TROLDORA “mercantile troll simulator”for two players

AUTHORS: Created in 2015 for Tufts University’s Game Design Course by Cameron Seitzman, John Bradley, and David Taus

MATERIALS: Game board (a modified version of “circles and lines”, provided by P. Schuytema, GDC Design Visualization workshop), money (25 coins of value 1, 8 red crystals of value 5, and 8 white crystals of value 10), 2 player “Troll” pieces and 2 income tracks, 40 bridge control tokens (20 each of two different colors).

STORY:Welcome to the flourishing land of Troldor! This kingdom is made up of cities connected to each other by bridges. You are a troll merchant trying to make it big in a wild world. You must take controll of as many bridges as possible by crossing over them while moving from city to city.Once you have crossed a bridge, you collect its value as income every round. but in order to take control of a bridge, you need to pay the tariff to enter the city on the other side.Watch out, because your opponent can take control of the bridges that you own! But you can do the same thing to your opponent. It's a troll-eat-troll world!

SETUP:Each player receives 20 coins (5 pirate coins (worth 1), 1 red crystal (worth 5), 1 white crystal (worth 10)), as well as 20 bridge control tokens (differently colored for each player). Place each player’s income marker at the 0 marker on the income track, and their corresponding game piece on one of the two circles marked start. (Only one player may be on a given start location).

BASIC PLAY:Players must pay the cost of the circle they move to. By moving across a bridge, players take control of that bridge (replacing the other player’s ownership, if applicable). By owning bridges, players collect income from each controlled bridge every turn. The first player to collect 50 coins wins.

MAIN RULES:

  1. The player with the most money in their wallet goes first. If a player does not have a wallet, they automatically go last. If neither players have a wallet, arbitrarily decide who goes first.
  2. Every player starts the game on a starting location that the other player is not on.
  3. Taking turns, each player may choose cross a bridge. In order to cross a bridge, a player must pay the cost on the circle they are moving into (continue at step 4). A player has the option not to cross any bridges on their turn, and instead stay where they are (continue at step 5). Players may not enter a circle another player is occupying.
  4. By crossing a bridge, a player gains control of that bridge. Place that player’s bridge control token on the bridge.
  5. If an opponent already owned the bridge, crossing the bridge costs an additional coin. Remove the opponent’s bridge control token, and move their income marker down the value of the bridge.
  6. Move the player’s income marker up by the number of lines on the bridge.
  7. If a player takes control of a bridge and has no more remaining bridge control tokens, they should use something else to keep track.
  8. Once has crossed a bridge or elected not to move, the player’s turn is over. The next player then takes their turn. After both players have taken a turn, the round is over.
  9. At the beginning of the next round, each player collects their income (a number of coins equal to their position on the income track). The player that went last in the previous round goes first in this round.
  10. The game ends as soon as one player holds 50 coins. If both players hold 50 coins at the same time, the player with the most coins wins.

TROLDOR: Board

TROLDOR: