Left Side / Right Side - Quick Pitch

Simple puzzle game for iPhone (in landscape mode), where an object appears at the top center of the screen and you swipe your finger left or right and the object flings to that side.  The game would have many different modes based on this single mechanic.  The object will fall if the player doesn't swipe one way of the other in time.  The objects move dynamically, so think, fast paces angry birds in some ways.

The game starts out with sorting the objects that appear at the top of the screen to the left and right.  if the player does not chose a left or right side, the object will fall and head toward one of the sides. Eventually, new types of objects show up, and the player will learn how to sort them so that they can keep playing the game.  It would start out with something like, just different colored blocks. get 3+ to touch, they explode and the board cascades... player learns, ok, 3+ makes them disappear.   Soon after there will be Dark colored blocks that appear in the screens left and right open areas.  these do not move.  players will learn to use the 3+ explosions to clear these blocks, as we progress, the objects change into material objects, like ice, bouncy, sticky, etc.  so they'll learn that those type need a different type of force in the fling to get them where they want to go. Eventually the player will send monsters to either side who will eat only their color block, and eventually dark colored monsters show up in static places on the left and right of the screen and the player will know to try to use the monsters to clear static dark colored monsters, and keep their board clear for more and more sorting. 

I want to teach the player the cause and affect of the objects, and then give them an opportunity to use them. They'll be challenged by the increase in reaction time to the objects as they try to keep their left and right sides clean so they can sort more objects. etc.... and i want to have these "types" of play show up randomly as the game is played, but have all the types of objects make sense with each other, so that monsters would still work on a screen filled with blocks.  This way this simple puzzle game will have lots of variety.
  

Forbidden - Quick Pitch

This game is like Demon Souls in it’s camera and focus on mood, and like 99 Nights in its potential for on screen enemies.  Its focused platform is ps3/xbox rather than iPhone.  It’s an MMORPG, but not in the traditional type like WoW, and just in a way that it’s a lot of people playing, but not a huge world.

Story:
Every night, in the middle of the ever changing forest, a blinding light can be seen. Adventurers seek this light, as it equals massive power and transformation.  However, this light isn’t as simple to obtain as one might think.  Deep within the twisting pathways of the forbidden forest lies many creatures whose goal is to stop you from obtaining this ultimate power.  If you obtain this power, you will only stay on top for a short while, as other players in the game join forces to take you down from your reign of destruction.  Dying on your journey to grab the forbidden light, or after you have transformed will send you into the darkness where by you must escape your death prison, to rejoin the living, to fight again for supremacy.

Gameplay:
During the day, players will go on quest, slay beasts, and other similar tasks much like other RPG titles.  Doing this will allow them to level up their character.  At night, once the light is seen, the forbidden forest proving grounds are open.  It is a mad dash to get to the center of the forest, and (hopefully) pass the test.  If you pass, you transform into a creature 10x the size of you, and have massive strength, destroying players who challenge you in a single blow.  However, all the players who had died trying to be in your position, and all the players in “alive” states can join up to take you down from your spot of power, in hopes to get their chance.  There are “realms” in the game.  Day time realm where you play and improve your character, and death means a respawn in the graveyard.  Deadlands realm: where you go if you die trying to obtain the light, where the only ways out are defeating another player trying to obtain the light, helping take down a transformed player, or when dawn arrives.

Mechanics:
There will be spells, and weapons, and armor all upgrade-able as you level up.  The path to the light changes every day.  From a birds eye view the paths resemble a circular maze.  If a player tries to cross over the designated pathways (i.e. touches the walls), it spawns demons of great difficulty.  If they die along the way, they are banished to the “deadlands”, where they can try to kill an "alive" player in the forest, trying to get to the center of the maze where the light is located.  If you do so, you switch spots with them, and regain your “alive” state.  

It’s essentially king of the hill type pvp, with pve elements for half of the server time (day/night)  You gain exp for everything during the day, in the specific areas you use/train (i.e. use a sword, get better at swords, chop down trees, get better at your tree chopping level)  When in obtain the light and change into Forbidden form, you gain massive amounts of experience based on your time “on top of the hill” and the enemies you destroy.  The players are also ranked based on all their times combined as king of the hill.  It is also random, which type of transformation you will change into.  It's akin to having 10 different bosses in a game, or in a dungeon and all the other players need to adapt to the boss's weakness.  Also, the player who transformed into the boss needs to get good at fighting in the different forms.  The bosses will also have stages like a main boss in WoW.

