Iron Game Chef 2008

This is not a Game Chef...



But if it was, it would be taking part in Iron Game Chef 2008. Its the annual 'make a game in a week' competition ran by some of the guys involved in Story Games. Last year I 'tapped in' but never even started my game. Older and wiser, I've jumped in this year and I have the bare bones of something already.

Each year the competition has ingredients which the chef has to make into a game. This year the ingredients were art drawn by fellow gamers. Some were ... well, terrible. Some were almost too good to be true. Others made me feel railroaded into a certain game. There was only one set that really stood out instantly and those were the Toybox Terrors of Ashok Desai.

http://game-chef.com/af2008/comments.php?DiscussionID=58&page=1#Item_1

From them I have concocted a simple game of abuse and mental torture called 'Toybox Terrors'. In the game you play one of six toys who have realised that the next morning The Kid is going to be throwing all but one of them away. So that night the toys have to destroy each other in every way imaginable, whilst maintaining their attractiveness, so that they are the chosen toy. It's competitive, GM-less quick play stuff. I can see it being played for laughs or I can see it being played in a very black comedy-horror style. Christ, I fear for the person who brings a real childhood toy related memory to the table!

And yes, its another one of my '4xA4' sized game ideas. Easy to play, read, learn and carry for a quick fix rather than a massive campaign.

The rough first draft is http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg7pcbmq_12rn4jk4g2

I'm not winging to win the contest, but it's nice to know that given a couple of hours thinking and a couple of number matrices I can rattle something vaguely playable out. I'll keep everyone informed as to what is going on!

Neil