Game Variations and House Rules

Last month we held a contest asking our fans how they play Out of the Box Games. We got loads of responses with great game variations and house rules. Below I have pulled out a couple of my personal favorites. Thanks for playing everyone!

"My six-year-old and I like to play games together, And he often asks to play "10 Days in Europe" or "10 Days in the USA". But since he is still learning what the countries/states are called and where they are, "10 Days in the Europe/USA" would be strongly tilted in my favor. He still wants to play it though, so I take a handicap; he follows the usual rules of placing the tiles one at a time to try to set up some starting connections, but I take ten tiles and put the in days 1-10 in order, without looking at them first."- Nate, IL

"When my roommate and I sit down with our dates to play Backseat drawing, instead of forming teams, the four of us take turns playing with each of the other three players (once as the director, once as the artist) for a total of six rounds. We keep score for as individuals, so which ever pair wins a round, we give each of those players a point." -Erin, CA

"40 DAYS IN THE U.S. OF EURASICA!
We lay out all 4 boards on a big table and pick 10 cards from each set randomly, shuffle the 40 cards in your "hand," stack them, then place the top card in slot 1, the next card in slot 2, etc. until all 40 slots are filled. You are not allowed to look at them or place them in relation to any cards - just shuffle and place.
We use all of the seas, oceans, and common countries, etc. to connect to each other. So for example, you can take the Pacific Ocean from Japan in the Asia game to California in the US game. You can take the Mediterranean Sea from Italy in the Europe game to Egypt in the African game. Turkey exists in both Asia and Europe so you can use those interchangeably. You can use any plane to fly to any other country of the same color and of course, in any order within any rack. You can use cars in Asia (not normally in this version).
We do stipulate that you must have at least 7 cards of each game so that you don't just spend 40 days in Africa. One time, I needed to get another Europe card because I only had 6 so I just needed to swap out a yellow African plane for a yellow European plane but I didn't get the chance before my daughter Vicky beat me!" -Ginny, PA

"A variation to Ciniplexity. For those who are movie experts, instead of using only two cards and be the forst person to name a movie, use three cards to make it much more challening."- Sara, MN

"I use the following variants for "Harry's Grand Slam Baseball" (which I love):
Take out one homer card, one triple card, and one Balk card. That leaves 1 homer and 1 triple card in the deck, and cuts down on scoring, making the game more tactical.
Also, I use the following variant rules: a run can score from 2nd on a single with 2 out and from 1st on a 2-out double (assuming that with 2 outs the runners would be moving on the pitch). Also, with 2 out a runner can move from 1st to 3rd on a single.
Finally, a sacrifice bunt card is treated as an infield out if it's not a sacrifice situation (e.g., nobody on base or men on base but 2 out)."- Richard, IL

2010 New Releases

Check out this sneak preview of our 2010 new releases!



Word on the Street™ Junior
The Wacky Tug of Words
Word on the Street™ Junior brings the excitement of Word on the Street™ to the entire family! Each turn, one team flips over a category card and team members quickly brainstorm words that fit the category. The team agrees on a word before the time runs out and then pulls each letter in that word one lane closer to their side of the street. The first team to pull eight letters off the street wins! Word on the Street™ Junior encourages vocabulary development, creative thinking and teamwork—and it’s fun!
· Ages 8 to Adult
· 2-8 Players
· 20-30 Minutes per Game

Bug Out!™
The Surprising Game of Getting the Bug’s Out!

Bugs, Bugs, Everywhere! Each player starts with four leaves but only knows what’s under two of them. Players must draw leaf cards, swap them, and discard, in an effort to get the lowest total number of bugs under the four leaves. Think you have the lowest number of bug points? Shout Bug Out! If you’re right, your points are cut in half, but “bug out” too early and you get double the points!

· Ages 6 to Adult
· 2-6 Players
· 15-20 Minutes per Game

10 Days in the Americas™
The Unpredictable Game of Making Connections

Gather your sunglasses, snowshoes and mosquito spray - it’s time to travel to new destinations with the 10 Days Series - the Americas!
Players use destination and transportation tiles to chart a course through North, Central and South America and the Caribbean — touring by airplane, cruise ship or on foot. With a little luck and clever planning, you just might outmaneuver your fellow travelers and be the first to make connections for a complete ten day journey!

· Ages 10 to Adult
· 2-4 Players
· 20-30 Minutes per Game

Pirate versus Pirate™
The Swashbuckling Game of Swords and Rewaaaards!

Three bands of pirates have discovered an island brimming with treasure. Conquer the island by capturing the gold and silver, or by eliminating the enemy pirates. Position your pirates carefully, enemies are all around and they are hungry for treasure!