General Thoughts:
This game relies heavily on other players playing.  If not, we’ll have to use bots, and bots just aren’t as cool.  Lots of darkness, and high contrast in the forest.  very mysterious and high tension, as you don't know if another player is going to sneak up on you, if someone else might get the light and come after you... 

In the maze, the center circle is roughly 100 yards of open space, and each of the hall ways are about 20 feet wide.  so plenty of room to fight while still keeping it contained....and it won't be gray walls like in the image below, it'll be trees and brush ;)

I really want the player to have the experience of being "a boss" and having them feel what it's like to be THE game, instead of just playing it. Here are some images... the art style will not be like dark souls, (at this time)  i really want to focus more on depth and atmosphere, and that simplicity to create the artistic style of the game. (and the light would be more white, and blue/purple as it gets later in the night... this would be at dusk. when the light first starts to appear.

See... if you get to the girl, you transform and get to be that big guy... cool, right?
(images courtesy of google ;) )

Tap, Tap, Boom! - Quick Pitch

Blocks appear in the empty spaces on the screen, then increase in size and move in a straight line. They start out white, and as they grow, they turn black.  They continue to grow/move until one side touches a wall, once it touches a wall, it sticks to it, and is now considered part of the wall surface, and is now, "untap-able".  The player needs to tap these square shapes as they are growing to "stop" them. If enough blocks turn into walls that it fills the whole screen as a solid black square, the game is over.

While a block is being tapped, it will stop growing and moving, the value will also head back toward being white.  if the player stops tapping it, it will start growing and moving again, and start fading to black again.  If the block turns black, or hits a wall, it turns into a static object(and it's color snaps to black if it wasn't already.)
However, when it is tapped all the way back to full white, it will "explode".  When a block explodes, it shoots out a white box in all 4 directions that destroys the walls that it touches, which clears more screen for more blocks to appear.  The size of the pixel that explodes out of each of the 4 sides is based on the size the block has grown to.  Players may actually choose to wait til it gets bigger to tap it, so that when it explodes, it fires off larger square pixels.   Multiple blocks will start to appear, and further stages will start out with different arrangements of walls that need to be destroyed.  A player completes a level by surviving the time limit, or clearing the entire stage to it's boarders.

this tiny picture may help... it's really tiny though :D essentially showing that a white box appears, starts moving, growing in size, and getting darker.  it hits a wall in drawing 5, and then in drawing 8 the player decides to tap the cube headed for the right wall, he taps it 4 times, which gets it back to white, and that shoots out 4 white destroyer cubes, one of which cuts through the black cube that stuck in the corner, leaving only a thin sliver.  and the boxes keep appearing... etc.

 

Pirate's Peak - board game

Game title: Pirate's Peak
Theme/Style: Pirate themed adventure game
Number of players: 2
Suggested age range: 8+
Components:
          12 Sea Deck cards
               •  10 Journey cards
               •  1 Pirate's Peak card (halfway point in the race, where the players round Pirate's Peak,

                   choose a treasure and head back to the dock)
               •  1 Starting Dock card

          2 Ship cards (which holds captain, crewmen, cannonballs, and Pirate's Peak treasure)
          2 Captain pieces
          8 Crewman pieces (crewmen help you fight and dig for buried treasure)
          6 cannon balls (used for attacking, and to interrupt your opponent's gold search)
          Pirate's Peak treasures - Golden cutlass, Steel cannon, Mighty sail
          10 life point markers (5 per player)
          2 pirate ship pieces (brown and black)
          1 ghost ship piece (white)
          100 gold pieces (in total value) - (current prototype uses: pennies = 1 gold, nickel = 5 etc.)
          instruction booklet
          1 die

Instructions:
          Objective:
                    You and your opponent sail through the treacherous seas to Pirate's Peak and back!
                    Your journey unfolds a unique path you must take as you attempt to gain as much
                    gold as possible. You will race, battle, and encounter many surprises along the way.
                    Whoever returns to the dock with the most gold wins, and the other player is banished
                    from the land!

          Setup:
                    Place the Starting Dock Card face up between you and your opponent. Choose a ship
                    color and its corresponding Ship Card and Captain Piece. Place the Ship Card in front
                    of you and place the Captain Piece in his spot. Then, place your ship on the first dash
                    alongside one of the docks. Shuffle the Sea Cards, and place them face down on the
                    shore side of the Starting Dock Card.

