Piecepack Ruleset Design Competition (Time Marches On)

["jdroscha" <jdroscha@...>]

Theme: Time Marches On
Closes: 15 March 2002
Winner TBA: 31 March 2002
Prize: 1 hand-stamped pocket-size piecepack
Judge: James Kyle

First Things First:
I am NOT trying to judge who is the "best" piecepack rules designer.  
All I am doing is providing a deadline and thematic focus to further 
spur the imagination of piecepack rules designers, who have already 
impressed me with their breadth of skills and ingenuity.

Some Rules:
1) submit your entry to me by email at jdroscha@...
2) entry must be either in PDF (preferred) or plain text (with 
accompanying gifs or jpgs if needed for diagrams/photos)
3) submission must be freely distributable (though feel free to 
retain copyright)
4) submission must have header containing Title, Version Number, 
Version Date, Number of Players, Approximate Length of Game, 
Equipment Needed, Author and Copyright Info
5) the submission must land in my inbox on or before 15 March 2002
6) the game should incorporate the theme
7) feel free to discuss your design on the piecepack Yahoo! group, or 
not, whichever you feel is more beneficial

A Word About the Theme:
The theme for this competition is "Time Marches On", so I'm looking 
for games that have something to do with a clock, timer, or calendar 
in some sense.  Though none of these are specifically suggestions 
(and certainly not requirements), feel free to captialize on any of 
the following:
a) number of tiles (or coins) in a piecepack = number of hours in a 
day
b) number of tiles (or coins) in two suits = number of months in a 
year
c) number of suits = number of traditional seasons in a year
d) perimeter (in _spaces_, not length) of 2 tile x 2 tile square = 
number of hours on a clock face

Criteria I Will Use for Judging:
I will select whichever game strikes me as most interesting or fun, 
and this will be purely my own personal opinion which may swing 
wildly from day to day.  I will not pretend to base the decision on 
any sort of quantifiable scoring system or other objective means.  
But if you wish to shape your entry toward my general preferences 
(though I retain the right to be fickle), I usually like games that:
a) play in an hour or less
b) use the strengths of a piecepack (eg, the game could not be easily 
adapted for a deck of playing cards and poker chips)
c) have rules that are quick to read and easy to remember
d) have a theme or background story (bonus for well-integrated 
thematic mechanics)

A Word About the Prize:
I know, it's no great thing, but hey.  Only one prize will be awarded 
for this competition, a pocket-size piecepack that will be hand-
stamped (and penned) by myself.  These little fellas are the size of 
a deck of playing cards... too small for some games, like Soccer or 
Hanging Gardens, but a very convenient size to carry around to play 
what it can accommodate.  It does not come with a rulebook.  All 
pieces are wood, except the pawns are glass stones.  The box is 
sturdy acrylic.  The coins are little daisy shapes, since I can't 
seem to find inexpensive 1/2" wooden disks in the US.

Any Questions?  Feel free to ask them here on the list or email me at 
jdroscha@...

Game On,
James