· Ages 8 to Adult
· 2-3 Players
· 20-30 Minutes per Game


Shake n’ Take™
The Fast and Frantic Alien Adventure

Aliens are on the loose and it’s up to you to capture them! Everybody’s got aliens, but there are only two capture markers. Catch as many aliens as you can, before the next player grabs the capture marker right out of your hand. Be the first to capture all of your Aliens and win!

· Ages 8 to Adult
· 3-6 Players
· 20-30 Minutes per Game

PhD Candidate Uses 10 Days in Africa for Research on Planning and Decision Making

Dr. Elizabeth Lerner of Wright State University is an expert at planning. I dont mean that she is good at putting together a to do list, I mean she is literally an expert in the field of planning and decision making.
Dr. Lerner recently completed her PhD dissertation at Wright State University's Human Factors in Psychology department. During the course of research for her dissertation, Dr. Lerner along with her advisor, Valerie Shalin, PhD, and software developer, James Garrett, MS, created a computer model of Out of the Box's 10 Days in Africa game in order to help them study collaborative planning proformances and processes. "[10 Days in Africa] is a highly credible example of a real-world planning task that is still accessible to novices. [It] is educational, engaging, and lends itself perfectly to research on planning and decision making with constrained resources," says Dr. Lerner. The team was excited by the results of their studies and hope to publish several shorter papers in peer reviewed publications. "[10 Days in Africa] helped us to understand the process of planning involving multiple individuals, which has real-world applications in designing representation for complex environments ranging from mission control to manufacturing," says Dr. Lerner

To learn more about 10 Days in Africa, visit www.otb-games.com/africa
To learn more about Wright State University's Human Factors in Psychology Department, visit http://www.psych.wright.edu/hfhome.htm

Top Tips for a Great Game Night

In our October Ahead of the Game, we asked readers to send in their top tips for hosting a successful game night. Thanks to everyone for all of the great tips! Below is a sampling of our favorites--

Beware of the snacks that are natural enemies of board games. Cheetos are a good example of a natural enemy of board games. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you are tempted to lick your fingers after eating this snack then it has no place at game night.- Scott, PA

Balloon on mailbox or sign on front door, so guests know where the games are being played!- Rosemarie, IN

Turn nobody away. As long as the attendees want to play games of any kind, the group should adjust or be adjusted to meet the desires of the patrons. If the trend doesn’t seem to develop as the organizers envision, perhaps it will spawn a spin-off group.- David, MI

Consider using a lazy Susan turntable to place the game board on top of so that everyone has the same view during his or her turn.- Chris, CA

Tournament Prize for large groups! It doesn't matter what the prize is, everyone loves to win something! This works especially well with large game groups!- James, SC

Mix invitees based on skill/experience - invite some regular game players, and also folks new to party/board games.- Patrick, OH

Don't play a game that embarrasses anybody. Anything that puts undue pressure on any of the participants is not fun. Trivia games are fun, but games where one person ends up looking stupid is not fun. If somebody isn't going to like/be good at a trivia game, don't play them.- Liena, TN

Invite your friends that you don't see often- Devon, KS

Provide with the invitation a description of the game and its basic rules.- Robert, TX

Set a theme for the evening (ie. Word Games, Games that take 3 hours to play, Games that we haven't played in over a year, Pirate games)- Anna, OH

Consider getting silly colored hats or other colored costume pieces (boas, bandanas…) so to players can match their game color.- Erin, CA

Keep it simple – then you can focus on the fun of the games rather than entertaining.- Marypat, OH

Make sure pens work and sharpen pencils ahead of time- Ray, NJ

Encourage participants to bring their favorite game to share.- Sherrie, CO

Always announce the plans for the next game night during the middle of game night, after everyone has arrived, and before people have left.- Will, WA

Music is great to welcome everyone together. If the games are quiet, background music can help keep the energy flowing. If the games are noisy or get rowdy, music may just get in the way, so turn it down or off. - Carrie, MI

Invite your guests to "participate" in the planning of the event. Send them a list of games you have in mind and poll them to see which games they are interesed in.- Gary, TN

If the people in the group don't all know each other, play a get- to-know-you game first to get them acquainted. Keep it short.- Sue, SC

If you have house rules inform people. I know this sounds like common sense, but it is easy to forget. Do you a policy regarding shoes? Does the dog get people food?- Bruce, MI

Take pictures when you can. We treasure our moments together and enjoy talking about past experiences/game nights.- Amy, TN

If children are attending, make sure that you have age appropriate games for them and a separate table- Cecile

Suggest making this event into a once a month or every other month event rotating the hosting house- Lori, IL

If a "problem" arises, have a "Do Over" instead of insisting on one answer over another.- John

Play - but no heavy competition. We set guests so that no partner (wife, etc) plays together.- Ellen

Make sure the bathroom is not embarrassing!- Elliot, IN

Designing Games with the Publisher in Mind

Designing Games with the Publisher in Mind
By Max Osterhaus, Director of Product Development

Unless you are planning to self publish your games, at some point you are going to have to work with a publishing company and it’s in your best interest to make that interaction as smooth as possible. Coming from the publisher’s perspective, I am going to give you some hints about how keep the publisher happy and why you should care! I am going to avoid talking about actual game design methods and focus on some of the meta-concepts that will assist you in making the transition from hobby to profession.

