Hasty Heroes

What’s the idea?

The main features:

Cooperative
A hybrid between board games and video games.
Real time (players taking turns simultaneously, continues until game over)
Most actions happen in the real world (on the player board), but some crucial actions are input to the device.
Because all complexity is hidden within the device and its knowledge, the rules are really simple and anyone can play instantly.

To play, you need to print the materials (XXX) and cut them into XXX tiles, then open the website on any device. (It’s recommended to use a rather large smartphone or tablet in the center of the table, for easy viewing and access, but anything should work fine.)

The idea is to use the best of both worlds.

Smartphones are incredibly good at:

Timers (with changing length, starting/stopping, sound upon completion, etc.)
Memory (how many resources do players have, costs of items in shop, etc.)
Randomness (throw a dice, choose from set of options, random event, etc.)

Boardgames are incredibly good at:

Complex operations (stuff that’s really hard to program but easy to do in real life)
Large dynamic boards (easily add/remove tiles to a board, make it as big as you want)
Moving stuff physically (move pawns around the board, rearrange stuff, slide across the table, etc.)

Fully Specified Idea

We are on a spaceship. We try to build the spaceship, defend against attacks, and complete challenges/quests.

We win by entering the correct code into the device.
We lose if our ship’s core is destroyed, or our money becomes negative, or we all die in some event.

Each player is a cube. There’s a deck of square tiles showing components of a ship (with different functions, orientation, etc.)

Now the ridiculous version: we are criminals pretending to be heroes. To keep up the façade, we’ve opened a nice bakery in our spaceship.

During this game, you’ll need to complete challenges and quests, keep the spaceship intact and rob the biggest bank in the galaxy, while baking loads of bread and preventing suspicion.

Tiles

You can only

Place tiles
Rotate tiles
Swap tiles (like a match-3 game)
Destroy tiles

During any action, the connections between different tiles must still hold, and the spaceship must still function.

Different players can only do one of the actions.

IDEA: Sending people on a mission => break off any connected part of the ship and move it to the side. These people are now on a mission.

Interface

There’s one main timer. We must win the game before it runs out. ( => optional? We can lose many other ways …)

Below that are several smaller timers. Whenever you do something that takes time, you must enable that timer. When it’s done, you must also disable it yourself (see “Overtime” mechanic below).

There is simply a list of “action types” => click the one you just started, and it will start a timer for it. This helps remember what every timer was for.

There’s a button to enter the code. An input field with four inputs will appear, which allow numbers. And a button to submit or exit.

Lastly, there’s a large money counter.

Events

At random intervals, an event will take place. You hear a beep, all timers freeze, and an event is displayed. You must handle it and then click continue, before everything continues again.

These might be one-off events. For example: “Pirate Attack!” or “Meteorite Hit!”
Or rule alterations that will hold until the next event. For example: “No Communication!” or “Must Accept Everything!”

Challenges

When you accept a challenge/quest, another timer starts. You will get the rewards, if you tap “success!” on the quest. (You will get a penalty, or nothing, if you let it run out or tap “give up!”)

GREAT IDEA (Overtime): Timers must be clicked on … but they must ALSO be clicked off. If a timer runs out, it goes into overtime. (This might give certain advantages, waiting a little longer.) But if you wait too long to stop it, it gives loads of errors and a big penalty!

GREAT IDEA (Randomized Names): the ship components, the challenges, even the money has random names each game. (Money => oubledoubles; or Engine => Upflabber)

REQUIREMENT: Think of some absolutely ridiculous things to do for heroes. Otherwise the theme will become very bland and cliché.

IDEA: Players can enter certain information (codes). These are remembered by the system, then spit back out scrambled in some way or another.

IDEA: At random moments, events happen. A bleep sound, then the event pops up on the screen.

This idea was called Bread & Plunder at one time, and I still think it might be the better name.

