[INTERMEDIATE] Military Intelligence - Mod of a Game

MODULE 2 Side Quest

Let’s practice our ability to provide meaningful decision-making to players. We are going to make a mod of a game.
(This side quest is adapted from Challenge 6-1 in the Challenges text.)

Here are the basic rules for the children’s card game War:

  • Players: 2
  • Materials: one standard 52-card deck of playing cards (with Jokers removed)
  • Setup: Shuffle the deck of cards and deal out half to each player. Players take their cards in a single face-down stack.
  • Progression of Play: Simultaneously, players flip over the top card of their deck. If the cards are of unequal rank (number), the higher rank wins the “battle” and that player takes both cards and sets them aside in a discard pile (Aces are high, then King, Queen, Jack, then 10 down to 2). When a player runs out of cards in their deck, they take their discard pile and turn it over to form a new deck.
  • Wars: If players flip over cards that are equal rank, it starts a “war.” Players each deal three cards face-down, then flip up a new card face-up, and the higher rank of the new face-up card wins all face-down and face-up cards. This process is repeated if the new face-up cards are the same rank, continuing with additional “wars” until eventually one player wins.
  • Resolution: The game ends when one player runs out of cards, or when one player must play cards for a “war” but they do not have enough cards remaining in their deck and discard pile. That player loses the game, and their opponent wins.

This game has no decisions whatsoever. The game mechanically plays itself, and the players merely act as tools to play out the game to its pre-determined conclusion.

Change the rules so that the game outcome is determined primarily by skill, and that the game now has interesting, meaningful decisions.

After you have completed your challenge, post your commentary in the FORUMS. Tell us what you did and some of the challenges you faced during this side quest.

Feel free to read other student posts and offer constructive analysis and critique.

Please select the Side-quest folder when posting your initial post and use hashtags #MI and #Intermediate.