I don’t know why the card game “War”
has been on my mind lately. I played it a few times as a kid more to
pass the time than anything else; but as an adult game designer I
realize, much as game design luminary Greg Costikyan posited, it’s
not much of a game considering the completely random elements and
lack of player choice (to which variants only add small, limited
degrees of strategy). It’s an odd enigma among games – if you
want to even call it a “game” – yet it incorporates some
game-like elements: drawing and playing cards, comparing card values,
and collecting “tricks” used for scoring.
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| The 5 of Clubs helps reinforce the meager 4 of Diamonds. |
This inexplicable fascination feeds off
my general predilection for developing new game designs and for
adapting them to themes I find interesting (usually rooted in
historical periods). The attraction to a basic childhood pastime ties
into my urge to create games accessible to both a young audience and
newcomers to the adventure gaming hobby.
In examining what few rules the “game”
of “War” has, several elements stand out that I like in gameplay:
pitting cards against each other with the higher value winning; the
escalation mechanic when two cards tie (in which additional cards are
drawn, with the top ones revealed to break the tie, winner take all);
and a clear scoring mechanic of the player with the most cards at
game’s end wining. But I also notice several deficiencies related
to the obvious lack of any player choice to affect the game’s
outcome: players have no hand from which to choose particular cards;
they have only one position to deploy them and one opponent to face
on the field; and even when additional cards are drawn to break ties,
the result still boils down to comparing two completely random card
values. A little bit of casual internet research shows a frightening number of “War” variants exist, some offering more player choice
and strategy than others.
Since I have a passing interest in
wargames (as well as other adventure games) I sought to infuse the
basic concepts of “War” with some elements of battlefield
strategy, enabling some meaningful player choice along the way and
creating an entirely new game with a military theme playable with a
standard deck of cards.
Battle Lines
I’m calling my “War” inspired
game Battle Lines since that perhaps best characterizes the
game’s core mechanic. Like “War,” players begin by evenly
dividing one deck of cards (with the jokers removed). Each turn they
draw or “draw up” to a hand of four cards. From these they deploy
three to their battle line, one on the left flank, one in center, and
one on the right flank; each of these stands opposite a card the
opponent deploys in similar fashion. This leaves one card in each
player’s hand as a sort of “reserve.”
Players reveal all their cards on the
battlefield, comparing cards matched up in the same locations: one’s
left flank to the other’s right flank, the center cards against
each other, and 0ne’s right flank to the other’s left flank. The
highest card captures the lower card in each contest (with face cards
valued at 11, 12, and 13 respectively, and aces worth 14). Before
anyone takes cards on the flanks, the player with the lower card may
play his reserve card and add its value to his card in the battle
line; but this flanking reserve card must either have the same suit
as one of the cards played to that location. For instance, Player A
plays the four of diamonds on his left flank opposing the seven of
clubs Player B deployed to his right flank; Player A needs to have a
card with diamonds or clubs to reinforce and increase his total,
presumably higher than the opponent’s card (like in the photo at
the top of this post). Cards deployed and captured at each position
go into the winner’s discard pile. Should any confrontations result
in a tie, each card on the line returns to the respective player’s
hand; reserve cards used to achieve tied values go into the discard
pile of the player who deployed them. The next turn players draw
enough cards from their deck to make a four-card hand (three cards
if they didn’t deploy reserves, four if they did).
The game ends when one player’s deck
runs out, resulting in one last deployment with the player possessing
fewer cards deploying them last (possibly having battlefield
positions without cards, which the opponent wins by default). Each
player counts their discard pile; the one with more cards wins the
battle.
There’s a little more room for
strategy than in “War” itself. Players have to evaluate their
four-card hand to determine what they want to play to the flanks,
where the reserve card might help them. After players reveal cards on
the battle line they have to determine if they want to play a flank
card based on their own cards or those their opponent plays to his
flanks. And both players must evaluate and try to second-guess their
opponent’s general deployment strategy (if any) within the limited
seven, eight, or nine turns enabled by the small deck sizes; does the
opponent tend to place strong cards in the center, or does he have
any rationale to playing certain cards to the flanks?
The only rule I’m waffling on is what
to do with tied cards in a battlefield location. Right now I think it
best for them to return to their respective players’ hands, giving
opponents a glimpse of what might come into play next turn. I’ve
considered keeping them on the battlefield but forcing players to
deploy them to different, non-opposed positions.
I’ve modified a few ways certain
mechanics in “War” work to better mold the game. Battle Lines
still retains elements like splitting the deck evenly between two
players, drawing cards from the top of that randomized deck, and
resolving combat by comparing the values of two cards. The
differences alter or evolve from parts of “War,” particularly
using a discard pile to determine the winner instead of feeding
captured and used cards back into the active draw deck, deploying
several cards at once against matched opponent cards, and using the
extra “reserve” card to sway individual battlefield contests in
one player’s favor.
So that’s my “War” inspired card
game you can run with a standard deck of playing cards. Give it a
try, offer some feedback (see the “Comments” boilerplate
below...) and I’ll see if it deserves some revision and publication
in some form or another, just for fun.
Comments....
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