Wednesday 8 January 2014

Terror in Antarctica - a multiplayer hidden traitor cooperative game

So I am working on a new game this year, and it will be a  multiplayer hidden traitor cooperative game tentatively titled Terror in Antarctica. It is a game inspired by the movie John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084787/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Here is what I have written so far as notes for the game:

Terror in Antarctica

Introduction

Terror in Antarctica is a 3-8 player Hidden Traitor game that takes place in a remote Antarctica research station - Outpost 13. One or two players play shapeshifting aliens (Creatures) and the other players play the men and women living in the station (Researchers). The furnace has been destroyed and Researchers are trying to repair equipment sabotaged by the Creature before they freeze to death. The Creature is hiding in their midst, disguised as a Researcher, trying to thwart their plans and convert other Researchers into Creatures themselves.    

Game Components

·         One rules booklet
·         1 11" x 17" game board
·         8 double-sided Researcher/Creature player boards
·         8 Researcher Human status cards
·         6 Creature status cards
·         2 Creature #1 and Creature #2 cards
·         80 Item cards
o   40 cards for 3/4+ players
o   20 cards for 5/6+ players
o   20 cards for 7/8 players
·         30 Sub Creature attack cards
·         20 Creature attack cards
·         21 Researcher attack cards
o   9 cards for 3/4+ players
o   6 cards for 5/6+ players
o   6 cards for 7/8 players
·         21 double-sided tokens for Researcher attack cards
·         36 Sub Creature tokens
o   6 Mutated Sled Dogs
o   12 Upside Down Head Crabs
o   18 Crawling Arms
·         3 Sub Creature character cards for tracking hit points, etc.
·         20 double-sided repair tokens
o   10 Fixed Tokens
o   10 Broken Tokens
·         14 hit point tracking tokens for Researchers, Creatures and Sub Creatures
·         1 Round Track Marker




Game Board

The game board is mainly the layout of the Antarctica research station Outpost 13. Here is a list of the following features of the board:
·         6 Repair Objective Rooms: These rooms are the locations that Researcher players will need to go to in order to repair sabotaged machinery necessary for their survival. Each room has a name. They are identified by a broken gear icon, which also has the number of player required for that room to be in effect for game. The Creature players will also need to go to one of these locations in order to build their escape craft, which be under the floorboards of that location.
·         10 Item Card Rooms: These rooms have a card icon, indicating that when a player enters that room, they must draw a card from that room's deck.  Each room has a name.
o   8 of these rooms will have an icon indicating it is the starting location for one of the 8 Researchers.  Each Researcher will have their own icon indicating their role/occupation at Outpost 13.
o   There will be icons indicating how many Researcher Attack Tokens are placed in this room at the beginning of the game, depending on how many players are playing. This can number from 0 to 3 tokens.
·         Hallways: Players must count every square in the hallways when moving from room to room.
·         Ducts: Sub Creatures Crawling Arms might move through ducts to other rooms if there is a draw when fighting Researchers.
·         Exterior Buildings: There are some exterior buildings that can only be reached if a Researcher has a parka. The spaces between buildings are counted the same as hallways for movement.
·         Round Track: This is a 20-space track used to keep track of Rounds in the game. At the 11 round point players lose one movement point because of the intense cold. The Researchers lose the game if they do not eliminate all the Creatures at the end of round 20.
·         Item Deck Slots: There are 10 slots at the bottom of the board, 1 for each of the item rooms. These slots are labeled with the name of the room. Each slot will start the game with an equal number of item cards in deck--10 decks in total.
o   3-4 Player game: 4 cards in each room deck
o   5-6 Player game: 6 cards in each room deck
o   7-8 Player game: 8 cards in each room deck


Game Pieces

The game's pieces are used to represent Sub Creatures, Researcher Attack tokens, Repair Tokens, Hit Point Tokens and to track the Round Track.

