I have recently drawn up a design for an interesting little game which explores cooperation, reciprocity and greed. I would really like to run the prototype past as many groups as possible, so if you like building and
negotiation, please read on, sign up and ask for clarifications.
Premise
The game of Leerdam follows a group of households that comprise the eponymous village located in the Rhine-Meuse delta. The village is a prosperous little agricultural community in 15th century, but is prone to flooding, just as the entire region is. The households each have access to some productive capacity, which they need to allocate between working for their own good, and working on maintaining the dykes that protect the entire village. One would hope the burden of public works can be shared equally, but such arrangements are continuously beset by both greed and misfortune -- not each household can operate at full capacity each year, some suffer disease, accidents and other deprivations, limiting their output. Which household will find a path to greatest prosperity, and how would the village do?
Mechanics
Player count
5+, I think best with 7-10, if more that 10, we can run two parallel communities and see how they do comparatively, that'd be fun.
Public works and flood status:
The game tracks Dyke Condition, which ranges from 1 to 6 and starts at 3. All households start with No Flood Damage.
Sequence of play:
The game runs in turns, which represent a year. Each turn starts with households being dealt their usual productive capacity (6 units) less any Misfortune. After a brief discussion, the household simultaneously and secretly offer any portion of their productive capacity to contribute to public works. If less than N - 2 units are contributed, where N is the number of players, the Dyke Condition degrades by 1, if more than N + 1 units are contributed, the Dyke Condition improves by 1, otherwise it remains constant.
After the Dyke Condition is resolved, the households allocate their remaining capacity among three activities: Subsistence, Leisure and Profit, and earn Victory Points or Wealth as follows:
Households can spend their productive capacity on each other's activities. Example: a household with 5 units of capacity left after Public Works may allocate 2 of them to its own Subsistence, 2 to its own Leisure and 1 to Subsistence of a household struck by Misfortune. In return, it may secure a promise to be paid back in kind. VP can never be transferred between households. Wealth can always be transferred.
After the capacity is allocated and the VP and Wealth are awarded, a six-sided die is rolled to check for this year's Flood Strength. If Flood Strength exceeds Dyke Condition, the Dyke Condition is degraded by 1, all households are set to Flooded and each loses a third of its Wealth rounded up. Then, if Flood Strength is 6, the Dyke Condition is degraded by 1, perhaps a second time.
After the flood check, each household received 1 VP for each 30 Wealth it controls. Game note: Wealth reflects not just cash holdings, but the value and quality of your real estate, as well as non-perishable household furnishing -- plate, ceramics, furniture, books, religious objects. Simple possession of these allows for a higher quality of life, reflected in this VP award.
Starting with turn 8, a die is rolled to check for game end. On a roll of 4-6, play proceeds to the next turn.
Negotiations:
Households can negotiate freely, both openly and secretly. The only binding deal occurs if two households announce a trade of Wealth for allocation of productive capacity to Subsistence, Leisure or Profit, i.e. when one household hires another's labour. If both households announce agreement to this type of deal, and this type only, the transfer of Wealth and allocation of productive capacity occur simultaneously. All other deals are non-binding.
Game end:
On the final turn, all households receive 1 VP for each (26 - 3 * Dyke Condition) Wealth they hold, and -2 VP if their household is Flooded. The household with the highest amount of VP wins. Game Note: being wealthy is always good, but much less so if your beautiful house full of Van Eyck's is likely to wash away the very next spring.
Suggested playtest
I would like to run some playtests under the above rules live, on Discord -- otherwise I'm afraid it may drag on. I think a Discord session should complete within an hour and a half, if not quicker. I am currently very flexible with my time, and can run a session whenever there are players available.
Welcome any thoughts, criticisms and questions, but most of all, of course, sign-ups!
negotiation, please read on, sign up and ask for clarifications.
Premise
The game of Leerdam follows a group of households that comprise the eponymous village located in the Rhine-Meuse delta. The village is a prosperous little agricultural community in 15th century, but is prone to flooding, just as the entire region is. The households each have access to some productive capacity, which they need to allocate between working for their own good, and working on maintaining the dykes that protect the entire village. One would hope the burden of public works can be shared equally, but such arrangements are continuously beset by both greed and misfortune -- not each household can operate at full capacity each year, some suffer disease, accidents and other deprivations, limiting their output. Which household will find a path to greatest prosperity, and how would the village do?
Mechanics
Player count
5+, I think best with 7-10, if more that 10, we can run two parallel communities and see how they do comparatively, that'd be fun.
Public works and flood status:
The game tracks Dyke Condition, which ranges from 1 to 6 and starts at 3. All households start with No Flood Damage.
Sequence of play:
The game runs in turns, which represent a year. Each turn starts with households being dealt their usual productive capacity (6 units) less any Misfortune. After a brief discussion, the household simultaneously and secretly offer any portion of their productive capacity to contribute to public works. If less than N - 2 units are contributed, where N is the number of players, the Dyke Condition degrades by 1, if more than N + 1 units are contributed, the Dyke Condition improves by 1, otherwise it remains constant.
After the Dyke Condition is resolved, the households allocate their remaining capacity among three activities: Subsistence, Leisure and Profit, and earn Victory Points or Wealth as follows:
- -5 VP if no capacity allocated to subsistence, -2 VP if only 1 unit allocated
- 1 VP for up to 2 units allocated to Leisure
- Wealth for each unit allocated to Profit: 10 for the first unit, 9 for the second, 8 for the third, and so on.
Households can spend their productive capacity on each other's activities. Example: a household with 5 units of capacity left after Public Works may allocate 2 of them to its own Subsistence, 2 to its own Leisure and 1 to Subsistence of a household struck by Misfortune. In return, it may secure a promise to be paid back in kind. VP can never be transferred between households. Wealth can always be transferred.
After the capacity is allocated and the VP and Wealth are awarded, a six-sided die is rolled to check for this year's Flood Strength. If Flood Strength exceeds Dyke Condition, the Dyke Condition is degraded by 1, all households are set to Flooded and each loses a third of its Wealth rounded up. Then, if Flood Strength is 6, the Dyke Condition is degraded by 1, perhaps a second time.
After the flood check, each household received 1 VP for each 30 Wealth it controls. Game note: Wealth reflects not just cash holdings, but the value and quality of your real estate, as well as non-perishable household furnishing -- plate, ceramics, furniture, books, religious objects. Simple possession of these allows for a higher quality of life, reflected in this VP award.
Starting with turn 8, a die is rolled to check for game end. On a roll of 4-6, play proceeds to the next turn.
Negotiations:
Households can negotiate freely, both openly and secretly. The only binding deal occurs if two households announce a trade of Wealth for allocation of productive capacity to Subsistence, Leisure or Profit, i.e. when one household hires another's labour. If both households announce agreement to this type of deal, and this type only, the transfer of Wealth and allocation of productive capacity occur simultaneously. All other deals are non-binding.
Game end:
On the final turn, all households receive 1 VP for each (26 - 3 * Dyke Condition) Wealth they hold, and -2 VP if their household is Flooded. The household with the highest amount of VP wins. Game Note: being wealthy is always good, but much less so if your beautiful house full of Van Eyck's is likely to wash away the very next spring.
Suggested playtest
I would like to run some playtests under the above rules live, on Discord -- otherwise I'm afraid it may drag on. I think a Discord session should complete within an hour and a half, if not quicker. I am currently very flexible with my time, and can run a session whenever there are players available.
Welcome any thoughts, criticisms and questions, but most of all, of course, sign-ups!
