As long as we're on the subject of Martian Coasters setup, here are my two-,
three-, four- or five-player instructions. Rather than building the trees
AND THEN placing them, you can just build them in place.
1. Sit down. There are a few options:
a. Sit closest to your own color coaster. The player of the color
in the middle of a five-player layout picks a random place
between two other players. ("Closest Seating")
b. Sit down randomly. ("Random Seating")
c. To come out with the exact same results as Timothy's method
for a five-player game... Suppose the coasters are labelled
S,W,N,E clockwise around the outside with C in the center,
and have the players sit in the order S-W-E-N-C around the
table. ("Swenc Seating")
2. Everybody, start with a nest of his or her color.
3. Everybody, pick up your large.
4. Look at the pyramid being held by the person THREE to your right
that isn't you.
5. Put your large in the middle of that coaster.
6. Everybody, pick up your medium.
7. Look at the pyramid being held by the person TWO to your right
that isn't you.
8. Put your medium in the middle of that coaster.
9. Everybody, pick up your small.
10. Look at the pyramid being held by the person immediately to your right.
11. Put your small in the middle of that coaster.
Done. Eleven steps, including seating. All players work at the setup
simultaneously, instead of having just one person do all the work. No
pictures needed.
Any thoughts? Are the instruction clear? Are they easy to remember?
As far as who goes first in a five-player game...
I would suggest that the person with the person that has neither a pyramid
nor a coaster in the center shoudl go first. My rough draft calculations
reveal that player has the most uphill battle to win. Then again, what with
moving coaster around and all the other things that can happen during the
game, the effect of NOT following this guideline is pretty small indeed.
Ryan