Sub Creatures
There are 36 Sub Creature tokens: 6 Mutated Sled Dogs, 12 Upside Down Head Crabs and 18 Crawling Arms. These monsters are autonomous appendages of the main Creature, and are revealed when a player draws a card from a room deck after entering a item room. These Sub Creatures will attack Researchers in the same room as them. When a Sub Creature is revealed to be in a room, a Sub Creature token(s) of that type is placed in the room.



Researcher Attack Tokens
These are double-sided tokens that are placed in item rooms during the setup of the game. On one side of the token it shows an icon representing how many players in the game it will be used in. On the other side it will show either a single attack icon or a double attack icon. The player who collects the token then chooses the attack card of their choice of specified type: single or double. They can chose either Rock, Paper or Scissors. If the type they want is gone, then they will have to choose another type.

Repair Tokens
These double-sided tokens are drawn by players when they attempt to repair a Repair Objective. There are 2 types of Repair Tokens:
·         10 Fixed Tokens
·         10 Broken Tokens
Both tokens have the same icon on the back. These tokens are put into a pile near the board, generic side up. When a player repairs a Repair Objective, the draw 2 of these tokens and views them secretly. If they are Researcher Player, they will want to play a Fixed token to the room. If there are no Fixed tokens then they will have to play a Broken token. They will place one token on the room and replace the other one to the pile, face down and mix it back in with the rest. If the player is the Creature, they may want to play a Broken token and claim they were both broken tokens. Or they could play a Fixed token just throw the other players off their track.

Hit Point Tokens
These tokens are used to keep track of hit points for Researchers, Creatures and Sub Creatures. They are placed on cards in the area used for keeping track of hit points.

Round Track Marker
The round track marker is placed on the 1 spot of the Round Track, and is advanced once every round.


Cards

There are three different types of cards used in the game: Infection Status Cards, Item Cards and Attack Cards

Infection Status Cards
These cards are used to determine if a player is a Researcher or a Creature. All cards have the same back:
·         8 Researcher Human status cards
·         6 Creature status cards
·         2 Creature #1 and Creature #2 cards
Each player will be dealt 2 cards face down: a Researcher card and Creature card. If a player is dealt a regular Creature card, then they are not the Creature. However, if a player receives the Creature #1 card (3-6 player games) or Creature #2 (7-8 player games), then they start the game as the Creature. The player with the Creature #1 card is responsible for building the escape craft, and Creature #2--and all future converted players--is to help Creature #1 get all the parts they need to do so.


Item Cards
These cards are drawn when a player enters one of the 10 Item card rooms. There are 10 slots at the bottom of the board, 1 for each of the item rooms. These slots are labeled with the name of the room. Each slot will start the game with an equal number of item cards in deck--10 decks in total. Item cards are divided into categories: Sub Creatures, Weapons, Repair Equipment and Misc.
·         Sub Creatures
o   Mutated Sled Dogs
o   Upside Down Crab Heads
o   Disembodied Crawling Arms
·         Weapons
o   Pistol
o   Rifle
o   Shotgun
o   Flamethrower
·         Repair Equipment
o   Toolkit
o   Car Battery
o   Wiring
o   Sheet Metal
o   Transistors
·         Misc.
o   Sandwich
o   First Aid Kit
o   Blood Test
o   Parka

Attack Cards
There are 3 different types of attack cards in the game: Sub Creature Attack cards, Researcher Attack cards and Creature Attack cards.
·         30 Sub Creature attack cards
o   10 Mutated Sled Dogs attack cards
o   10 Upside Down Crab Heads attack cards
o   10 Disembodied Crawling Arms attack cards
·         21 Researcher attack cards (used by Researchers to attack Sub Creatures and Creatures)
o   9 cards for 3/4+ players
o   6 cards for 5/6+ players
o   6 cards for 7/8 players
·         20 Creature attack cards (used by the Creatures to attack Researchers)
  

2 comments:

  1. Nice! As a "Thing" fan AND a lover of horror-themed games AND part of a group who enjoys the "hidden traitor" mechanic, you've already got me interested.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Adam,

    I am having a lot of fun designing it and I am looking forward even more to playing it!

    ReplyDelete