                    The Starting Dock Card:
                              If you are on the starting dock card:
                                  •  You can not fire a cannonball
                                  •  You can not be hit by a cannonball
                                  •  The Mighty Sail has no affect
                           
                              Each player starts with 10 gold for resources.

                              Before setting sail, you might want to spend a little gold.
                                  •  Cannonballs sell for 2 gold a piece.  Note: Ships can hold 3 Cannonballs.
                                  •  Crewmen sell for 3 gold a piece.  Note: Ships can carry 4 Crewmen. Your
                                      captain does not count as a crewman.

          Setting Sail:
                   •  Both players roll to see who goes first. The player with the higher number goes first.
                              ◦  In the case of a tie, roll again.

                   •  Before each turn, you must declare how you are going to spend your turn - either
                       sailing, searching for treasure, or firing a cannon.

          Sailing:
                    •  Ships move one space on the cards, equivalent to the number on the die roll.
                              ◦  You may stop your ship early on an "X", and island, or the castaway space.
                              ◦  There may be some sea encounters you must stop early on.

                    •  Ships can only move forward, and must stay on their own path.

                    •  If your ship reaches the last space on a card and could continue on, flip over the top
                        card of the Sea Deck, and place it face up at the end of the board.
                              ◦  Example diagram in future instructions
                              ◦  Note:  Sea Cards must be played in the direction they are flipped, with the 
                                  exception of the Pirate's Peak card.
                              ◦  Note:  If the Pirate's Peak Card is drawn as one of the first five cards, return
                                  it to the Sea Deck, shuffle, and flip over a new Sea Card.
                              ◦  Note:  If you roll a 1, see the "Ghost Ship" section for instructions.

          Searching for Treasure:
                    •  Buried Treasure spots: (an X)

• Some Sea Cards have Buried Treasure Spots.  On these spaces you can search for buried treasure

                                        •  You may choose to stop on this space even if your die roll would have
                                            taken you past it, but you cannot search for treasure until your next turn.
                                        •  If your roll lands you directly on an X, you may roll to search for buried
                                            treasure immediately.

                                            After you have declared you are searching for treasure, roll the die.
                                            Double the number on the die and then add the number of crewmen you
                                            have in your ship. This equals the amount of gold you just found. Add it
                                            to your stash (example: with a dice roll of 3, and 4 crewmen)
                                            [3, doubled = 6, plus 4 crewmen, is 6+4, which equals 10 hold pieces]

                                            Note:  You can't search for treasure on the same spot two turns in a row.

          Firing a Cannon:
                    •  If you have a cannonball and are on the same card, or on the card next to your
                        opponent, you are in range to fire your cannon. There are two types of attacks
                        you can make:
                    •  Interrupting a treasure search:

• If your opponent declares they are searching for treasure, you can declare you are firing your cannon to try to interrupt their treasure search. 
  

• The Player who is searching for gold (searcher) rolls first, and notes the number on the die.  Then, the Player who is firing (attacker) rolls the die and notes that number. 

• If the attacker's roll is equal to the searcher's roll, the attacker full interrupted the search, and the searcher gets no gold.
• if the attacker's roll is greater than the searcher's roll, the attacker fully interrupted the search, the searcher gets no gold and loses one ship life point.
• if the attacker's roll is less than the searcher's roll, the attacker partially interrupted the search, The attacker's roll is subtracted from the searcher's roll, and this new dice value is doubled.  This is the amount of gold the searcher adds to his stash.

                                                      Note:  crewmen are not calculated during this type of attack.
                    •  Attacking the ship:
                              ◦  You can fire your cannon at your opponent at any point in an attempt to take
                                  off a life point

• The Player who is attacking rolls first (attacker), and notes the number on the die.  Then the Player who is defending (defender) toll the die and notes that number. 
• If the attacker's roll is greater than the defender's, the defender loses one life point.
• If the attacker's roll is less than or equal to the defender's the defender is safe, and loses no life points

                            Note: Be sure to remove a cannonball from your Ship Card every time you fire one.
                            Note: Firing a cannon always counts as a turn.
                            Note: Defending a cannon attack does not count as a turn.

