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.
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