Games for Goblins

I've been inspired by a couple of things lately.

1. A Storygames thread about games you'd like other people to design.

2. The gaming anthology "Norwegian Style"

3. Old style games compendiums.

4. Another Storygames thread about artists looking for game designers.

5. The idea of how games and roleplaying might have developed in a very different paradigm to our current understanding.

Combining these concepts, I'm thinking of developing a boxed set through "The Game Crafter".

The box will contain 2 booklets. One purely an art book, the other an assortment of games inspired by that art. In addition the game box will provide everything needed to play the games on offer...a few dice, an assortment of tokens, some pawns or movement markers, a custom deck of cards and a board marked with some kind of abstraction (possibly concentric circles divided into sectors) which could be used as an abstract distance chart for combat, or anything else of that could be imagined by a game designer.

A variety of game designers would offer a game of no more than 10 pages using some subset of these components, and inspired by the artwork. Some would be roleplaying games from the perspective of an exotic culture, others would be games specifically designed for telling stories from that cultures perspective, some might hopefully push the envelope to levels I haven't considered. The entire booklet would contain a dozen or so of these games (maybe more if we get more people interested).

I'll be running the project as a contest, with a specific set of components declared once I get a few interested takers. Depending on how many people offer their game ideas, everyone who contributes a game will be able to purchase a copy of the set at cost price. Everyone whose game makes it into the compendium will be able to purchase as many copies of the set as they wish at cost price. I'll be sending free copies of the final compendium to the contributor who provides the most interesting game within the context of the artwork, and the contributor who make the most innovative game using the specified components.

I'll be looking to start the contest on the next equinox (22nd March, 2010), declaring all the components and providing the booklet of inspiration artwork. The contest will run until the following solstice (22nd June 2010). 3 months should give people enough time to write something up, develop and refine their ideas, then submit something that can be laid out by me. The final product is tentatively scheduled for release on the next equinox (22nd September 2010), coincidentally timing with Gencon Oz.

If anyone has thoughts at this stage, immediate game ideas, suggestions for specific components in the compendium, feel free to comment.