Games

The players cooperate to explore the "House on the Hill"
... until one of them turns traitor

I've been playing and thinking about games a lot. Haymarket House has an excellent collection of board, card, and other games. I've been interested in cooperative games (not in the game theory sense) as a result of playing Pandemic! and Betrayal at House on the Hill.

In the purest form of these games, the entire group of players wins or loses together. As its title might indicate, "Betrayal" introduces a competitive element (usually one "traitor" against the group) partway through, though the first portion of the game is entirely cooperative.

I really enjoy these games: it feels good to use the resources of the game playing group to work against the game, rather than against each other. "Pandemic," for instance, is very difficult, and winning without bending the rules feels great for everyone involved.

As a result of my fascination with this kind of gameplay, I've been working on a set of rules for a cooperative game. If you are interested in proof-reading these rules, let me know.

I'm looking for readers who play games and like conceptualizing rules. In particular, I'm hoping to find places where players can, whether through malicious intent or through accidental action, find themselves in a place where the rules are inadequate or do not apply.

The other thing is that I'm conceiving this game as a live-action game, to be played in downtown Chicago.

More to come as it develops!