Talk:Zamboni Wars

Spam Filtered Link

If you can get Mike Sugarbaker (User_talk:MiSuBa) to add zamboni.com to the spam filter white list, you may correct only the "cantlink" to "http" link fix during the Summer 2007 IGDC.

--David Artman, IGDC Coordinator, Summer 2007 (13:52, 17 August 2007 (EDT))

David Artman

This looks interesting. I'm definately going to try this out. It seems like it might be more interesting with a pseudo-simultaneous play option, where instead of rolling the die and making your move, you roll the die then go around the table with each player taking one action at a time, repeating for the number rolled. For example, I'm playing a game with Tom, Dick, and Harry. I roll a three. I rotate my zamboni, then Tom moves forward, then Dick rotates, then Harry moves, then everybody can fire their laser and we do it all again twice more.

Thoughts?

Simultaneous moves would be cool, but might make for a faster game, as folks get a shot off each movement point (rather than once each 3.5 movement points, on average). I would bet you'd really want the shield in this variant. Hmmm... and you might need a rule that a laser can't fire across borders of coasters; otherwise, here's turn one for everyone: Rotate 45°. Fire. Hit opposite corner. All four win/lose. ;) Of course, if someone moves off their corner, there's two remaining players... I guess that's not really likely; everyone would have the sense to move off the corner, as angling to 45° and then firing only ensures a tie....

By the way, why even roll, if you are going to do simultaneous movement? Just go "everybody move one; everybody fire; repeat" and skip the die rolling thing.

Anyhow, love the single Treehouse + Coasters game! A demoing dream....

David Artman

• • Simultaneous moves might be interesting, but it would give faster acting players a disadvantage since you could see where they were going to end up. A [RAMBots] type of move planning would help in this case, but then this would just turn into a RAMBots variant. (Actually, that's not a bad idea for another game...) --Nekura 14:41, 1 August 2007 (EDT)

Feedback

Well, I tried out the game today. We played and wound up having some problems with it. Primarily, the end was long and drawn out and random. We got down to two players and we were shooting at each other for at least as long as the rest of the game. We were both driving around small pieces and we were just chasing each other and shooting (almost every turn) and missing. It was pretty frustrating. -JEEP 20:43, 20 Apr 2007 (GMT)

• • Hmm - I didn't see that issue in my testing. I can see how that would be frustrating. I'm wondering if the mechanic to reduce the chance to hit a Zamboni as it gets smaller needs to go. --Nekura 14:37, 1 August 2007 (EDT)
  • After some additional testing, I changed the "to hit" rule making it easier to hit as time goes on rather than harder. This fits the theme as you have more armor with the larger Zamboni and are therefore harder to hit at first. Once you get down to the last piece of your Zamboni, you are completely vulnerable. This makes the end-game a test of maneuvering instead of who can roll a 6. --Nekura 11:15, 14 August 2007 (EDT)

Turn One Issue?

I am wondering if there's not a Turn One issue in the game. Consider:

• Everyone starts out facing three arrows in a row.
• One is allowed to reorient 45 degrees then immediately reorient back straight.
• Therefore, one can stay on that three-square line with any roll of 1 to 6:
  • 1, 2, or 3: Just step towards the left-hand opponent.
  • 4: Take a step, reorient right 45 degrees and then back, take last step.
  • 5: As above, but take two last steps.
  • 6: As with 4, but do two reorient 45 degrees right and then back.
• Thus, any roll puts one within 4 squares of the left-hand opponent.
  • Therefore, one may fire, with a 50% chance of knocking target down to medium-sized before he or she's had a turn.

--David Artman 15:05, 1 August 2007 (EDT)

You are correct with a roll of 1 - 3. However, you are also leaving yourself vulnerable by choosing to remain in their line of fire. This would be a calculated risk. Also, with the new hit rules you now only have a 1 in 3 chance of a successful hit.

This isn't an issue with a roll of 4 - 6 since you can't burn two points on a single turn. Turning 45-degrees then back again is considered part of the same move. (I added a clarification to the turning rules to reflect this.) If you roll a 4 or higher, the board will force you to move to a new column on the board thus ruining your shot at the left-hand player. (On a 2, 3 or 4, you could turn and go after the player on your right if they were still in your line of sight, but that would also place you in their firing line.) --Nekura 11:33, 14 August 2007 (EDT)

OK, so 50% of the time I get 1-3, which lets me fire at the left-hand opponent, with a 1/3 chance to hit it. That's somewhat better, but it's still a no-brainer choice to try to go for it, if one rolls 1-3 on first turn. I think my solution(s), however, warrant a whole new game.... --David Artman 13:52, 14 August 2007 (EDT)

Xmiyux

Today my Higher Order Thinking Skills class tested 4 of the games submitted for the IGDC and this was a runaway hit. The only comments left for Zamboni Wars in their journal was "Unbelievably fun to play. Much better than Treehouse." I even had two kids show up after school in my board game club with the sole intention of learning to play "that game they said in class was so much fun."

New Category

REMINDER: When editing is unlocked again, be sure to add [[Category:Spanish]] to your Category list, as that Category is now available to sort games that have foreign translations. Thanks! --David Artman 09:40, 12 September 2007 (EDT)

Movement Rules Conflict

I love this game! During a recent 4 player game, we ran into a rules conflict: Blue rolled the 3. Roll and move, using all movement conflicts with follow arrows while avoiding other zambonis in this case. We ruled that blue lost a turn. This could be prevented by allowing "shoot" and "roll and move" actions to be performed in either order as desired. What do you think?