          The Treasures of Pirate's Peak:
          The first player to stop at Pirate's Peak gets to choose from 3 Treasures. The second ship to
          arrive chooses from the remaining 2. They are: 

• The Mighty Sail: This sail makes your ship move an additional space when sailing.  It has no affect if your ship is on the Starting Dock Card.
• The Golden Cutlass:  This sword adds 1 to each of your crewmen's dice rolls during a fight.
• The Steel Cannon: This cannon does not have a range restriction like a regular cannon.  It can be fired from any number of cards away from your opponent.  However, it can not be fired while on the Starting Dock Card, or at an opponent if they are on the Starting Dock Card. 

          Sea Encounters: (Explained below are the different encounters you will see in the game)

          Colliding with a ship:
                    •  If two ships (player or Ghost Ship) would cross paths or land on the same spot, they
                        stop before they do so, and attack.
                    •  The crewmen on each ship fight each other for gold.
                              ◦  You and your opponent take turns rolling the die for each one-on-one crewman
                                  fight.
                                        •  The winner of each fight wins the difference in gold from the other player
                                           (example: player1 rolls a 5, player2 rolls a 3. player1 takes 2 gold from
                                           player2's stash.)
                                                  ◦  If the roll is a tie, no gold is exchanged for that flight.
                                        •  If any crewmen have no opponents to fight, they roll to see how many
                                           pieces of gold they steal from their opponent's stash.
                                        •  example: diagram in instructions
                                        •  Note:  A Ghost Ship always has the same amount of crewmen as the
                                           attacking ship, and always rolls a 6 for each crewman.
                              ◦  The player who won the most gold during the fight must advance to the next
                                  open spot on his path, clearing the way for the ships to continue on.

          Islands:
                    •  You can decide to stop early at an island and purchase more crewmen and
                        cannonballs. If you do so, you must count the island as a space. If you do not want to
                        buy resources, you may bypass the island completely.
                    •  You may buy resources immediately after you land on an island.

                        Note:  Ship paths do not cross islands, they stay on the same side.
                        Note:  You can not attack or be attacked while on an island.
                        Note:  You can not make a Ghost Ship appear if you are on an island.

          Ghost Ship:
                    •  Summoning a Ghost Ship:  

• During play, if you roll a 1, you may move 1 space, or roll again and try to summon the Ghost Ship

• If another 1 is rolled, a Ghost Ship appears on your spot. Roll a third time and move that many spaces.  The Ghost Ship stays behind to fight your opponent later in the game, unless it is summoned again. 

                                                  ◦  If this occurs again, with either player, the Ghost Ship is
                                                     summoned to that new spot.
                                        •  If your second roll is anything other than a 1, move your ship that many
                                            spaces.
                              ◦  You cannot summon a Ghost Ship if you are on an island, in a whirl pool or on
                                  the Giant Squid space.
                    •  Fighting a Ghost Ship:
                              ◦  The same rules apply as fighting an opponent's ship, with the exception that a
                                  Ghost Ship always has the same amount of crewmen as the attacking ship,
                                  and always rolls a 6 for each of its crewmen.
                              ◦  Any gold you lose while fighting a Ghost Ship is put in the Sea Bank.
                              ◦  Once a Ghost Ship is fought it is removed from the board, until it is summoned
                                  again.

          Whirlpool: (Trap)
                    •  All ships get sucked into the whirlpool, regardless if their roll would land them past it.
                        A 6 must be rolled on the die before the ship can overpower it.

• Once a 6 is rolled, the ship is moved 6 spaces away from the whirlpool on their path.
• if after 5 attempts you have not rolled a 6, you are spit out one space away from the whirlpool, and your ship loses a life point.

                                        •  Note:  ship paths continue across the whirlpool
                    •  No fighting occurs in a whirlpool
                    •  Ghost Ships can not be summoned to the whirlpool space.

          Mermaids: (Trap)
                    •  If you land directly on this space, a mermaid lures one crewman away from your ship,
                        and he does not return.

          Giant Squid: (Trap)

• You can not pass this space without a fight.  Roll the die three times.  If your total is 12 or greater, you have escaped it's grasp and may continue sailing ahead on your next turn.
• If your total is 18, you move 6 spaces forward right away.

                              ◦  If you do not defeat the Giant Squid on your first attempt, your ship takes
                                  damage from the fight and you lose one ship life point.
                              ◦  If after 3 attempts you have not defeated the Giant Squid, you may choose to
                                  sacrifice one of your crewmen to him, and move ahead on your next turn, or
                                  continue rolling.

