Carcassonne Central

I hope users do not mind this being posted here.

Here is another spin-off type game that I am currently developing, although it is strictly not a Carcassonne spin-off. This community has been very good at assisting and inputting ideas, which I value greatly, and so I am posting the original draft rules and pictures to P.O.B, my new tile laying game.

Since developing Beneath Cragmist Castle, I have been exploring other methods of movement across tiles. This is the result of one of those avenues. I actually prefer P.O.B to Beneath Cragmist Castle.

Draft P.O.B rules (http://www.acaciagames.co.uk/POB/POB.pdf)

Ok, first off, P.O.B is a tile laying taxi game currently being developed for 2-4 players (although I am sure it can easily support more players). It is played using square tiles that are larger than Carcassonne tiles (50mm). Beneath Cragmist Castle used hexagons. P.O.B is an acronym for 'Passenger on Board', a common term used by taxi drivers. It uses UK road rules (i.e. drive on left). The object (at the moment) is to collect 5 passengers and return to the Taxi Rank. The Taxi Rank is also the starting tile.



The tiles are roads with features such as Zebra Crossings, Junctions, Stop Lines etc. Here are some of the draft game components (although different wooden cars have been purchased, and tiles have been slightly modified to incorporate some new features that are explained in the rules).



I would love some feedback regarding this, so feel free to comment, etc. I am having difficulties regarding the Three Point Turn rule, which is why it is highlighted in red in the pdf, so any suggestions regarding how to do this, would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks.

I'm confused about the Taxi Bay. Is there no picture of it?

Can a passenger be deployed to a roundabout tile?
Can a roadwork marker be deployed to a roundabout tile?

Thanks for your input Scott.

The rules are only at very basic stage at present. Eventually, all of the features will be depicted and explained. To give you an idea, here is a draft version of the Taxi Bay tile to give you some idea:

(http://www.acaciagames.co.uk/POB/2_way_taxi_stop3_mini.gif)

I have several versions of this tile idea, some with off road bays, where taxis must stop if the bay is empty, but do not have to stop if bay is occupied. Not sure if I should implement the taxi bay or not.

Other tiles are single and double yellow lines. These are mainly for straight and bend road tiles so to depict where taxis must stop if picking up passengers, but taxis are not forced to stop on the tile. The Junction has been redone (as depicted in the Rules) with yellow Junction Box art.

(http://www.acaciagames.co.uk/POB/POB_selection.gif)

I have started on the Roadworks explaination in a new version of the rules this afternoon. The roadworks on the roundabout have not been thought about as yet, but as for the passenger... well, at present it is allowed, mainly to be consistant with the 5 consecutive passenger deployment phase, but this could be changed as I can see that it would be strange to pick up a passenger on a roundabout.

I am also toying with the idea that once one player has begun deployment of passengers all other players must follow, but this is an idea that could be playtested and kept if it is felt better.

As I said, my biggest difficulty is the Three Point Turn rule... I really do not know how to implement it. It has to be there... but it could well be a major advantage and make the roundabouts almost redundant.

I'm not sure if I even get the 3 point turn thing.  In simple language, is this basically doing a U-turn on a straight stretch of road, the goal being to head back in the opposite direction?

Yes, sorry Gantry. It's a UK label :)

What do others call the manoeuvre in their respective countries?

As far as I'm aware, there is no specific word for it in German. We simply speak of "turning around". ;D

The tiles look interesting, although the thought of having to drive on the left side of the road makes me shudder (I had enough trouble not to get driven over as a pedestrian in the UK since I kept looking the wrong way...). ;)

U-turn. Or, well, if you want it in Swedish it is U-sväng :) (One can also talk of "en 180" (an 180), but I am not sure how common it is).

I've just been told by a friend that there IS a German word for this: Dreipunktwendung (literally "three point turn"). Sounds to me like something straight out of a driving instructor's rule book. Anyway, I stand corrected. :)

I think I have solved the three point turn problem. A three point turn is allowed as long as the player is on a tile on the outer perimeter of the playing area and there is no other roads leading off in the direction of travel from the tile concerned. If all players are in agreement, the 3 point turn (U turn) is allowed regardless of tile type (i.e. a 'U' turn in this case is allowed at a junction).

Here in Canada it is called three-point-turn, but the line between three-point-turn and u-turn is very blurry. U-turns are illegal in my part of the country (but legal everywhere else AFAIK). I think for this reason nobody around here does a three-point-turn after their road test. I couldn't remember how to do one on my road test; luckily the examiner didn't fault me for it.

I have now recieved the wooden cars and passengers. Here are some more images.


You can see the brown Roadwork markers blocking off routes. They can be laid either across both carriageways or only on one carriageway. Each player recieves one Roadwork marker at the start of the game.

This is beginning to look interesting.  The plates also remind me of Lego road plates, e.g. this (http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=6321-1) and this (http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=6322-1).  It's a pity there's no roundabout plate.  The plus side though, is that if you wanted signs, well, there's this (http://brickset.com/detail/?Set=6427-1).

That is what a friend of mine said as I ran through the gameplay with him :)

With all the work now done on the basic rules it is time to move on and see if this can be added to. I have purchased several houses (similar to Settlers settlement houses) which I was going to use for destination claim markers, but I am not really sure if I should add destinations to the game. The idea being that as well as picking up your 5 passengers, you would also have to visit 2 or 3 destinations. It might not work and it might make it more complicated (something which the expansion could add ;) ).

Edit: Spelling

Well, I think you're both right, but you're talking about different things.  There is a difference between a 3 point turn and a U turn.  A 3 point turn is required when the road is not wide enough to make a continuous U turn without stopping.  This way you have to turn, stop, back up, and turn some more.  I the states, a lot of people call this a "K" turn. 

Interesting to learn all these global driving manoeuvres.  Back in the day when I was driving my muscle cars I would have just gunned the motor and let the rear-wheel drive turn the car around on the spot  :)

I like that version better!   ;D  It's also fun to do that in reverse with a front-wheel-drive car!

The way my Mom drives, we call it the ten-point turn.