Post by mainstreet on Sept 16, 2020 5:20:50 GMT
On September 14, 2020, Wizards released this group of minigames.
These are actually interesting. There are two implicit assumptions made in this announcement: that these are intended offline or face-to-face in some way. I am going to examine each game and discuss discuss if it works on WyvernIRC.
Game #1: Base Race
Take 3 packs of cards, give one basic land to each player, then shuffle the packs together (minus any remaining DFCs and lands) and deal out 11 cards to each player. Then each player sets their 12 cards into a 4x3 grid, and you play a sort of Stratego-like battle, the goal being to reveal the opponent's land. (Comment: We don't really need to even go to 3 packs: 2 is enough, unless there are too many DFCs/lands. I suppose the 3rd pack is just to make sure you have enough cards that qualify.)
Does this work on WyvernIRC?
Maybe? There are two problems here: there's not really a great way to simulate packs and distribute them without everyone knowing the cards... there is an aspect of hidden information that is lost? I suspect we would need to slightly modify the game to work. The other issue is that the 4x3 grid is not easy to simulate per se, but there are probably ways we could make this work.
My modification proposal: Each player obtains 2 packs, removes any DFCs and lands after the first basic, then shuffles up and draws 11. The board would still need to be worked out, but is manageable, and more importantly this would solve the issue of the flow of information.
Game #2: Booster Blitz
Take a pack of cards, and split them into 4 piles of three cards each. Then play Magic with one pile at a time at 5 life, no loss of game for empty library draws, and infinite mana. First to 2 wins, wins the match.
Does this work on WyvernIRC? Yes. Easily simulated with sealed generator and dropping the list into tappedout, grabbing the whole deck, and splitting the cards up as you please. Roll dice to pick piles.
Game #3: Booster Sleuth
This is basically Mastermind with a pack of Magic cards. But you end the match after each player goes once; which makes sense in real life.
Does this work on WyvernIRC?
I will say technically yes. You can open a pack and provide someone a list of the cards you didn't pick. The problem is that this game has design problems which make this a game I don't really like in general, so I'm unlikely to want to play it. First, there is a MASSIVE advantage to being Detective second in most cases with only a single round of guessing per game. This advantage goes away a fair bit if the game is modified so multiple rounds are needed for a match, though. Second, your ability to win this game is HIGHLY dependent on your knowledge of what's in the set. Asymmetric play is a HUGE concern here. Perhaps people should have set lists with all relevant info handy for lookup?
Game #4: Roil Royale
Take a pack of cards, put them face down, then around the table people reveal them and stuff happens. Comment: Using other packs than those from Zendikar is a flavor fail to be sure, though you can technically use any pack that has a land in it.
Does this work on WyvernIRC?
Theoretically maybe, but in practice, for now, no. There's no way to handle the information disparity, unless either all the cards are controlled by a neutral Dungeon Master like player, but who wants to spend their time technically not playing the game like that... or we can program a bot to do it for us. This is actually possible, but I'm not going to prioritize this.
Game #5: Strictly Better
With 3-6 players, each with their own pack of cards, take turns determining the best available card for each category as determined, in the style of such games as Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples.
Does this work on WyvernIRC?
As before, theoretically maybe, but in practice, for now, no. We'd definitely need to create a bot to facilitate this to hide the knowledge of who submitted what card. This is feasible, as there are bots that can run CAH itself, but we would need to have such a thing to make it work, and it's not something we currently have, nor am I willing to prioritize such. This would be an even lower priority than the other bot, though the tech is probably closer to working for this.
So there it is. Out of five games, two, maybe three, can be made to work on WyvernIRC without improved technology. The others can work if we get a bot to facilitate, but that bot is effectively required, and we don't have it now. (That doesn't mean I want to play all of these, though.)
Update: More Games!
More games have come out since then, as posted by GoldenSandslash below. I will assess these now. WyvernIRC is technically gone, but IRC itself is still around, so I will just say "IRC" in general.
Game #6: Careful Study
Open a pack and remove lands. Then each player (or team) puts a card face down. You examine your card for 30 seconds, then hand it off to the opposing team. They ask you questions about it, and you get a point for each question you get right. The more points a team gets wins.
Does this work on IRC?
No. Logs are able to be referenced. This sort of game is just not possible through the platform.
