Bran Newton Games

Trick Taking

Blood Tricks (3-4 players, 45 minutes, ages 10+)

Status: Playtesting, Drafting Rulebook

A trick taking game for a standard 4 players in teams of 2 or for a variant game of 3 players competing individually.  Players must balance winning tricks with capturing cards using a blood type donor match mechanism.  The 4 player deck contains 36 cards in 3 suits and 16 masks of various blood types ranked 0 to 51.  The 3 player variant uses 27 cards and 12 masks.  A game consists of three rounds with 9 cards dealt to each player, 1 card discarded (“buried”), and the remaining 8 played in tricks.  Masks may be played to ward off donor match attempts.  Points are scored for trick winning cards, donor matched captured cards, and for captured masks, and are deducted for captured trick losing cards.  Bonuses apply for winning exactly the number of tricks as unplayed masks in hand at the end of a round, and for going “nolo” by successfully winning no tricks.

BLOOD TRICKS at ATX-Protospiel October 2023 (This game was designed and heavily tested and refined in the fall of 2022.  It plays well and stays interesting after many plays once all the rules are understood.  There are many interesting decisions and trade offs, and ways to adapt to the hands dealt.  The game has suffered from complexity in playtesting, especially for players unfamiliar with other trick taking games, and for some players who want a more casual trick taking experience.  To address these issues, I am working on a “Learning Game” where the 1st round only includes the core trick taking game rules, the 2nd round adds the donor match capture mechanism, and the 3rd round adds the masks.  In this way, players can learn the full game gradually, and the teaching can be adjusted to the audience.  This is a new idea, and needs testing and a teaching script / rulebook.)

Blood Tricks v10

Two Player Strategy

TRITH and TRIDE

Status: Playtesting, Proofreading, Final Design

This project consists of a pair of two-player abstract strategy games played with three colors, and a game set-up mechanic that insures each player only knows their own assigned color. Each player will score points according to their assigned color, while the remaining color is neutral. Since both players may place pieces of any of the three colors, the color assignments remain hidden, at least for awhile, adding opportunity for bluffing and increased strategic complexity. These games, TRITH and TRIDE, have entirely different boards and very different rules, but will use a common set of components. Two very challenging games in one box!

TRIDE at Gencon 2018 (This game is well tested, plays well, and remains interesting after dozens of plays.)

TRITH in development (This game of adding and flipping stacks of 2 or 3 tiles and changing island colors appears to be far deeper than TRIDE, and remains unfinished.  Issues include game length and the mechanical difficulty of repeatedly inverting stacks of tiles.  It does play well and move to a conclusion.)

Space Robots

FARBOTS

Status: Early Development (on Hold)

This project started with a game built around a programming mechanic to simulate the time delay between a team of robotic mission control specialists on Earth, and remote exploration ‘Bots on distant planets. In the FARBOTS series, this mechanic offers a risk vs. reward element as players must decide whether to forge ahead with multiple transmitted actions before receiving word back on the results of earlier moves. If you like exploration and puzzle solving, FARBOTS may appeal to you.