Talk:Drag Race

Started as a side by side race, but I like the joust-like set up better. In fact, I almost remamed it Penguin Joust, but resisted - it feels more mechanical than organic to me!

Please give her a spin, and let me know what you think.

--Nycavri 11:32, 20 July 2007 (EDT)

Rules Clarity

I am finding that what makes sense when I write it down is not always clear when others read it! Specifically having a hard time with rules interpretations in Penguin Soccer, but want to fix any problem here before I go "live". So, anyone see anything unclear in the Drag Race rules? Something implied that should be explicit? Clumsy wording? Help is appreciated. --Nycavri 14:35, 30 July 2007 (EDT)

Solitaire

Occurs to me that this could perhaps be played solitaire, pulling pieces from a bag for the ghost player. Likely needs a player handicap - any suggestions?

4-player

I haven't tried it, so I don't want to post yet, but this may work 4-player? Compare Plans to the left? Needs to be playtested?

The "extraneous" black pieces

At one point I had a rule where a black piece could be dropped behind a car which did not move at all in a turn, assuming the Driver was not on the first row and there was nothing in that square. Decision to drop rested with the player who did not move - after all, you only have 2 obstacles per game. Collisions with dropped black "Obstacles" were treated the same as collisions with other Drivers.

I dropped this rule for simplicity's sake, but may add it back in if feedback warrants. The "Obstacle Variant"?

Nah... The "Oil Slick Variant". 8) --David Artman 15:44, 25 July 2007 (EDT)

The "Oil Slick Variant" - I like it. Have you played yet? With or without the Black drones and pawns? And did you notice that Penguin Soccer is now live at Super Duper Games? --Nycavri 20:03, 25 July 2007 (EDT)

Colors Meanings

It occurs to me that you might want different color meanings, to leverage existing meanings in the Real World:

Green is Go

Red is Stop (Brake)

Now, what is Left and Right? You got Blue and Yellow remaining; I'd be inclined to say Blue is Right ("blue ribbon") and Yellow is Left (yellow = cowardice; left = sinister). But that's kludgey, I'll admit.

So there's another Real World convention you can use:

Green is starboard (Right)

Red is port (Left)

But that leave Blue and Yellow for Go and Brake. Well, again, cowards are "yellow" so they Brake. That leaves Blue for Go... again, kind of arbitrary and must be remembered.

Anyhow, I'm just thinking out loud. I'll try out the game next gaming night and let you know how it feels. --David Artman 12:04, 20 July 2007 (EDT)

• Hi, David. I thought long and hard about the color meanings, and am happy with the finished product. They are easy to remember this way, with the letter match. Red and stop is obviously the instinct to overcome, but I think Red = Right is equally instinctive. As ever, house variants are always a possibility, but barring a large outcry, I think these colors are set for the "official" rules.

Categories

Your choices of Categories seems designed to get it into a lot of place, not be particularly accurate.

For one, there is a "Race" Category, and I'd say this game fit that far better than "Sport".

Second, every game could be considered "Abstract" on some level; I would only use that Category for games like Icehouse, Zendo, etc: games which don't attempt to simulate or riff on real world things. You are attempting to simulate a real world race (or game of chicken) which is not what I'd consider "Abstract" like Zendo.

As always, it's your call; but I'd favor accurate Categorization over comprehensive. But, hey, who even really USES those to find games, anyway? 8) --David Artman 12:13, 20 July 2007 (EDT)

• "Race" does seem more accurate than "Sport", I'll fix. On the other hand, this is absolutely an abstract game in my eyes. The game would play identically with no theme whatsoever, and does not rely on dice or the like. Same with Penguin Soccer, though not true of IceGolf! *grin*

• • Fair enough on the Abstract; but I still say it's only "weakly Abstract": games like Zendo and Icehouse have absolutely no other thematic Categories from which to choose (err, well Martian_theme, for Icehouse, but that's all due to the "story" surrounding its original invention), whereas this game has at least one clear-cut, non-abstract parallel: Race.
  • Also, you could add the "5 stash" Category to it, as it's playable with five monochrome stashes as well: even though only two stacks per stash are used, it's still another "minimum" for categorization purposes (and for listing on What Can I Play?). --David Artman 12:33, 20 July 2007 (EDT)

Am I right in thinking you'd only need 4 stashes if you used a Driver other than a pyramid? --Nycavri 14:31, 30 July 2007 (EDT)