Game #7: Winchester Draft
Literally the classic Winchester Draft. A draft involving six packs, where you pick from one of four piles, with a card getting added each time to every non-picked pile.
Does this work on IRC?
It would take a bit of effort, but almost. Technically you're not supposed to know what's in the stack before it flips up, but if you can accept that the total pool is known, fine. You can roll dice to determine what cards get added to each pile. Honestly though it's probably better on IRC to just run a traditional draft on TappedOut with 6 bots.
Game #8: Dominarioes
Try to see how many cards you can "connect" with a specific set of rules. Since this is a single-player game, there's no real need for further comment. Arguably this can be turned into a 2-player game by each person doing it then comparing how good they did, but this seems pointless.
Game #9: Foraging Squirrels
Deal 2 packs into a 5x5 grid. Take an art card (or really just any marking device) and take turns. On a turn, you name a color (or colorless) and a direction, and move spaces in that direction until you hit the first card that doesn't match the named color. You get 1 point for each card collected. You get a bonus point if you have the most foils, rares/mythics, unique colors, or squirrel-art-containing cards. Once during the game, if it's not your first turn, you can "dig" to an empty spot before starting your turn.
Does this work on IRC?
It does. Open the packs, set the grid, and just declare moves. No real problems here. (Maybe use a pastebin to write up the initial grid, which is probably determined through a randomizing tool.)
Game #10: Mishra's Manufactory
Open one pack per player, shuffle, and turn over four cards. These four form a conveyor belt. Players take turns drafting cards, with the goal of having the most colors, and the most cards of each color (considering 'colorless' to be a sixth color). To draft from spots 3 or 4 on the belt, you must discard a card. At the end, each player gets 3 points for 'winning' a color and 2 points for coming in second. They also get 2 points for having 4 colors, 4 for having 5, and 6 for having 6. Multicolor cards must be declared which color they are upon being drafted. Lands are wild and can be picked as any color; but again, must be chosen on draft and this cannot be changed.
Does this work on IRC?
Not really. Technically this could work on the same restriction as the Winchester Draft, but here I think knowing what is coming completely destroys the playability of the game. It becomes very obvious what the correct targets are and it becomes monotonous.
Game #11: Urza's Blueprints
One pack per player, shuffled face down. Deal 5 cards to each player. Each player draws and discards one card each turn to improve their hand, in an effort to complete one of the three blueprints (described at the end). Once they have completed a blueprint, they declare it built, discard their hand, and draw five cards. The first player to construct all three blueprints wins. If the deck exhausts, the discard pile becomes the deck.
The three blueprints are Mine (five cards with different card types), Power Plant (one card of each color, multicolor cards can count as any color they have, lands are colorless and can't be used for this blueprint), and Tower (five cards with different mana values).
Does this work on IRC?
Currently, no. If we made a bot that could handle this sort of hand-deck play, then yes. (The UnoBot already does this, so it's not unheard of.) (I also am suspicious of the implicit guarantee that these blueprints *can* always be built. I feel that it's probably not *that* uncommon to end up in an impossible situation, but this isn't a problem limited to IRC.)
Game #12: Totally Lost in Translation
For competitive play, this game requires 4 players. It can be done cooperatively with less, though, but then there's no competition. Each team rotates the position of Interpreter, who draws a card without showing it to anyone, rolls a d20, picks the relevant clue to give (I'm not listing them, they're down there), and then reveals six cards, one of which is the card. If the team guesses correctly, they get a point. This continues for six rounds (each time, remove the card that was 'correct' from the pack).
Does this work on IRC?
Yes, though each Interpreter needs their own pack so they don't reveal cards to someone else before it's time to do so.
Game #13: Magic and Minions
This is basically a stripped-down version of using Magic cards to randomly generate characters and play a simplified version of D&D. There's really no point in commenting further on this from the IRC perspective: you're better off just running a short D&D campaign with pre-rolled characters. This is just bad.
Game #14: Mimic Match
Take 2 packs, make sure there are exactly 2 lands (remove excess lands), and shuffle. Then deal cards in a 4x4 grid face-down. Players take turns looking at pairs of cards. If they are the same color (or are both colorless), they reveal them and take them, earning 1 point, placing more cards face down if available. If they are not the same, then they put them back face down and play passes. (For the purposes of this game, the 2 lands are the 'mimics' and are not considered any color, nor are they 'colorless' -- they are the mimics.) The game ends when both mimics are claimed, and those are worth 2 points each.
