Lesson 7 exercise
The goal of this one was to make change the card game War so it was mostly skill that determined victory. I decided the most important mechanic to keep (so it was still War) was the blind card matching. Not much else survived.
Winning the Battle, Losing the War. A War variant by Carl de Visser
For two players.
Each player gets a 52 card deck, shuffled.
There are 3 stones placed between the players.
The game is played as a series of battles.
Each player secretly draws any number of cards from their deck into their hand. The cards may not be looked at or re-ordered. They then play them out: matched against their opponent's cards, so the first cards played by each player line up with each other, and then the next, continued until one player runs out of cards.
If both players drew the same number of cards, then the values of each match up are compared. In each pair, a player has a win if his card is higher than his opponent's card (cards rank down from King to Ace). If each player has the same number of wins no-one wins the battle. If one player has more wins, they take a stone. If there are stones in the middle they take one from there, otherwise they take a stone from their opponent. If a player wins every card match (i.e. not drawing or losing any) up they win an extra stone. At the end of a battle all cards are discarded.
If one player has cards in hand after the other has run out, they have outflanked their opponent. They may play their extra cards one at a time over any of their existing cards. They choose where to play each card before it is revealed. They do not have to play the extra cards, and may stop playing them at any time and instead choose to discard the rest of their cards. Once they have played or discarded their extra cards, the results of the battle are determined as described above.
A player automatically wins when they have three stones.
If a player has no cards left to draw at the beginning of a battle, they lose automatically, and their opponent wins regardless of the number of stones each player has.
If both players run out and are unable to draw, the one with the most stones wins.
Winning the Battle, Losing the War. A War variant by Carl de Visser
For two players.
Each player gets a 52 card deck, shuffled.
There are 3 stones placed between the players.
The game is played as a series of battles.
Each player secretly draws any number of cards from their deck into their hand. The cards may not be looked at or re-ordered. They then play them out: matched against their opponent's cards, so the first cards played by each player line up with each other, and then the next, continued until one player runs out of cards.
If both players drew the same number of cards, then the values of each match up are compared. In each pair, a player has a win if his card is higher than his opponent's card (cards rank down from King to Ace). If each player has the same number of wins no-one wins the battle. If one player has more wins, they take a stone. If there are stones in the middle they take one from there, otherwise they take a stone from their opponent. If a player wins every card match (i.e. not drawing or losing any) up they win an extra stone. At the end of a battle all cards are discarded.
If one player has cards in hand after the other has run out, they have outflanked their opponent. They may play their extra cards one at a time over any of their existing cards. They choose where to play each card before it is revealed. They do not have to play the extra cards, and may stop playing them at any time and instead choose to discard the rest of their cards. Once they have played or discarded their extra cards, the results of the battle are determined as described above.
A player automatically wins when they have three stones.
If a player has no cards left to draw at the beginning of a battle, they lose automatically, and their opponent wins regardless of the number of stones each player has.
If both players run out and are unable to draw, the one with the most stones wins.