Mall Mania

The whole twist of this game is …

It’s a tile placement game
But the boundaries/specifics of your map are also given by a tile.

This reduces the need for individual player boards, or player mats, or other extra material/rules. Just one deck of tiles and that’s it. Also a unique take on the genre.

You could be building a mall. Or a zoo. Or a candy shop. Or a city district. Whatever. (If the twist really works as well as I hope, I might create multiple games with these different themes.)

Each tile in this game …

Has a Tetris-like shape.
Is subdivided into smaller rectangles (probably 4x4 per big rectangle unit)
Which indicates your actual playing area.

During the game, you constantly have to consider swapping out a boundary tile for a new one. (Losing everything that’s out of bounds? Or it stays, but simply scores no points anymore? Maybe there are some intermediate scoring-things going on?)

Additionally, tiles obviously show some main type. (An animal in each square, an icon, etcetera.)

When used as your map, this main type gives a special action to all tiles placed on those squares.
(For example, you place a new tile and check your boundaries. You see the tile overlaps an area with an Elephant. Now you get the Elephant placement bonus.)

By default, the tile and its orientation stay the same. You must actively find ways to change (for a new tile) or rotate your boundary tiles.

Below is a full rules sketch.

Setup

All players receive 2 random 1x1 tiles.

Place one to the side: this will be your Area Tile.
Place one before you: this will be the first tile inside that Area. (This is the only tile that can never be removed during the game.)

Shuffle the remaining deck of tiles. Place 5 open in the center: the market.

Objective

The game ends as soon as no player can add anything to their area. Score your final area: highest score wins!

Gameplay

Take clockwise turns until done. On your turn, always grab a new tile.

You can take one that’s open in the market, or you can draw blind from the deck.

The tile can be used in one of two ways: Place or Change Area.

Place

Add the tile to your area. There’s only one rule:

Tiles must be inside the boundaries indicated by your Area Tile. (Each Area tile has one square in the center that matches the 1x1 square with which you start.)

Once placed, check your Area Tile again to see which spaces it overlaps. If it overlaps a special action, take it now.

Change Area

Use the new tile to replace your current Area Tile.

Orient it however you wish. Once placed, you can’t reorient it anymore.

You must, however, pay for this powerful action. Remove 2 tiles from your current area.

Scoring

You only score squares that are inside your Area Tile. (By changing areas, tiles that used to be valid, might now suddenly be out of bounds.)

Each square is worth 1 point by default. Check if they have a special action, or if they’re on top of a special scoring action on the Area Tile. These are explained at @TODO: Link to section with all scoring

@TODO: I don’t want too many rules or powers hidden inside the rulebook.

There should be a low limit on unique types
Most should just be a number (“this is how many points you get”) or a color.
With some base rule for scoring => for example, you score your largest group of each unique color.

@VERDICT: Should work very well. I just need to invent the specific scoring rules and make a sketch to see if such “double-use” tiles could actually work.

The whole twist of this game is ... * It's a **tile placement game** * But the boundaries/specifics of your map are **also given by a tile**. This reduces the need for individual player boards, or player mats, or other extra material/rules. Just one deck of tiles and that's it. Also a unique take on the genre. You could be building a **mall**. Or a zoo. Or a candy shop. Or a city district. Whatever. (If the twist really works as well as I hope, I might create multiple games with these different themes.) Each **tile** in this game ... * Has a Tetris-like shape. * Is _subdivided_ into smaller rectangles (probably 4x4 per big rectangle unit) * Which indicates your actual playing area. During the game, you constantly have to consider swapping out a boundary tile for a new one. (Losing everything that's out of bounds? Or it stays, but simply scores no points anymore? Maybe there are some intermediate scoring-things going on?) Additionally, tiles obviously show some **main type**. (An animal in each square, an icon, etcetera.) * When used as your _map_, this main type gives a special action to all tiles placed on those squares. * (For example, you place a new tile and check your boundaries. You see the tile overlaps an area with an Elephant. Now you get the Elephant placement bonus.) By default, the tile and its orientation stay the same. You must actively find ways to _change_ (for a new tile) or _rotate_ your boundary tiles. Below is a full rules sketch. ## Setup All players receive 2 random 1x1 tiles. * Place one to the side: this will be your **Area Tile**. * Place one before you: this will be the first tile _inside_ that Area. (This is the only tile that can **never** be removed during the game.) Shuffle the remaining deck of tiles. Place 5 open in the center: the **market**. ## Objective The game ends as soon as no player can add anything to their area. Score your final area: highest score wins! ## Gameplay Take clockwise turns until done. On your turn, always **grab a new tile**. You can take one that's open in the market, or you can draw blind from the deck. The tile can be used in one of two ways: **Place** or **Change Area**. ### Place Add the tile to your area. There's only one rule: > Tiles must be inside the boundaries indicated by your **Area Tile**. (Each Area tile has one square in the center that matches the 1x1 square with which you start.) Once placed, check your Area Tile again to see which spaces it overlaps. If it overlaps a special action, take it now. ### Change Area Use the new tile to **replace** your current Area Tile. Orient it however you wish. Once placed, you can't reorient it anymore. You must, however, **pay** for this powerful action. Remove 2 tiles from your current area. ## Scoring You only score squares that are **inside your Area Tile**. (By changing areas, tiles that used to be valid, might now suddenly be out of bounds.) Each square is worth 1 point by default. Check if they have a special action, or if they're on top of a special scoring action on the Area Tile. These are explained at @TODO: Link to section with all scoring @TODO: I don't want too many rules or powers hidden inside the rulebook. * There should be a low limit on unique types * Most should just be a _number_ ("this is how many points you get") or a _color_. * With some _base rule_ for scoring => for example, you score your _largest group_ of each unique color. @VERDICT: Should work very well. I just need to invent the specific scoring rules and make a sketch to see if such "double-use" tiles could actually work.