Looney Labs Icehouse Mailing list Archive

RE: [Icehouse] New Game: Chicken Run

  • FromDavid Artman <david@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • DateWed, 07 Nov 2007 13:47:35 -0700
> From: miyu <xmiyux@xxxxxxxxx>
> Anyone have ideas for playing some of these games that require
> unmatched sets?  My club owns like 12 sets of Treehouse pieces but
> they are all Rainbow - no Xeno.

Well think about it. Chicken Run requires:
1) Three stacks of different colors: the two opposing families and the
chickens.
2) Six larges of colors other than those in #1 above, and four mediums
and smalls of colors other than those in #1 above: the spectators.

So, with with enough Rainbow sets, you can easily do it:
Families: 1 Red large, medium, and small (a "stack"); and 1 Blue stack.
Chickens: 1 Black stack (they never cover other pieces).
Spectators: 3 Green and 3 Yellow larges, 2 Green mediums and smalls, 2
Yellow mediums and smalls (i.e. 2 Green and Yellow stacks, plus an extra
1 Green and Yellow large).
...for a total of 3 Rainbow Treehouse sets per two players. It's doable.

Now, some other unmatched-set games might be impossible; it all comes
down to mechanics of each particular game. Chicken Run happens to sort
of "use-up" most of the left-over pieces after the families and chickens
are on the board; and it's a *somewhat* arbitrary way that they are
used, hence the reason the game can be color-shifted to 3HOUSE. But (I
think) it would qualify for the Winter 2008 IGDC, as it certainly
*requires* at least two sets (nine larges), and it is certainly playable
with only two sets (as written) so long as one *has* Rainbow and Xeno.

[I am consciously trying to design games to promote Xeno sales, the
better to lead new adopters to full ten-stash collections, rather than a
"good enough" collection with five matched sets (i.e. 5 mono stashes,
one opaque).]

HTH;
David


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