MARS NEEDS COWS

[Cazmonster]

I've had to shelve STRANDED, ON PLANET SEVEN! for a while because it was getting more, not less complex.

Now, I have the basis of a cow collecting board game. I will get it typed up yet today, I hope. I need to get it prototyped so I can start playing.

[Cazmonster]

Objective: Abduct cows and trick out your flying saucer with upgrades from the Mother Ship
Players: 2 to 4
Play Time: 30 to 60 minutes
Ages 8+

Components:
Game Board
4 Flying Saucer Tokens
8 Alien Power Dice
4 Farmer Dice
4 Men in Black Dice
52 Cow Tokens
Cow Cup
10 Farmer Tokens
6 Men in Black Tokens
Human Cup
30 Mission Cards
20 Upgrade Cards
Round Indicator Wheel.

Edited to add components I talk about later.

[Eliahad]

I am already intrigued.

[Cazmonster]

Thanks Eli - I'm happy for the feedback.

Setting Up the Game
Lay out the game board.
Put the Cows into the Cows cup.
Put the Farmers into the Humans cup.
Shuffle the mission cards. Each player takes one mission card.
Shuffle the upgrade cards. Each player now takes one upgrade card.

Going First.
Each player rolls 3 Alien Dice. The player who gets the most alien power symbols goes first. Play then proceeds to the left.

I'm debating whether the game board is a static set of nine squares or nine separate tiles that can be set up each game.

[Eliahad]

Have you seen the tiles for Battle Sheep? They might be good for prototyping purposes...

[Cazmonster]

I will check them out. Right now, there's a central barn and eight outlying pastures. The barn will generate more cows, but they are harder to abduct from there.

[Cazmonster]

HA! There's a mobile puzzle game that's completely different called MARS NEEDS COWS! We'll see what happens.

[Eliahad]

Ha, indeed!

[Cazmonster]

The desperate meeple farmers and MIB line up to keep their precious multicolor d6 cows safe from the COWNAPPERS FROM OUTER SPACE!

[Eliahad]

Go Meeple! Go!

[Cazmonster]

From here, I need to mock up my play surface, write up the cards and I can playtest!

[Cazmonster]

Playing the Game.
To start each Round, roll a die for each pasture and add that many cows from the cow cup. For every 4 cows on a pasture, add 1 farmer. For the Barn Pasture, roll 2 dice and add as many cows as the better result.

If you don't like the Mission Card you have, you can trade it for one from the mission pile. After everyone trades for new cards, reshuffle the misison deck.
--------------------------------------------------

Each player gets a turn where they can take 3 actions. The actions are Move, Control and Abduct. You can take any actions in any order you would like.

Move - move your saucer to any adjacent pasture. You can move diagonally.

Control - If there are humans in the pasture with your saucer, you can roll to control them. Roll your Alien Power Dice. On a 3 or better you get a success. On a 6 you another Alien Power Die. To move a farmer, you need one success. To move a Man in Black, you need two successes.

Once you control a human, you can move them one pasture. Humans can not be moved diagonally. You can move humans off the board and out of the game. If you move a farmer off the board, replace him with a man in black. If you move a man in black off the board, put him back in the human cup.

Abduct - If there are cows in the pasture with your saucer, you can abduct them. Roll your Alien Power Dice. Roll one farmer die for every farmer in the same pasture. Roll two MIB dice for every MIB in the same pasture. On a 3 or better you abduct one cow of your choice. On a roll of 6, you roll another Alien Power Die. On farmer dice of a roll of 5 or better, one of your abduction dice is ignored. On a MIB roll of 4 or 5, one of your abduction dice is ignored. On a MIB roll of 6, you lose one of your abducted cows you have yet to turn in.

Your Saucer can hold 8 cows at at time.

Turning in Missions - as soon as you complete a mission, take an upgrade card and return the cows for that mission to the cow cup. Also, take a new mission.
------------------------------------------------
At the end of the Round, push the Round indicator forward. When you start the new round, subtract the number on the round indicator from the number on the die you roll to add more cows.

