What have I done?

[gement]

I had a little discussion with "Basil"'s teacher about the possibility of doing a chance-based multiplication game, like Math Baseball except not lame. I mentioned I had ten-siders at home. He grinned, and replied, "Oh, he knows all about all the sizes of dice. Four-siders, twelve-siders... You want to play Math Swords and Dungeons, be my guest."

Basil has very sharp ears and started bouncing up and down in his chair. My lord, the stage fright.

So, I've got the beginnings of a system hashed out in my head (see following entry), and I need a source for some Stuff. Specifically, a deck of monsters, preferably with an image and one sentence description (a la Magic), that I can pull randomly. Also, a list of weapons, preferably about a dozen that I can put on a chart, that will all look deadly and attractive to a fourth-grade voracious SF/Fantasy reader.

Also, since the point of this game is multiplication, each monster will take between one and three successful products to bag it. Can I get some input from you educational and developmental types as to how many "flash cards" would be appropriate before leveling up? Leveling up here means going from a D4 to a D6 to a D8, so it's basically adding harder facts.

If this interests you, see next post for my draft as of today.

Comments

[passionandsoul.livejournal.com]

Can I recommend talking to Jeremy (Pwththth on LJ) as he is a professional game designer and I bet has ideas on how to make it a good rules set, useable, and maybe how to market it :)

[insatia.livejournal.com]

This would definitely sell at cons. Geeky parents always seem to be looking for ways to make their children follow in their footsteps of geekery. And if it was educational, it would make marketing it that much easier.

[gement.livejournal.com]

Have you heard of The Typing of the Dead? http://www.3dgamers.com/games/typingdead/

[memegarden.livejournal.com]

I play Math Dice with my math students. tugger found it for me at some game store. It's just 3 d6's in a little bag, with instructions, for about $5. It was designed by a middle schooler. The instructions are good, and I've ended up adapting it in a variety of ways.

Here's how I'm currently playing the game:
Player 1 rolls 1d24 (I like my d24!) for this round's target number.
Player 2 rolls 3d6 (I have three pretty transparent d6's--mauve, aqua, and green) and tries to get as close as possible to the target number by using the 3 numbers in any combination of addition, subtraction, multiplication, or even division. For lower-level students, I use a smaller target die (d10 or d20), 2d6, and only addition and subtraction. I often provide hints, such as, "I see a way you can get to exactly 15 with those dice" or "You'll need to use subtraction."
Player 1 rolls 3d6 and tries to get closer to the target than player 2. Whoever's closer gets the point for that round. If it's a tie, both get a point.
Player 2 rolls 1d24 for new target.
Player 1 rolls 3d6 and tries to get close.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

I actually enjoy this game, and it has tended to result in students who are really quick with mental math. It's extremely adaptable to more or less advanced skill levels, and you can play any number of rounds so it's time-flexible too.

Hope this is useful to your thinking in designing a more theme-oriented game.

[gement.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that helps. Added to list of missions: go to a couple of game/learning stores and check out the math porn for ideas.

[memegarden.livejournal.com]

Oo, yeah, the Lakeshore Learning store might have some cool stuff, or try some of the small independent toy stores--they often have nifty educational games.