Open Design Attempt [EfLS]

[Arpie]

Okay, here's what I've come up with so far:

Game for Never Playeds+Chains+Bonds+No Numbers+My Own Stupid Suggestion
=
Escape from Little Space
a Rutter

You and the other players have become trapped in Little Space, an imaginary continuum that's not quite as big as a time warp but further across than the dreamtime. It has more planetoids than planets and more artistry than physics.

It also has you, for now.

But you have this Rutter, a magical guide written by someone else who once escaped Little Space and sent back to help you and the other players out.

By reading the right entries in this rutter and following the instructions, you can pretend your way out of this diminutive universe and back to your homes. You'll have to trade off the important job of judge every turn with one another, but you'll also have lots of chances to become the heroes and leaders and legends of this fake reality.

And, in the end, the act of escaping from Little Space is the very act that creates it.

OBJECT
The point of this game comes in three parts.

Pretend to be various people trapped in a tiny universe called "Little Space"

Use a little imagination and the instructions in this book to both create the world of Little Space and escape.

Trade off the duty of judge every turn so that no person has to bear the duty two turns in a row.

SET UP
Make sure you have plenty of room to play. This game can be played out of doors or inside, but make sure you have permission to play in the space you use.

The play area should be suited to a comfortable level of activity for all players. If you've got a lot of rambunctious youngsters, make sure there isn't a lot of stuff to trip over or break. If you've got older, more sedentary people, make sure you've got lots of places to sit quietly. Also, try to make the bathroom a "time out" spot or out of bounds (only not TOO out of bounds, if you don't want big trouble.)

You may want to gather some crafty objects, like paper towel and toilet paper rolls, pencils and paper, markers, glue, scissors and anything else you might use for a quick craft or folk art project into a shoebox or other container.

THE JUDGE
Every turn, someone new has to become the judge. The judge doesn't get to participate in that turn, but does get to influence it in other ways.

There are five things you must do when you become a judge.

1. Parse This Turn's Entry
Read the numbered entry you were told to read this turn to yourself. (The judge from last turn will tell you which entry to read on every turn but the first turn.)

You decide how much of that entry you want to tell the other players. You can keep it all to yourself, make up something new, only use part of it or proclaim it as the solemn word of the law. (The entries usually just have made up facts about Little Space to add some flavor.)

2. Instruct the Other Players
Read the instructions beneath the entry aloud to the other players. Read all the instructions and try to get the other players to follow them.

You can interpret these instructions any way you want, but please read them as closely as followed to the way they were written. Feel free to add details from the entry you just read in order to make the instructions clear (or make up new details if you want to put a different spin on it.)

3. Act as Authority
You must settle all disputes that may arise during the turn. You get to say what happens when the other players can't agree on it. You decide when other players are following the instructions correctly and when they aren't.

You can't stop anyone from playing the way they want to, however, and you can't kick anyone out of the game (all the other players would have to vote on that.)

4. Steer the Story
There are three choices listed after each set of instructions. Chose the choice which MOST CLOSELY matches what you want to see happen next. (Each choice will usually offer you some small reward or benefit on the next turn, since you will become the last judge on that turn.)

None of the choices will probably match exactly what you want, but pick the one which comes closest. Make note of the entry number beside that choice.

5. Nominate the Next Judge
Using whatever criteria you want, pick another player to become the judge for the next turn. You can make your decision based on whoever hasn't had a chance to judge very much yet, or whoever played the best this turn or whoever amused you the most or for any other reason you like.

When you've made your decision, tell that other player which entry number you've chosen. Inform him or her that he or she must read that entry and become the new judge.

Your turn is over, but you may want to help keep the other players occupied during the transition by making suggestions, asking them why the acted certain ways on the turn and making up explanations as to where you've "been" while judging the turn.

THOUGHTS
Sooo.... basically this is a really big game of pass the stick. Any other thoughts, fellow designers?

[Ron Stanley]

I like it... have you started working on the Rutter yet?

[Jonathan "Buddha" Davis]

Ooooh! Very cool! I love the idea... especially the create your own setting as you go thing!

I think we need some examples of entries and instructions if you've got any, before we can offer better thoughts! Also, an example of how you think a couple of play rounds would actually play out might be cool!

[George Austin]

Is their an over-arching structure to what the participants who aren't judges do, or is that entirely based on the instructions below the Rutter entry and the Judge's interpretation?

I could see things either way: I might be inclined to have a rubric or a few broad categories into which all of the instructions fit, but that's just me.

[Arpie]

Well, actually, my thoughts right now are that the entire game is a rubric, it teaches you as you go along.

I have no idea how it would play out, yet. I'm still doing some research (checked out some books on group activities today.)

I'll post my idea for the first entry tomorrow.

[Arpie]

I've scrabbled together some entries, but I'm not liking the way this is evolving.
It took a lot longer than I wanted, too.

