This summer there has been a design contest for new games for the Green Box of Games. The contest has been running for the most part on the BoardGameGeek forums and in the Green Box Community Group on Facebook.

There have been a total of 14 new games proposed, most of them original, and many of them very good games, and the rules for all of them can be found on the Wiki.

And the winners are…

Best Original Game: Gridblock, André Heines

Best Adapted Game: Green Port, Pedro Dias

Best 2-player-only Game: Business Casual, Elliot Anderson

Best Game for 3+ players: Matchmaker, Stephen Jennings

Best Abstract Game: OKI, Mitsuo Yamamoto

Best Family Game: Rush Maze, Kyrre Havik Eriksen

 

Here is a brief summary of all the games:

Original games:

Coordinates

Designer: Yury Milovidov

Two cards denote coordinates for activating tiles in a grid. Your task is to play cards to manipulate these coordinates and match available symbols so you can collect the most tiles.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Coordinates

Push

Designer: Vegard Farstad

A variation of 4-in-a-row where you push tiles in from the sides to change the pattern and create a winning combination.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Push

OKI

Designer: Mitsuo Yamamoto

Pure abstract with great replay value. Build a random board where the tiles are loosely connected, and take turns adding cubes along straight lines. The winner is the player who adds the last cube.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/OKI

Snatch

Designer: Yury Milovidov

A game of luck where you roll the dice to move your “Snatchers” in ways that captures your opponents cubes.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Snatch

Gridblock

Designer: André Heines

A well rounded game with tactics, luck, symbol matching and movement across a random board layout.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Gridblock

Matchmaker

Designer: Stephen Jennings

Fresh take on “Memory” or “Kim’s game”, where one player shows a number of cards and counts down a few seconds before hiding them again. Now the other players must struggle to remember which combinations of colours and symbols they have seen.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Matchmaker

Business Casual

Designer: Elliot Anderson

Tile laying game where you score points for yourself or your opponent based on which tiles you place next to. Outdress your colleagues by one, you score, by two and you’re clearly overdoing it.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Business_Casual

Rush Maze

Designer: Kyrre Havik Eriksen

The board grows as you place tiles, while at the same time you try to get rid of your cards by playing them to move across the corresponding symbols.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Rush_Maze

Swarm

Designer: Nicki Loyd

An abstract game of capturing your opponents pieces on a grid, but with some dice rolling on top.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Swarm

Adapted games:

King’s Valley

Designer: Mitsuo Yamamoto

An original abstract designed by Yamamoto, but applied to the Green Box components. Move your pawns and king along straight lines, and try to get your king into the center “Valley” square.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/King%27s_Valley

Jump

Designer: Mitsuo Yamamoto

Sharing mechanics with Halma and Chinese Checkers, this game pits two players against each other trying to get their pieces to jump across the board and into their opponents starting positions.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Jump

NIM

Designer: Vegard Farstad

An ancient puzzle game that is played using multiple piles of anything, for instance small wooden cubes. Players can remove as many cubes as they want on their turn, but only from one pile. The winner is the one to remove the last cube.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/NIM

Green Port

Designer: Pedro Dias

The most complex and ambitious game in the contest. Using push-your-luck mechanisms adapted from “Port Royal” (Alexander Pfister, 2014) players try to recruit gang members (cubes) to complete missions (sets of cards). A bit of engine building as well, since you can buy headquarters for different families that give bonuses to your operation.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Port

Sixteen Stone

Designer: Gary Boyd

An original abstract designed by Mr Boyd, entered to the contest because it is fully playable with the Green Box cubes and a grid of tiles. Push, move or sacrifice your cubes in order to capture or remove the cubes of your opponent. Simple rules but challenging tactics.

https://greenbox.wikia.com/wiki/Sixteen_Stone