Well, OK, but just what pieces are in this piecepack to include in the design? Can materials not in the piecepack be used? At what ratio?

Just wondering, is there a limit to the number of entries an individual can submit?

Well, OK, but just what pieces are in this piecepack to include in the design? Can materials not in the piecepack be used? At what ratio?

Those wishing to participate in ToyVault's Pile of piecepack game design contest must submit the complete rules for an original game to be played using either a single piecepack four-suit (Crowns, Fleur de Lis, Suns, Moons) set, or two such sets. All games submitted must be completely original designs, not appearing in any previously published collection of piecepack game rules in any format - either electronically or in print. Games requiring any additional materials other than one or two piecepack sets will not be considered for purposes of this contest.

Winners will be selected entirely at the ToyVault staff's discretion and opinion of "best games." ToyVault will select the top 12 (twelve) game designs of those received. The designers of these games will each receive 1 (one) free copy of ToyVault's initial production of piecepack, and honorable mention on ToyVault's product page for piecepack.

Of the winning entries, ToyVault will select up to 10 (ten) single-set designs, and up to 1 (one) double-set design for as Grand Prize winners. These entries will be included in the published rulebook included in ToyVault's initial production of piecepack, containing a single 4 suit piecepack set featuring Suns, Moons, Fleur de Lis and Crowns. The Grand Prize winning designers' names will be featured in the rulebook and on the product page for piecepack on ToyVault.com. Additionally, each Grand Prize winning designer will be awarded 12 (twelve) copies of ToyVault's initial production of piecepack.

For games designed by multiple designers, it is the responsibility of the individual designers to divide their prizes amongst themselves.

All winners will be announced on BGDF.com, BoardGameGeek.com, and ToyVault.com.

All entries must be postmarked no later than February 28th, 2010, and received no later than March 12th. No electronic submissions will be considered. Limit 2 entries per person. ToyVault is not responsible for lost or misdirected mail.

Both of these questions were answered in the official rules section of the entry form.

If only that link actually brought something up on my computer, I might know that. I have no program its compatible with. It must be a new version DOC. Strange to not put up a PDF.

two questions:

will pawns and dice have direction markings?

i realize the rules say no additional materials, but would that also disqualify rules that say the user will need "a pencil and paper to keep score with"?

The ToyVault set will have directionally distinguishable faces. The backs of the tiles will feature a 4-space checkerboard pattern. The checkerboard pattern is slightly non-standard, but was thought by some within the company to make the 4-space area a bit easier to use - especially when used to make larger areas.

Can you imagine how those maps would look with the uneven checkerboard patterns?

That's why I think it's best to make all the squares the same way, as in these cases the board looks much cleaner and clearer, and after all, this is a game system, so it's best not to make assumptions about how people will be arranging the tiles on the table...

One problem with checkerboard patterns is that when you lay down face-down tiles to make a board, these are not always lined up. Many games use patterns where tiles are placed with an offset of one square, and in those cases the checkerboard pattern is messed. See these images as an example of what I mean:





Can you imagine how those maps would look with the uneven checkerboard patterns?

Assume you have a checkered pattern, and the "marked corner" on the face aligns with a black corner on the back. Now you can quickly tell if the tile is oriented with the "marked corner" turned 90 degrees, as the back will have a white corner in the top left. You have reduced the number of possible "hidden" orientations in half.

Just as an example, I slapped together a shaded-checkerboard version of one of the boards you linked to:

Only if the backs are consistently aligned on the same axis as the fronts. This need not be true. Some of the backs could be rotated 90 degrees, thus obscuring the information you describe. Certainly, on an individual tile, the alignment would remain consistent, but if you already know the value and suit of a tile, then you likely also already know its alignment. Unless, of course, the game you're playing doesn't take directional alignments into consideration.

My initial piecepack design included the checkered pattern as well, I have come around for two reasons: the one you mention, plus, the orientation of an inverted tile is less "hidden".