          Fog: (Trap)
                    •  If you encounter this space, you must stop on it.
                              ◦  On your next turn, you must close your eyes and roll the die. Before opening
                                  your eyes, you must call out a number, 1 through 6. If your guess is within 1
                                  number of your roll, you've navigated out of the fog. Move as many spaces
                                  forward as the die reads. Otherwise, you must stay there and try again on
                                  your next turn.

                                  Note: You can not fire or be hit by a cannon if you are in fog.

          Castaway: (Bonus)
                    •  You may decide to stop early at this space. If you choose to stop, you rescue a
                        castaway from the sea and put him to work! For this, you gain one crewman, if you
                        have room on your ship.

          Gust of Wind: (Bonus)
                    •  When you land directly on this space, you feel a strong gust of wind approaching. For
                        your next turn, you more twice as far as you normally would.

          Short Cut: (Bonus)
                    •  If you land directly on a shortcut space, you may take the shorter route on your next
                        turn.

                        Note:  You don't have to take the short cut.

          Winning the game:
                    •  As soon as one ship docks, no more sailing or searching for treasure can be done.
                              ◦  Ships have to land perfectly at the dock with an exact roll.
                    •  The first ship back is able to sell back his crewmen for 1 gold each.
                    •  Each player counts their gold, and the player with the most gold at the end wins!
                    •  If at any point in the game your opponent's ship loses all 5 of it's life points, you
                        automatically win the game.

Unique features:
          When I started thinking about designing Pirate's Peak, I wanted there to be a variable that
          would make the adventure different each time you played. As the board is unveiled along the
          journey it gives the players an element of surprise that otherwise is difficult to find in a standard
          board game. This also makes the decisions of how/when you should spend your gold on
          resources more strategic.

          Each of the sea encounters require you to do something different. I feel that giving unique
          challenges and results based on the event that takes place, makes for a more interesting
          journey. Also, I love pirates, and I wanted to make an experience where you could do pretty
          much anything a pirate does.

Play test results: (overall notes based on many play tests)
          One of the areas that players commented on most is the fact that the "board" that is created by flipping over the cards makes the game different every time you play. This also made them want to play a second time because they wanted revenge, which is great cause pirates are all about revenge.

          They loved the interaction and impact they felt they had on the other player, and felt like their actions were important at all times. Even the players who were losing for the majority of the game still felt like there was a chance for them to sink the other player's ship, and win. (This was a difficult thing to balance. I wanted to make it hard enough to sink a ship that it would be considered a last ditch effort and extremely risky early on in the game. Also, not too easy that players would just go for that dominant strategy from the start.)

          Players did mention that it felt like there were a lot of rules, but after they played the game once, it became familiar. (The current instruction booklet breaks up the main game play and the sea encounters so that the players can refer to the sea encounters section when one arises. Organizing it from general to specific helped with the overwhelming feeling they were experiencing.)

Companion - Quick Pitch

a game about you and your friend, and letting go.  an game made to explore emotion, for things you would usually care less about... a cube.

You start out with nothing, but know that you are close to death.  Eventually you see a tiny spec in the distance, you move toward it and make your way up to it.  It’s a gray cube, not moving at all. Next to the cube is a flat blue square... water?  You touch it, and you're healthy again.  You look around and see nothing, and decide to approach the cube, but it moves away from you and appears to be slightly afraid.  After you approach it slow enough a few times, it let's you get close enough, and you pick it up, and it's color changes from gray to yellow.  and a comforting sound now comes from him.  Testing to see what else will happen, you discover that  you can set him down as well.  After you set him down, he turns and points behind you.  Turning, you see a red cube in the distance getting larger and larger. is that headed toward you and your companion?  not sure what to do, you search around, and see a large green cube in the opposite direction. seems safe...  better gotta go now, or you're dead! You start to run, but do not hear your cube anymore.  isn't he following?  better go back and grab him, or he might be toast too!  as the noise and cube get closer and closer, you may have made it to safety if you started running soon enough.  hopefully you didn't leave your friend behind... 
after all, he did lead you to water, (which saved your life)..  the red cube collides forcefully into the outside wall of your safe green zone, and it shatters into a million tiny red particles and then is gone.  and so is the green cube you were once standing in... vulnerable again, you, your new friend, and the vast nothingness around you...