[Cazmonster]

End of the Game

At the end of the 6th turn, total up the victory points from your missions. The person with the most victory points wins!

[Mike]

That seems pretty straight up. Now show me dice and cards and details. I'm in.

[Cazmonster]

Okay - so the dice are just in the rules for now.

Alien Power Dice with 2 blank faces, 3 'abduction' faces that look like wifi symbols and one 'alien' face.

Farmer Dice with 4 blank faces and 2 'detected' faces that look like somebody pointing up.

Men in Black Dice with 3 blank faces, 2 'detected' faces and one 'MIB' face that looks like sunglasses.

The Cards
30 MISSION CARDS
4 - Collect Any 4 Cows (1 VP)
2 - Collect 4 Brown Cows (3 VP)
2 - Collect 4 Spotted Cows (3 VP)
2 - Collect 4 White Cows (3 VP)
2 - Collect 4 Black Cows (3 VP)
2 - Collect 4 Red Cows (3 VP)
1 - Collect 2 Purple Cows (4 VP)
2 - Mind Control 2 Farmers off the board (2 VP)
2 - Mind Control 1 Man in Black off the board (3 VP)
4 - Collect Any 2 Pairs of Cows (2 VP)
1 - Collect 2 Black Cows and 2 Brown Cows (3 VP)
1 - Collect 2 Spotted Cows and 2 White Cows (3 VP)
1 - Collect 2 Red Cows and 2 Brown Cows (3 VP)
1 - Collect 2 Black Cows and 2 White Cows (3 VP)
1 - Collect 2 Red Cows and 2 Black Cows (3 VP)
1 - Collect 2 Spotted Cows and 2 Brown Cows (3 VP)
1 - Collect 2 Red Cows and 2 White Cows (3 VP)

20 UPGRADE CARDS
1 - Hyperspace Paddock - Your Saucer can hold 10 Cows
2 - Warp Drive - Move to any other pasture as a Move Action
1 - Tuned Engines - Move for free once per Turn
1 - Buzz the Field - Move a Cow into the pasture that you leave
2 - Improved Tractor Beam - Roll an extra Alien Power Die when you Abduct Cows.
1 - Grabbiton Beam - Move a Cow from an adjacent pasture to your pasture once per Turn.
1 - Genetic Experiment - Exchange a Cow in your saucer for a Cow from the Cup once per Turn.
2 - Improved Mental Powers - Roll an extra Alien Power Die when you Mind Control Humans.
1 - Reserve Power - Reroll a failed Alien Power Die when you Abduct Cows.
1 - Swamp Gas Emitter - Ignore the result from one Man In Black Die when you Abduct Cows.
1 - Cloaking Device - Ignore the result from one Farmer Die when you Abduct Cows.
2 - Fast Abduction - Once per turn, if you roll a 6 on an Alien Power Die when you Abduct Cows, you get an extra action.
1 - Extended Mind Control - You can move a Human 2 Pastures after you Mind Control them.
1 - High Output Transmogrifier - You can turn a Human into a Cow when you Mind Control Humans.
2 - Fast Mind Control - Once per turn, if you roll a 6 on an Alien Power Die when you Mind Control Humans, you get an extra action.

[Cazmonster]

Okay, I have a google doc with the rules all in one place. If anyone would like to be able to comment on it, please PM your email address to me.

[Eliahad]

2 thoughts that I had:

Mission: Full Set - One of each kind of cow. (4 or 5?) I imagine it would be tricky.

Which led me to...

Abducting humans...could this also be a thing, albeit difficult. And gives you a short term advantage of some kind? "I just know they're going to probe my anus."

[Mike]

Okay. With the rules and the descriptions above, I think I have everything I need to play. Except the board. What does the board look like?

[Cazmonster]

The board is nine squares with the barn in the center square.

[Mike]

Easy peasy.

I've got a Boy Scout game night this Saturday, but I don't think I'll have time to make all the pieces by then. But I'll get it for the next regular game night.