Does this work on IRC?
No. I don't think I could even make a bot to handle this. The information flow is just too complex. If someone else was able to make a bot to handle this, then great, maybe we can use it. As it is, no.
Game #15: Roll for Initiative!
Shuffle a pack and deal it out so each player has the same number of cards. (Multiple packs for groups of 5 or more players.) Each player rolls a d20, this is their starting 'initiative'. Cards can be played and have effects based on their color (see effects list in published card below). Each player, starting with the lowest 'initiative', takes turns playing cards. Once all cards are played, the highest 'initiative' wins.
Does this work on IRC?
Sort of. This is again something where public info is a concern, but the game is probably manageable even if everyone knows what everyone's cards are.
Game #16: Day vs. Night
Basically a more complex version of Rock-Paper-Scissors with a pack of Magic cards. (Exact rules are below.)
Does this work on IRC?
No. It's dependent on information flow management. You can't really do RPS over chat without bot assistance, and this is no different.
Game #17: Into the Story: Horror Edition
Players tell a story following specific rules using the magic cards. Then all players vote on various categories of "best" story to determine the winner.
Does this work on IRC?
Yes. Dice rolls can simulate "top card" in the piles.
Game #18: Monster of the Week
Use a pack with double-faced creatures. Use the rest of the pack to fight the double-faced creature. You have 20 life, zero cards, you generate a Treasure every turn, you win if you defeat the creature on both sides, and you lose if you lose all your life or by deckout.
Does this work on IRC? N/A really. It's a 1-player game, there's no need to communicate for it.
Game #19: Vampire Wedding Planner
Each player takes 1 card that represents the wedding theme. You pass cards around, rummy style, and try to get the best set of cards that fits the theme: points are scored for matching the color or mana value, or if the card is foil, an artifact, or a land (for a maximum of 1 land). The most points wins.
Does this work on IRC?
Not without a bot programmed to help. There's not really a good way to manage the draw pile without one.
These are actually interesting. There are two implicit assumptions made in this announcement: that these are intended offline or face-to-face in some way. I am going to examine each game and discuss discuss if it works on WyvernIRC.
Game #1: Base Race
Take 3 packs of cards, give one basic land to each player, then shuffle the packs together (minus any remaining DFCs and lands) and deal out 11 cards to each player. Then each player sets their 12 cards into a 4x3 grid, and you play a sort of Stratego-like battle, the goal being to reveal the opponent's land. (Comment: We don't really need to even go to 3 packs: 2 is enough, unless there are too many DFCs/lands. I suppose the 3rd pack is just to make sure you have enough cards that qualify.)
Does this work on WyvernIRC?
Maybe? There are two problems here: there's not really a great way to simulate packs and distribute them without everyone knowing the cards... there is an aspect of hidden information that is lost? I suspect we would need to slightly modify the game to work. The other issue is that the 4x3 grid is not easy to simulate per se, but there are probably ways we could make this work.
My modification proposal: Each player obtains 2 packs, removes any DFCs and lands after the first basic, then shuffles up and draws 11. The board would still need to be worked out, but is manageable, and more importantly this would solve the issue of the flow of information.
Game #2: Booster Blitz
Take a pack of cards, and split them into 4 piles of three cards each. Then play Magic with one pile at a time at 5 life, no loss of game for empty library draws, and infinite mana. First to 2 wins, wins the match.
Does this work on WyvernIRC? Yes. Easily simulated with sealed generator and dropping the list into tappedout, grabbing the whole deck, and splitting the cards up as you please. Roll dice to pick piles.
Game #3: Booster Sleuth
This is basically Mastermind with a pack of Magic cards. But you end the match after each player goes once; which makes sense in real life.
Does this work on WyvernIRC?
I will say technically yes. You can open a pack and provide someone a list of the cards you didn't pick. The problem is that this game has design problems which make this a game I don't really like in general, so I'm unlikely to want to play it. First, there is a MASSIVE advantage to being Detective second in most cases with only a single round of guessing per game. This advantage goes away a fair bit if the game is modified so multiple rounds are needed for a match, though. Second, your ability to win this game is HIGHLY dependent on your knowledge of what's in the set. Asymmetric play is a HUGE concern here. Perhaps people should have set lists with all relevant info handy for lookup?