Let’s start from the beginning. There are an infinite number of ways that you might go about designing your game, but if it is your goal to have your games published, it is important to keep your audience in mind. In this case your audience is twofold. First there are the players of your game and second there is your publisher. Whether you design a game with a particular publisher in mind or are trying to decide to which company you should submit, it is critical that you do your research before submitting. There are many game companies and each has different needs and procedures. To gauge what a publisher wants, it’s usually good to look at their current product line and what sorts of new things they are coming out with. If you have a three-hour economic simulation game, it’s unlikely that a company that specializes in family card games would be interested.

Now let’s say you have a great, well-tested game that seems to be perfect for a certain company--what’s next? First, make sure that the company accepts submissions and find out exactly what procedure they prefer you follow. Put some time into making your correspondences professional, and most important of all, find a way of describing your game quickly and clearly. It is critical to be able to get the idea of the fun or interest of your game across quickly and clearly. Then, if the publisher is interested, you should have well-written, simple rules available upon request. Prototypes do not need to be beautiful, but they do have work pretty much flawlessly. Graphics and other sorts of content might help to make sure the testers have fun, although they are not technically necessary. Keep everything tidy, in bags, boxes, or rubber bands as necessary.

If all of this sounds like a lot of kowtowing, that’s not the point. We, gatekeepers (the people who work with private designers) are not looking to be praised or flattered; we are looking for great games and we put a lot of time into this search. To that end, your presentation needs to be to-the-point and professional while still transferring what is so excellent about your game. If your game not accepted, do not waste your time trying to convince the gatekeeper, but do learn something about that company’s preferences.

These are the sorts of things that separate those who design for a hobby with the professionals and by mastering this process, you’ll save time, save money, and increase your odds of getting your games published!

For more information, I recommend Keith Meyers’s book “Paid to Play,” available on his website http://www.gamedesigncentral.com/.

Interview with Jack Degnan

Jack Degnan, inventor of Word on the Street, sits down with OTB to give us the scoop on his life outside the games, and why he cant get enough of game inventing.

How long have you been inventing games?

I've been inventing games for five years, still a newbie.

How many published games have you invented?

I have three games published, all within the past two years.

What do you do when you are not inventing games?

My day job is working in clinical research at UCSD Medical Center in San Diego. I have other hobbies too. I enjoy hiking. I also play the guitar and write music.

How did you invent Word on the Street?

Word on the Street is a game that I thought of when I first started thinking of designing games. I tried it as a card game. Players would turn over a category card and try spelling words that fit the category using the letters in their hand. When I tested it, I saw some potential, but it was missing something. About a year later, I dusted it off and tried making it a board game: players would race their letters to the end of the board by spelling words that fit the category. But it wasn't interactive enough. Then I got the idea of a tug-of-war of letters across a board. When I researched the name "Tug-of-Words", I saw there was already a game with that name so that's when I came up with the street theme.

Do you have any role models whom you look up to?

Mhhh. In the board game world, I'd have to say my role model is Keith Meyers - a successful game designer who taught me how to design games. I don't think I'd be doing this if I hadn't taken his class. Outside of the boardgame world, I'd have to say Harvey Milk - a man who worked tirelessly to encourage people to be honest and true to themselves regardless of the consequences.

What is the best piece of advice you ever got about inventing games?

To playtest A LOT.

Why do you think that games are important?

Living in the digital age is wonderful for many reasons - but I think it has its drawbacks - and one is that it's causing humans to become more isolated. Board games are interactive. People have fun, laugh, learn, and get to know each other. Those are things we humans are supposed to do.

What do you like most about being a game inventor?

I love watching people have fun with something I created. There is nothing like that feeling.

Who do you typically play games with?

My friends and my family. I belong to a couple of board game groups too and those are great. I used to play Scrabble with my Mother a lot; but I think Word on the Street is becoming her new favorite game. I have so many favorite games. There's just not enough time to play them all.

How many games are in your personal collection?

I just went to count. 38.

Whoo Hoo! Some great award announcements just came in! Backseat Drawing won Education.com's A+ award. Backseat Drawing Junior got Platinum from the Oppenheim awards, and Backseat Drawing, Ninja versus Ninja and Backseat Drawing Junior won Creative Child Preferred Choice awards! Finally, Chain Game won the Creative Child Seal of Excellence!