Pirate Spybeard

This is a variation on my Pirate Riddlebeard and Pirate Drawingbeard games. In those games the computer generates a random map + hints to where the treasure is (only one square exactly fits all those hints).

This version has two teams or “spy agencies”. (Not sure if this is the best way, might allow non-team play as well.)

Each player gets two things:

Some information about the map. (A unique hint. Part of the puzzle, partial info.)
A randomly generated special power.

The Map

This is just a randomly generated inside of a building or warehouse. Maybe with some bits of the outside as well. (So you can be outside, or go around a wall, etcetera.)

Alternatively, this might be a city, and secret stuff is inside specific buildings.

Hidden Movement

It’s hidden movement. As players get a unique character card, that cannot be reused, you must write on it where you are.

You obviously cannot be in the same space multiple times.
(You automatically skip spaces you’ve already been? Alternatively, you need to be smart and plan such that you have enough movement to walk over them.)
There are many, many ways to discover where players are and track them.

Information/Hints

You might know that several squares contain specific items. You might also know several squares have hidden traps, or where the on/off-switch is for lasers.

That’s actually cool! After taking your team’s turn, any switches you passed through are toggled.
This way, you can help yourself in future turns, or hinder the opponent.
But by analyzing your movements, they can figure out what information you know.

These might also be text hints, as opposed to just a partial snapshot of the map.

Special Powers

These determine how you can move and investigate the board/other players.

One of these is public. You use it on the map or other players, so it must be.
Another is secret. These are smaller, more subtle powers or restrictions => maybe by guessing this you can take out other agents? It’s a secret weakness.

Examples:

You can only move in a straight line, at most two spaces.
You cannot enter spaces which you know contain a secret document.

The idea is that these special powers allow way more variety in how you investigate the map, other players, take actions, etcetera opposed to the other pirate games.

Objective

Find the square holding the information you’re looking for. (The “treasure”, if you will.)

There is one square/building that shows a different symbol for each player. That’s the one you want to find.

However, you may only search/extract a square if you have the necessary requirements. (Probably something like “you have X secret documents” or “you have Y intelligence”)

Design Constraints

Allow both competitive and cooperative play
Allow material to be playercount independent: it autogenerates stuff for at most X players, but you can always play with fewer and leave out some information. (So you don’t need to know exact player counts beforehand when printing.)
Allow players to know what they can do just by looking at their individual card: very easy text, very easy actions.
Allow playing the game without pre-printing: it should be very fast to copy info from the website to a blank paper.

This is a variation on my [Pirate Riddlebeard](https://pandaqi.com/pirate-games/pirate-riddlebeard/) and [Pirate Drawingbeard](https://pandaqi.com/pirate-games/pirate-drawingbeard/) games. In those games the computer generates a random map + hints to where the treasure is (only one square exactly fits all those hints). This version has **two teams** or "spy agencies". (Not sure if this is the best way, might allow non-team play as well.) Each player gets two things: - Some information about the map. (A unique **hint**. Part of the puzzle, partial info.) - A randomly generated special power. ## The Map This is just a randomly generated inside of a building or warehouse. Maybe with some bits of the outside as well. (So you can *be* outside, or go *around* a wall, etcetera.) > Alternatively, this might be a *city*, and secret stuff is inside specific *buildings*. ## Hidden Movement It's **hidden movement**. As players get a unique character card, that cannot be reused, you must *write* on it where you are. * You obviously cannot be in the same space multiple times. * (You automatically *skip* spaces you've already been? Alternatively, you need to be smart and plan such that you have enough movement to walk over them.) * There are many, many ways to discover where players are and track them. ## Information/Hints You might know that several squares contain specific items. You might also know several squares have hidden traps, or where the on/off-switch is for lasers. * That's actually cool! After taking your team's turn, any switches you passed through are toggled. * This way, you can help yourself in future turns, or hinder the opponent. * But by analyzing your movements, they can figure out what information you know. These might also be text hints, as opposed to just a partial snapshot of the map. ## Special Powers These determine how you can move and investigate the board/other players. - One of these is *public*. You use it on the map or other players, so it must be. - Another is *secret*. These are smaller, more subtle powers *or* restrictions => maybe by guessing this you can take out other agents? It's a secret *weakness*. Examples: - You can only move in a straight line, at most two spaces. - You cannot enter spaces which you *know* contain a secret document. The idea is that these special powers allow way more *variety* in how you investigate the map, other players, take actions, etcetera opposed to the other pirate games. ## Objective Find the square holding the information you're looking for. (The "treasure", if you will.) > There is *one square/building* that shows a *different symbol* for each player. That's the one you want to find. However, you may only *search/extract* a square if you have the necessary requirements. (Probably something like "you have X secret documents" or "you have Y intelligence") ## Design Constraints - Allow both competitive and cooperative play - Allow material to be *playercount independent:* it autogenerates stuff for at most X players, but you can always play with fewer and leave out some information. (So you don't need to know exact player counts beforehand when printing.) - Allow players to know what they can do just by looking at their individual card: very easy text, very easy actions. - Allow playing the game *without* pre-printing: it should be very fast to copy info from the website to a blank paper.