 

moving forward through the game, you will come across simple yet emotional challenges in your effort to survive.  the artist style is that of global illumination and the simplest shapes possible.  the goal of the design is to achieve as close of an emotional attachment to something in it’s simplest form, through experiences shared, and memories made.  

the “companion” can morph and change shape to fit the needs of the levels the player will travel through.  although he will also have a mind of his own.
He will give a part of himself to you, and saves your life each time he does
you eventually lose him, is he gone for good...?
How about when you see a gap in the road he would have normally stretched out his body to allow you to cross?  instead you need to take the long way around...

Will you miss the things he used to do? when you pass by objects in the game he would have usually gotten excited about seeing?

Out at Sea - Quick Pitch

This game is about a guy who comes across a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, and has no idea where he is.  it would play as a 1st person shooter.  very eerie and suspenseful.  

During one scene, the hero will come up to the boat out in the mist.   he approaches it on a small piece of debris and makes his way carefully aboard.  Through the tipped hallways some half filled with water and shifter furniture, he makes his way toward the main control room of the ship, where hopefully he can radio for help.  having not seen another survivor and only bodies missing most of their flesh, he’s not sure what’s going on, or how he got there.  as he slowly pushes the door open, he is startled when he sees an old man leaning against the controls.  The captain is starring into the vast nothingness of the ocean, and is unaware we have entered the room at all.  as he slowly approaches he notices that he looks remarkably healthy, besides the 1,000 yard stare that doesn’t seem to move.  He answers your questions in a slow monotone voice, but it’s clear he has lost his mind.  He’s holding onto a chain around his neck, that he tells you about without being prompted...  He never wanted to sail ships, but his father before him, and his father before him were, he had no choice.  This was one of his few remaining journeys and he was going to quit, and give his son the chain, so that he would always know that he should follow his own path, instead of what everyone else wanted him to do.  All the captain wanted was to be a farmer and be able to provide for his family.  As his stories continue, a ruckus is heard outside in the hallway somewhere.  You tell the captain the you need to get out of here, and he does too, is there any place to call for help?  He tells you that the main control room is up a few levels but that he’d have to take you there.  The captain, oblivious to everything around him, continues having conversations with members of the crew as if they were going about their daily tasks, unfortunately that have died.  He tells you to follow him as he walks out the door and takes out his keys that will help you get to where you need to go.  As you start walking to the control room, even though he says he knows the ship, he has to turn around, as he seems to forget his way from time to time.  He also seems to not be aware of any of the sparking electrical outlets shorting out, or the loud noise that seem to be drawing closer and closer as he takes his time opening doors.  Suddenly, a something bursts out of the wall and leaps at you, you bash it with your bare hands.  What the heck was that!?!?!  Again the captain is completely unaware of what is going on, and continues to talk to himself as he slowly guides you to the main control room, which seems like it will take an eternity to get there.  As more and more creatures attempt to kill the two of you, you must fight for your life and the life of the captain using whatever you can, if you ever want to get out alive....

this is just the story portion of a game pitch, where the main theme will revolve around taking control of the things that happen in your life and never stopping til you get it back to the way want it.

Spectrum!

Theme/Style: Tile Based “card” game/most points wins
Number of players: 2-6
Suggested age range: 8+
Components:    

- 52 hexagonal colored spectrum tiles: Red, Blue, Orange, Yellow, Green, Purple, Black, White (approx. 1.75 inches across)
         o (each tile has a numbered point value, and a hole in the center that fits a single "modifier")
- 18 circular modifier pieces (that fit inside hexagonal tiles) (approx half inch in diameter)

Instructions:

Overview: Players take turns laying down tiles, extending the board.  In these tiles, players can play modifiers, face down, to secretly change their value.  If players connect 3 or more tiles of the same color or number, they collect them and earn points through a series of rounds.  The player with the most points at the end of all rounds is the winner!
Setup:  Place all spectrum tiles and modifiers face down, and shuffle.  Without looking at them, each player chooses 8 tiles (6 tiles each for 5 or more players) and stacks them face down in front of them.

Each player then chooses 3 modifiers, and any extra modifiers not chosen are removed from play for this round.  Players may look at their own modifiers, but should not show them to other players. 