Game #4: Roil Royale
Take a pack of cards, put them face down, then around the table people reveal them and stuff happens. Comment: Using other packs than those from Zendikar is a flavor fail to be sure, though you can technically use any pack that has a land in it.
Does this work on WyvernIRC?
Theoretically maybe, but in practice, for now, no. There's no way to handle the information disparity, unless either all the cards are controlled by a neutral Dungeon Master like player, but who wants to spend their time technically not playing the game like that... or we can program a bot to do it for us. This is actually possible, but I'm not going to prioritize this.
Game #5: Strictly Better
With 3-6 players, each with their own pack of cards, take turns determining the best available card for each category as determined, in the style of such games as Cards Against Humanity or Apples to Apples.
Does this work on WyvernIRC?
As before, theoretically maybe, but in practice, for now, no. We'd definitely need to create a bot to facilitate this to hide the knowledge of who submitted what card. This is feasible, as there are bots that can run CAH itself, but we would need to have such a thing to make it work, and it's not something we currently have, nor am I willing to prioritize such. This would be an even lower priority than the other bot, though the tech is probably closer to working for this.
So there it is. Out of five games, two, maybe three, can be made to work on WyvernIRC without improved technology. The others can work if we get a bot to facilitate, but that bot is effectively required, and we don't have it now. (That doesn't mean I want to play all of these, though.)
Update: More Games!
More games have come out since then, as posted by GoldenSandslash below. I will assess these now. WyvernIRC is technically gone, but IRC itself is still around, so I will just say "IRC" in general.
Game #6: Careful Study
Open a pack and remove lands. Then each player (or team) puts a card face down. You examine your card for 30 seconds, then hand it off to the opposing team. They ask you questions about it, and you get a point for each question you get right. The more points a team gets wins.
Does this work on IRC?
No. Logs are able to be referenced. This sort of game is just not possible through the platform.
Game #7: Winchester Draft
Literally the classic Winchester Draft. A draft involving six packs, where you pick from one of four piles, with a card getting added each time to every non-picked pile.
Does this work on IRC?
It would take a bit of effort, but almost. Technically you're not supposed to know what's in the stack before it flips up, but if you can accept that the total pool is known, fine. You can roll dice to determine what cards get added to each pile. Honestly though it's probably better on IRC to just run a traditional draft on TappedOut with 6 bots.
Game #8: Dominarioes
Try to see how many cards you can "connect" with a specific set of rules. Since this is a single-player game, there's no real need for further comment. Arguably this can be turned into a 2-player game by each person doing it then comparing how good they did, but this seems pointless.
Game #9: Foraging Squirrels
Deal 2 packs into a 5x5 grid. Take an art card (or really just any marking device) and take turns. On a turn, you name a color (or colorless) and a direction, and move spaces in that direction until you hit the first card that doesn't match the named color. You get 1 point for each card collected. You get a bonus point if you have the most foils, rares/mythics, unique colors, or squirrel-art-containing cards. Once during the game, if it's not your first turn, you can "dig" to an empty spot before starting your turn.
Does this work on IRC?
It does. Open the packs, set the grid, and just declare moves. No real problems here. (Maybe use a pastebin to write up the initial grid, which is probably determined through a randomizing tool.)
Game #10: Mishra's Manufactory
Open one pack per player, shuffle, and turn over four cards. These four form a conveyor belt. Players take turns drafting cards, with the goal of having the most colors, and the most cards of each color (considering 'colorless' to be a sixth color). To draft from spots 3 or 4 on the belt, you must discard a card. At the end, each player gets 3 points for 'winning' a color and 2 points for coming in second. They also get 2 points for having 4 colors, 4 for having 5, and 6 for having 6. Multicolor cards must be declared which color they are upon being drafted. Lands are wild and can be picked as any color; but again, must be chosen on draft and this cannot be changed.
Does this work on IRC?
Not really. Technically this could work on the same restriction as the Winchester Draft, but here I think knowing what is coming completely destroys the playability of the game. It becomes very obvious what the correct targets are and it becomes monotonous.
