one of two ways: *public* or *secret*. - Public = pay the money shown (exactly). Place your money cards, face-up, on the **discard pile**. - Secret = pay the *number of cards* shown (exactly). Place them face-down on your personal **payment pile.** Some cards only have one of these icons. They can only be bought that one way. ## Police Police cards investigate the player's current hands. The "winner" of the challenge is penalized: they must replace two cards from their hand with "bad reputation" cards. You can play one at any time *between two player turns.* When played, all players give the information needed to execute what the card says. The possible challenges are ... - Player with the most cards in their hand - Player with the highest value money card - Player with the highest total sum of money in their hand - (Rare) Player with the most bad reputation cards - (Rare) Player with the most objects of type "X" At the end of a round, all police cards that weren't bought *execute immediately*. ## Cards - Bad Reputation => worth -10 points at the end (and takes up space?) - Police - Start player - Buy multiple cards - Sell a card from your hand (to get back money) - Something with hand limit? - Take money from your secret pile back in your hand. - Objects => these simply cost a lot of money and are worth a lot of points - **SIMPLIFY:** All special actions are also just objects. You can choose whether to play them or keep them for points. - Missions => when you go on a mission, you get the money from it. (But only if it succeeds? Are there missions you have to do together?) ## Missions Yeah, feels like this should be an expansion. With some solid, fun rules for going on missions together and a luck-based/risk-reward mechanism.