To start, the youngest player deals the starting honeycomb grid from the unpicked tiles. The honeycomb grid is created by placing one tile down, and then 6 tiles placed down in a counter-clockwise fashion, surrounding it.

All players draw the top 3 tiles from their draw pile to put in their hand. (players should have 3 tiles in their hand at all times, if they have them in their stack)

         o For each following round, the dealer order progresses clockwise.


Playing:  Players take turns (clockwise) starting from the left of the dealer.  On a player’s turn, he may only play one tile.  Tiles may only be placed along side a tile that matches either the color or number of a tile already in play.  If the tile played connects three or more of the same number or colored tiles, they are collected and kept as points to be tallied at the end of the round.  
After a tile is placed (and any tiles are collected), the player who will go in 2 turns may choose to place 1 of his modifiers (face down) inside any open tile in play.

Do not look at any modifiers inside collected tiles until the round is over.
Only one modifier can be placed inside each spectrum tile.

         o If a -100 is left in a players hand at the end of a round, the player still subtracts 100 points for it.Rules for playing tiles:    

Colored tiles may only be placed against and touch tiles of the same color OR number.

A BLACK tile acts as a wild card, and assumes any color a player declares on their turn.  A new color can be declared on each player's turn.  BLACK tiles can not be placed against two different colored tiles.
A WHITE tile acts as no color, and cannot be declared as one.  It can be placed against any tile.  Any tile can be placed against a white tile if it complies with the surrounding tiles. (example image in actual instructions).
If a WHITE tile is played, no tiles can be picked up on that players turn.

If a WHITE tile is touching any of the tiles collected, it must also be collected.

If you have a tile to play you must play it - you can not pass a turn.  However, you do not always have to play a modifier.
If you can not play any of the tiles in your hand, you must discard one to the bottom of your draw pile stack.  Then, place the tile on the top of your stack in your hand.

         o If your draw pile is empty:
               + and you are holding three tiles, you must discard one to your draw pile before you pick a tile from the excess board tiles.
               + and you are holding less than three tiles, draw one tile from the excess board tiles.
               + and there are no tiles to draw from, your turn is skipped.
         o If the new tile is playable, it must be played.  Otherwise, your turn is over.


If a player clears the board, they recreate the starting 7 tile honeycomb and play continues.
         o If there are less than 7 tiles remaining in the board’s excess draw pile, create as much of the honeycomb grid as possible.
         o If the board's draw pile is empty, the player who cleared the table chooses a single tile from their hand to place in the center of the table, this is the new start board.

If they choose, the player who would go in 2 turns may play a modifier.

Scoring:  When any player runs out of tiles, play stops and the round is over.  Any tiles left in a players' hand and draw pile are considered negative tile points.  Players should look through their collected tiles, and flip all modifiers around so that they are viewable inside the tiles.  Players add up their positive and negative tile points, taking into account tile modifiers.  Modifiers only affect the tile they are attached to except for the 1/2 ROUND TOTAL, and x2 ROUND TOTAL.  These modifiers are applied as the last step in calculating your score. (examples will be shown of how to calculate tiles with modifiers to help clear up any confusion with the math, especially multiplying two negative numbers together, making it a positive)


Winning:  The Player with the highest score after all rounds of play is declared the winner. (It is recommended you play at least as many rounds as there are players, and 3 when only playing with 2 players.)
         o In the event of a tie, a bonus round is played between tied players.


Unique features:  The modifier pieces allow players to secretly change the value of a tile that is face up on the board.  This element is what brings strategy and surprise to the game.  Will you be nice, or tricky?  You can chose from many different options, such as multiplying a tile’s face value by 5, or negative 5.  Force a player to pass the tile to the right or left, or even affect the total points they gain for that round by double or half.

Play test results:  (overall notes based on many playtests) Through most all of the playtests, participants have had the most laughs when tricking their opponents into either NOT picking up tiles they should, or into picking up ones that will hurt their score.  The thought of the “unknown” modifier inside a tile they want to pick up makes for an interesting choice across every turn.  One of the challenges is having everyone completely comprehend the play order, as it is a little new than what some players might be used to in traditional, turn based card games.  However, by the second round everyone seemed to pick up this mechanic, and the game seemed to become second nature.  (It is suggested that the current player asks the player who will go in two turns, "Mark, do you want to play a modifier?")  Some colorful diagrams in the final instructions will help convey this more clearly.