You are heroes on a big adventure. You are also heroes on a tight schedule. Work together to protect against enemies and fulfill quests, while the timer(s) on your smartphone keep running mercilessly. ## What's the idea? The main features: - Cooperative - A *hybrid* between board games and video games. - Real time (players taking turns simultaneously, continues until game over) - Most actions happen in the real world (on the player board), but some crucial actions are input to the device. - Because all complexity is hidden within the device and its knowledge, the rules are really simple and anyone can play instantly. To play, you need to print the materials (XXX) and cut them into XXX tiles, then open the website on any device. (It's recommended to use a rather large smartphone or tablet in the center of the table, for easy viewing and access, but anything should work fine.) The idea is to use the best of both worlds. *Smartphones* are incredibly good at: - **Timers** (with changing length, starting/stopping, sound upon completion, etc.) - **Memory** (how many resources do players have, costs of items in shop, etc.) - **Randomness** (throw a dice, choose from set of options, random event, etc.) *Boardgames* are incredibly good at: - **Complex operations** (stuff that's really hard to program but easy to do in real life) - **Large dynamic boards** (easily add/remove tiles to a board, make it as big as you want) - **Moving stuff physically** (move pawns around the board, rearrange stuff, slide across the table, etc.) ## Fully Specified Idea We are on a spaceship. We try to build the spaceship, defend against attacks, and complete challenges/quests. - We **win** by entering the correct code into the device. - We **lose** if our ship's core is destroyed, or our money becomes negative, or we all die in some event. Each player is a cube. There's a deck of square tiles showing components of a ship (with different functions, orientation, etc.) Now the **ridiculous version:** we are criminals pretending to be heroes. To keep up the façade, we've opened a nice bakery in our spaceship. During this game, you'll need to complete challenges and quests, keep the spaceship intact and rob the biggest bank in the galaxy, while baking loads of bread and preventing suspicion. ### Tiles You can only - Place tiles - Rotate tiles - Swap tiles (like a match-3 game) - Destroy tiles During any action, the connections between different tiles must still hold, and the spaceship must still function. Different players can only do one of the actions. **IDEA:** Sending people on a mission => break off any connected part of the ship and move it to the side. These people are now on a mission. ### Interface There's one *main* timer. We must win the game before it runs out. ( => optional? We can lose many other ways ...) Below that are several smaller timers. Whenever you do something that takes time, you must enable that timer. When it's done, you must also disable it yourself (see "Overtime" mechanic below). > There is simply a list of "action types" => click the one you just started, and it will start a timer for it. This helps remember what every timer was for. There's a button to *enter the code*. An input field with four inputs will appear, which allow numbers. And a button to submit or exit. Lastly, there's a large money counter. ### Events At random intervals, an event will take place. You hear a beep, all timers freeze, and an event is displayed. You must *handle* it and then click continue, before everything continues again. * These might be one-off events. For example: "Pirate Attack!" or "Meteorite Hit!" * Or rule alterations that will hold until the next event. For example: "No Communication!" or "Must Accept Everything!" ### Challenges When you accept a challenge/quest, another timer starts. You will get the rewards, if you tap "success!" on the quest. (You will get a penalty, or nothing, if you let it run out or tap "give up!") **GREAT IDEA (Overtime):** Timers must be clicked on ... but they must ALSO be clicked off. If a timer runs out, it goes into overtime. (This might give certain advantages, waiting a little longer.) But if you wait too long to stop it, it gives loads of errors and a big penalty! **GREAT IDEA (Randomized Names):** the ship components, the challenges, even the *money* has random names each game. (Money => oubledoubles; or Engine => Upflabber) **REQUIREMENT:** Think of some absolutely *ridiculous* things to do for heroes. Otherwise the theme will become very bland and cliché. IDEA: Players can enter certain information (codes). These are remembered by the system, then spit back out *scrambled* in some way or another. IDEA: At random moments, events happen. A bleep sound, then the event pops up on the screen. _This idea was called Bread & Plunder at one time, and I still think it might be the better name._