ENTRIES
101. What's a Rutter?
(Read this part to yourself and decide what to include in the game.)
Other people have escaped from Little Space, that's a well-known fact. These people often leave instructions behind for others.
These instructions, which can get quite complex, go by many names. People tend to call them rutters.

Most rutters look like jumbles of hand-written notes. But some rutters, like this one, get published on the cheap and scattered through Little Space by good samaritans. Or by canons. (Big space canons.)

Of course, sometimes pirates or wreckers do put out their own rutters to lure the unwary into traps, but you probably didn't pick up one of those. Why, everyone can trust the honest Cap'n Harbone, sailor of the seven stars. What an honest face!

Instructions:
(Read this part aloud to the other players.)
You should each go and find a special object that represents something you found in Little Space.
This is a rare valuable that you would not be able to find back home.

Use anything you like for this valuable. It could be something you find in your pockets. It could be something you saw lying around.
You can make something up and write it on a card or you can draw a picture of something you wish you had.

Please do not use anything you would mind losing or getting broken during the game.
It should be something you can carry around with you very easily.
It does not actually have to look valuable.

At any point during the game, you can use this valuable to become the judge and start a new turn.

To do this, just give any valuable you have to the current judge. The judge will end the turn right away, even if it isn't quite finished yet, and make you the new judge. The judge will tell you the next entry to read and the game goes on from there, only you're short one valuable.

You can trade valuables at any time from here on in, making any deals you like.

When each of you has finished getting his or her first valuable, let me know.

Choices:
(Hint: During the first six turns, it might be a good idea to give everyone a chance to be the judge at least once.)
1. If you don't trust Cap'n Harbone, then maybe you're a lot smarter than you look,
please tell the next judge to read Entry Number 111
(where you'll get a chance to make something to outsmart people like the Cap'n)

2. If you know that you can't judge a book by it's cover and are willing to give Cap'n Harbone a chance,
then tell the next judge to read Entry Number 112
(where you'll get stuck with whatever the other players want to pawn off on you)

3. If you have the good sense not to trust Cap'n Harbone, but you're willing to play along,
then tell the next judge to read Entry Number 113
(where you'll get a special power for the rest of the game... and a new responsibility as well)

111. Horobinnacle
(Read this part to yourself and decide what to include in the game.)
Getting around little space isn't easy. It's made up of the back alleyways and forgotten corners of the rest of the universe.
Once inside it, you can never quite set your foot on the normal paths you once knew.

Old hands at travelling through Little Space do have a few tricks up their sleeves.

One of which is the horobinnacle. A binnacle is just a special type of protected compass. Horo means "hour" or "hourly" (as in "horoscope") meaning that it's an "hour compass" or a "time compass."

Unlike most compasses, you see, a horobinnacle never points to a place. It points to an event. That event is always the same one, someone entering Little Space.

Now, anyone who can use a horobinnacle has got to be clever. They understand that any time a way opens up to get in someplace, a way out is oppening up at the same time.

So, combined with a rutter, a horobinnacle is your best chance of getting out of Little Space!

Instructions:
(Read this part aloud to the other players.)
All of you must now pitch in and build a special valuable together.

This valuable is called a horobinnacle.

Decide what it should look like and try to build it as quickly as possible.

When you're done building it, decide amongst yourselves who gets to carry the horobinnacle. It's an important responsibility.

The horobinnacle works like any other valuable. Whoever caries it can trade it in at any time to become the next judge.

But it also has a special purpose which may prove useful later on in the game.
Keep that in mind when you build it and decide who carries it.

When you're done, please have whoever's carrying the horobinnacle show it to me.

Choices:
(Hint: During the first six turns, it might be a good idea to give everyone a chance to be the judge at least once.)
1. If you'd like to meet alien invaders
please have the next judge read Entry Number 121
2. If you'd like to meet space knights and strange creatures,
then by all means have the next judge read Entry Number 122
3. If you'd like to foil the plans of an insane cult of tentacle monsters,
then just have the next judge read Entry Number 123

[Arpie]

Crap. I don't like this at all. It's just not... right. I'm going to scrap what I have so far and try a different approach. I'm thinking too much "Little Space is an Ocean" and not enough "Little Space is a Prison."

[George Austin]

I read those Rutter entries with a big stupid grin on my face, but if they don't feel right to you, they don't.

[Arpie]

Well, that's nice, but they didn't work for me. Unfortunately, my new approach isn't doing much better. I've hit the wall and I'm not sure if I can push through it by Sunday. How sad.

[Arpie]

Didn't push through it.
Sorry. I got a bare framework done and a few entries... but I just didn't manage to finish. I didn't mean to waste anyone's time.
Aheh.

[George Austin]

I certainly don't feel like I've wasted any time.

If you're still interested in what you were working on, and feel like hanging around...