Talk:Pushing Race

This is a decent game, but I am very unclear on some things:

Must I always only move my own pieces? Can i move an opponent backwards?
If the board is a cylinder, that means I can TIP once to get on the board, DIG once to wrap around, then TIP once to cross the fFinish line. The rules are not clear if this is the intended spirit of the game. It can be hard to get that combination, but the rules seem to explicitly suggest it.
Is it possible to swap a piece off the board fFor one on the board? The rules seem to suggest not, but it should be clarified.

Skotte 10:52, 23 May 2011 (UTC)

Playtest report:

It’s not a game for me, but that said, I can see how it could be a fun idea. The fun of the game is sort of pushing and squeezing your way across the finish line (like a race down a busy hallway). I’m of the opinion that the game is supposed to be played on a long cylindrical track, which, seems to imply that the track wraps around the long sides and not the ends (meaning that a piece pushed back from the start line simply goes back on the starting line/pile). The game is vague here, but I really didn’t like the idea of an infinite line of space behind the start line. Because the game isn’t well written, Scott's interpretation above is just as valid. Then there is the ambiguity of whether I can move my opponent's piece.

Recommendations: I don’t like the way that the treehouse dice is incorporated. Either tip and aim should be worth at least two movement points (to be split among pieces) or a four-sided dice should be rolled along with the treehouse die.

Alternately, pieces could be moved by pip count. In this variation, the pieces are released from the start line in order, 1s, then 2s, and then the 3s. This way, the 3s end up pushing the slower pieces that are in front of them on the board.

Also, I agree with Scott that the track needs to be shortened. At least one coaster should be removed from the game. The game takes too long as it stands; we were ready to quit before it even got halfway finished. --nihilvor 18:05, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

Thank you all for testing this game! I'm sorry for the delay in answering, I hadn't noticed there had been discussions about the game. Here are some answers to your questions:

The way I intended the game is that you can only move one of your pieces, which may push other player's pieces, either forward or backward.
The board is a long cylinder, as explained by nihilvor.
If you roll Swap and an opponent's piece is sitting on the first row after the start line, you can swap its position with one of your pieces not yet in play (as if it were waiting behind the start line).

I'm sorry the rules weren't clearer on all these points. They were among the first I tried to write and I obviously lacked experience at the task. I'll make the necessary changes when I'm done answering.

I like the idea of making Tip and Aim a 2-space move. I hadn't thought of it at the time, but it would make Dig less of a bummer and it would speed up the game. I also agree to shorten the track (I actually wanted to do that, but my two testers thought the length was fine, so I let it go).

As a side note, when playtesting, we found that the game wasn't as interesting with 2 players as it was with 3. We haven't had a chance to try a 4-player game. --captncavern 19:47, 23 July 2011