Re-Design Exercise: Gangster Mutant Cats in Space

As much as I'd rather not post this, here are the backstory and rules for the dice game modification that my group devised. For those who aren't in Game Design as Art Practice, the class for which I'm writing this blog, our instructor Jane McGonigal gave us a boring dice rolling game (see rules below) and instructed us to make it more interesting by creating a backstory and a method for keeping score. Our goal was to create "a clear link between the backstory and the tracking mechanism." We had about 20 minutes to do this before the class playtested the game.

Well, because another group created such an awesome game (incorporating elements from The Exquisite Corpse) and the class really got into it, we didn't have time for our game. And because I caught a bug and had to stay in bed all day, we weren't able to demonstrate the game during the next class session. If we're lucky, we'll never have to play this game.

Here are rules for the plain dice game: Players take turns rolling dice. The first player rolls six dice. Any 1's rolled are set aside and the remaining dice are passed to the next player who rolls and sets aside any 1's. If a player does not roll at least one 1, then he is gets one penalty point and the game continues. If a player rolls all 1's, then all six dice are given to the next player to roll. When a player earns 7 penalty points, he is out of the game. The last player in the game wins.

Gangster Mutant Cats in Space

Backstory: Human space travelers set out to settle a new world. Unfortunately, before they could find a suitable planet to colonize, they perished, the victims of an unknown space virus. Their cats, however survived and multiplied, eventually taking over their space cruiser. Because of their close proximity to a pulsar, some of the cats mutated to have only one eye. Still, they maintained their sense of humor and upstanding moral sensibilities. Meanwhile, other cats mutated to have two or more eyes; they developed an attitude problem. The One-Eyes and Multi-Eyes formed gangs on the derelict spaceship and regularly engage in petty catfights. Well, not that petty because the losers get tossed into a nearby black hole. Fortunately, cats have nine lives. Actually, because of the zero gravity environment, seven. After all seven lives are used up, the cat is re-absorbed into the energy of the universe and becomes the momentary twinkle of a distant star.

Modified rules:

Rolling the dice initiates the catfight. At first, it's only the player, who is a One-Eye, versus whatever Multi-Eyes show up to fight (i.e. are rolled). Any One-Eyes (rolled 1's) in the vinicity may be called to join the fight.

When a player rolls one or more 1's, he or she must give a loud space meow for each 1 before touching the dice. By meowing, the player is calling other One-Eyes for help in fighting the Multi-Eyes.

If the rolling player touches the dice before meowing (tries to pick up the 1's, for example), then none of the One-Eyes will help in the fight. The Multi-Eyes prevail and the player scores one penalty point.

If a player does not meow enough times (once per 1 rolled) before touching the dice, then he or she only claims the 1's meowed for. For example, if three 1's are rolled but the player only meows once, then the player may only take one 1.

If no 1's are rolled, then all opposing players must make loud cat fight sounds before anyone touches the dice. If any player fails to do this, then no penalty point is awarded.

Tracking the score: Each player has 7 cat tokens and must throw one into the black hole (center of the table) when he or she earns a penalty point. The cat remains there, tumbling pathetically through space while its molecules get scrunched together, until the end of the game. When a player tosses in his or her seventh cat, he or she is eliminated. Last One-Eye player remaining wins the game, but is soon thereafter mauled by Multi-Eyed cats.