Awful GDS finish

And so, the second design-a-childrens-game GDS I enter, again ends poorly. 6th out of 8th place. And this time I thought I nailed it. Not taking away anything from the other entries, mind you.

My mindset here was to try and re-create a simple game from childhood, with all the maleable tendencies that those usually have. So it had to be simple, involve a lot of running around, and some fairly useless scoring, which provides more to a means to an end than actually winning anything. Oh sweet Calvinball.

It needed to be a game with no rules judge, no specifics, a little like controlled chaos.

It essentially became a cross between "Running Bases" and "Ghost in the Graveyard," and it allows for endless variation of players and play yards/parking lots, with very little structure and "oh yeah" rules.

In fact, I think I captured that well. Apparently, maybe the game needed a little more structure and complication given who is voting. Oh well.

And now, a classic "Ghost in the Graveyard" moment.

It was the second year of college, and a huge group of friends gathered at a friend's house after everyone had their family Thanksgiving dinners. And it was decided to play "GitG," somewhat similar to the game I presented: the Humans had to circle the house four times, while the "ghosts" slowly grew their forces by tagging humans as they went. Being late November, it rather dark (but warm for the season).

As I ran around to the backyard in the dark, my neck caught a clothlines dead center, and much like Wily Coyote, in what felt like slow motion, flung me backwards AT LEAST 20 feet (well, so it seemed), landing on my back.

So here I am, grasping at my throat wwhich was nearly garroted and choking, and having a hard time breathing from landing sqaure on my back. One of the girl who was a ghost at the time comes running over to me, tags me, and says "Your It," and leaves me to my collapsed-esophagus death.

Well, I didn't die, but had a NASTY rope burn around my neck for a few weeks, looking like I was saved from the gallows in the nick of time by a well placed Robin Hood arrow.

The End.

Ghost Patrol

One player is randomly decided to be the GHOST, and will be the first member of the Ghost Patrol. All other players are THE GOOD GUYS. Give the Good Guys a small ball (or Frisbee, or some other thrown toy).

The Ghost selects 3 BASES. Bases should be relatively thin, and hard to hit with a ball when thrown from a distance, and also in a pre-defined area that the players choose. Young tree trunks, lamp posts, or grandmother’s walking cane may make good Bases. Depending on the age, and number of players, the Ghost may have to select more than three Bases.

The goal of the game is for the Good Guys to move the ball and touch a Base three (or whatever number is appropriate to the skills and amount of players) times. The Good Guys may run with the ball, hide the ball behind their backs (attempting to fool the Ghost Patrol into who has the ball), may throw the ball to each other, or even try and hit the bases with a thrown ball. The ball cannot tag the same Base twice in a row.

The Ghost can tag Good Guys to turn Good Guys into Ghosts and add them to the Ghost Patrol. However, a Ghost cannot tag a Good Guy touching a base. A Good Guy touching a Base may yell “freeze” at Ghost guarding him (waiting for the Good Guy to leave the base). That Ghost must then stand still and count up to 20 as fast as he can before being unfrozen.

If a Ghost gains control of the ball, or tags a Good Guy with the ball (turning him into a Ghost in the process), the Ghost Patrol wins.

If the Good Guys win, the last Good Guy to hold the ball becomes the new Ghost for the next game. If the Ghost Patrol wins, the original Ghost can be the single Ghost again for the next game, or a new Ghost can be appointed.