Kevin wanted to show me that he could put together a Heroscape layout last night. He just started building it and got some help from me only when the spaces got tight. Maybe we will get to play on his layout this evening. Maybe we'll do something different.
While Kevin was building the layout he said, "I want a new thing. I want a racing car game." Okay. Let me think about that.
Car Wars is probably at least seven years in his future. Even Mille Bournes involves gameplay and math that is a little harder than he can handle, plus I have the feeling that it may be too abstract. He wants to play with cars.
I have a really simple idea that I'm going to give a try. We'll race across the house with Hot Wheels, dice, and rulers.
Our House Speedway
Each player's turn will consist of three moving actions.
Moving Action: Roll a pair of six-sided dice (2d6) and move ahead that number of inches.
Handling Check: If during your move you change direction or driving surface (eg. carpet to vinyl) then you must roll the amount of your current move or higher on a twelve-sided die (1d12) or forfeit the rest of your move and your next moving action. If the handling error occurs on a player's third action then his car is reversed to remind him that his first action on his next turn is forfeit.
The first one across the finish line wins.
I'll throw a number of obstacles on the floor so we have a more interesting course than just a few straightaways. I'm also thinking about allowing a "Push" action that would cost a full turn, and extra turns if the push resulted in the car colliding with an obstacle or flipping over.
Posted to Family and Home at January 6, 2005 12:50 PMYou are a smart and imaginative man! Not to mention a fun daddy. Love you! Mom
Posted by: Susan McJilton at January 7, 2005 7:29 AMI bet that Steve Jackson said the same thing. "I'll just do this one game up, just for fun." And look where it led him.
Pretty soon there will be a car game with your name on it, illustrated by John Kovalic ("I'm also a fan!").