A few months ago Button Shy Games had a contest to create new games for their wallet games line. A wallet game is a card game containing 12-18 poker sized cards in a vinyl wallet. Congratulations to the winners Danny Devine, Steven Aramini, and Paul Kluka with their game Circle the Wagons.
It’s a very interesting format to design for and has a lot of potential based on the already released games, as well as the over 70 entries in the contest. I didn’t manage to make it into the finals, but I had a lot of fun designing these games and I think a few have some potential.
Below are 9 of my 10 entries in the contest along with some of the feedback from the judges. Feel free to print, play, and share these and let me know what you think. If any generate interest I’ll continue developing them. Thanks.
The tenth game did generate some interest and I’ll be talking about it soon. [edit: That was In Vino Morte]
-Chris
And here is the original In Vino Morte video.
And the judge comments for In Vino Morte
Creativity of Theme
Lowkey Battle of Wits
Interesting take on social interaction.
Poison theme is interesting.
Creativity of Mechanisms
The game is interesting in the fact that it uses both cards and body language.
Mesh of Theme/Mechanism
Awesome sounding blend.
Game plays well into the trust factor, which compliments the theme of the game.
Clarity of Rules
I could play it.
Easy to read and understand.
Use of Form Factor
Seems like it would be just as good (or better) with 10 cards instead of 18. The others could be used elsewhere – like scoring, or something.
Perceived Player Engagement
I think that players would be very engaged.
Players are trying to outwit each other not just in mechanics but with their body language.
Match with Button Shy Brand
This looks to match the kind of simple, yet engaging, brand that Button Shy goes for.
It sort of matches up in the form of quick pick up and play game.
WOW Factor
Reminds me of the Princess Bride; shame it can’t be branded as such.
The players trying to outwit each other is interesting.
Concerns
I think that it’d be better being multi-round (like Love Letter) with a smaller player count, as an 18 player game would be a bit overwhelming (IMO). Granted, some people like 18 player Werewolf.
Additional Comments
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