Through a sequence of events so astonishingly ill-advised that nobody present can quite explain them (and everyone involved insists someone else started it) you have somehow managed to massively offend a Polar Bear.
In I Don't Have to Outrun the Polar Bear, I Just Have to Outrun You by David Court, two or more players use a standard deck of playing cards to simulate running away from a Polar Bear. There are no winners, only one loser. It's a fast game of bluffing, luck, treachery, and running away from a Polar Bear. It's absolutely bloomin' free and even comes with an optional expansion pack for hours* more fun and frolics.
* - minutes
You wait ages for a free printable tower defence style game with some interesting resource management mechanics, and then one comes along at once :) Did I say it was free?
Duskwatch: The Gloaming by David Court is a cooperative survival board game for between 1 and 4 players, where each and every decision will dictate who will survive the night. Players take the role of adventurers stranded at the heart of a forbidding forest as night falls. As sunlight fades, evil things approach – initially repelled by the campfire but gaining in confidence and power as the fires flicker and fade. As each hour draws to a close, there will be punishing decisions to make. Do the team heal themselves, change their combat strategy, or allow fatigued adventurers to rest? Do they let the campfire go out, or tend to it – keeping tougher enemies at bay at the expense of other more useful activities?
There are four counters and a "board" to print, and you'll need some handfuls of polyhedral die to represent the monsters you'll face and their health. I'd love to know what you think - if you had fun/hated it, if you've got any interesting ideas on how to take this further... Enjoy!
I've just finished playtesting and releasing a new physical dice and card game - Shellshocked by David Court - Based around the ancient schoolyard traditional of conker fights, it's a two player battler with a push-your-luck mechanism designed to be played in a few minutes between all of your proper games. It's free, only needs a handful of coloured dice and some printed cards, and is designed to have simple enough rules you'll remember once you've played it - and I'd love to know how you get on with it :)