Game #11: Urza's Blueprints
One pack per player, shuffled face down. Deal 5 cards to each player. Each player draws and discards one card each turn to improve their hand, in an effort to complete one of the three blueprints (described at the end). Once they have completed a blueprint, they declare it built, discard their hand, and draw five cards. The first player to construct all three blueprints wins. If the deck exhausts, the discard pile becomes the deck.
The three blueprints are Mine (five cards with different card types), Power Plant (one card of each color, multicolor cards can count as any color they have, lands are colorless and can't be used for this blueprint), and Tower (five cards with different mana values).
Does this work on IRC?
Currently, no. If we made a bot that could handle this sort of hand-deck play, then yes. (The UnoBot already does this, so it's not unheard of.) (I also am suspicious of the implicit guarantee that these blueprints *can* always be built. I feel that it's probably not *that* uncommon to end up in an impossible situation, but this isn't a problem limited to IRC.)
Game #12: Totally Lost in Translation
For competitive play, this game requires 4 players. It can be done cooperatively with less, though, but then there's no competition. Each team rotates the position of Interpreter, who draws a card without showing it to anyone, rolls a d20, picks the relevant clue to give (I'm not listing them, they're down there), and then reveals six cards, one of which is the card. If the team guesses correctly, they get a point. This continues for six rounds (each time, remove the card that was 'correct' from the pack).
Does this work on IRC?
Yes, though each Interpreter needs their own pack so they don't reveal cards to someone else before it's time to do so.
Game #13: Magic and Minions
This is basically a stripped-down version of using Magic cards to randomly generate characters and play a simplified version of D&D. There's really no point in commenting further on this from the IRC perspective: you're better off just running a short D&D campaign with pre-rolled characters. This is just bad.
Game #14: Mimic Match
Take 2 packs, make sure there are exactly 2 lands (remove excess lands), and shuffle. Then deal cards in a 4x4 grid face-down. Players take turns looking at pairs of cards. If they are the same color (or are both colorless), they reveal them and take them, earning 1 point, placing more cards face down if available. If they are not the same, then they put them back face down and play passes. (For the purposes of this game, the 2 lands are the 'mimics' and are not considered any color, nor are they 'colorless' -- they are the mimics.) The game ends when both mimics are claimed, and those are worth 2 points each.
Does this work on IRC?
No. I don't think I could even make a bot to handle this. The information flow is just too complex. If someone else was able to make a bot to handle this, then great, maybe we can use it. As it is, no.
Game #15: Roll for Initiative!
Shuffle a pack and deal it out so each player has the same number of cards. (Multiple packs for groups of 5 or more players.) Each player rolls a d20, this is their starting 'initiative'. Cards can be played and have effects based on their color (see effects list in published card below). Each player, starting with the lowest 'initiative', takes turns playing cards. Once all cards are played, the highest 'initiative' wins.
Does this work on IRC?
Sort of. This is again something where public info is a concern, but the game is probably manageable even if everyone knows what everyone's cards are.
Game #16: Day vs. Night
Basically a more complex version of Rock-Paper-Scissors with a pack of Magic cards. (Exact rules are below.)
Does this work on IRC?
No. It's dependent on information flow management. You can't really do RPS over chat without bot assistance, and this is no different.
Game #17: Into the Story: Horror Edition
Players tell a story following specific rules using the magic cards. Then all players vote on various categories of "best" story to determine the winner.
Does this work on IRC?
Yes. Dice rolls can simulate "top card" in the piles.
Game #18: Monster of the Week
Use a pack with double-faced creatures. Use the rest of the pack to fight the double-faced creature. You have 20 life, zero cards, you generate a Treasure every turn, you win if you defeat the creature on both sides, and you lose if you lose all your life or by deckout.
Does this work on IRC? N/A really. It's a 1-player game, there's no need to communicate for it.
Game #19: Vampire Wedding Planner
Each player takes 1 card that represents the wedding theme. You pass cards around, rummy style, and try to get the best set of cards that fits the theme: points are scored for matching the color or mana value, or if the card is foil, an artifact, or a land (for a maximum of 1 land). The most points wins.
Does this work on IRC?
Not without a bot programmed to help. There's not really a good way to manage the draw pile without one.
