I can't stop thinking about a fantasy Oak Games tournament. Gettin' sophisticated. So
 
 
 
 

This comes in a big version and a small version. The big version takes us into what-are-you-smoking territory, but it presents possibilities. There are advantages to the huge, random teams, starting with fairness. The small version is more real world; in fact I'm sure things like that have happened. The small version won't have some of the activities of the big version, particularly games with bigger player count. Consider how Stand By Me would be corrupted by collusion with fellow team members.


 
 
 
 

Big Picture

The team with the most points wins.

I would like to see people be able to go there to have fun, experience games, without being intimidated by brainy, competitive people.


 
 

People

There are 84 people. These are randomly divided into four teams of 20 players and one spare. Spares are there in case someone doesn't show up. Spares are strongly encouraged to be leaders.


 
 

Games

OG games on the site and not on the site, traditionals, and some commercial games. Mostly not-too-heavy abstract strategy, but also a grab bag of other types. Before the tournament players indicate their preferred games so that almost everything can be scheduled in advance.

Atlantis Chess. Let's wave a magic wand and say Drinkin' Dragons is completed and good. Safari Race, for ~ four players with cards and glass pieces, is not on the site, and neither is five-player Attention. Date Square, King of the Mountain, Sailboat and Thunderbird are not on the site. Don't forget Better Letter.


 
 

Leaders

This is more about facilitating communication flows than leading. There is an overall team leader, the hero leader, the mystery games leader, and the Triple Threat leader.


 
 

Schedule

First day, morning. Players do not know which team they are on, although points go to the team. Emphasis on multiplayer games, for two reasons. Prevents collusion among players on the same team, e.g. Stand By Me. Meet people so you know someone when teams are established. At the end of the morning teams are established, mystery games are revealed, and things start to get stitched together.
First day, afternoon. Normal. The usual suspects games, your Yoté, Runners, The Royal Game of Ur, but some variety too.

Second day. Normal.

Fallow, no events. Some space to prepare and practise for the next day. Maybe clean up the mess from some availability problems from earlier.

Fourth day, morning. An hour earlier than everyone else there are the hero games, so there is no scheduling conflict. Then mystery games and then Triple Threat. Triple Threat is a good team activity :-) but maybe awkward for this :-( as discussed elsewhere. Other games in there.
Fourth day, afternoon. Individual games and demonstration games. It all ends with revealing winners and distributing prizes.


 
 

Hero games

Champion might be a more appropriate word. During the tournament, each team decides which player will play a specified game. A couple of hero games. What could be played? Extra points makes sense.


 
 

Mystery games

Before the tournament players may sign up for a mystery game, and find out what it is early in the competition. Some of these are the less visible OG games.

A subset of these is a group of players who play a group of games, where players choose who will play which game.
Five games from the GIPF project.
Four modern big games: Hive, Tak, Onitama, Shobu.
It's for all the marbles. The superior group gets the points for all these games, while the inferior group gets no points for these (yes, ties are possible).


 
 

Individual contests

Teams do not benefit from players winning these games. A set of players would play, e.g. konane, and are eliminated until you have one winner (and someone in second). Konane, fanorona, Atlantis Chess..


 
 

Demonstration games

People sign up to play a certain game at a certain time. But there is a relaxed looseness to every aspect of this. Just a bit of fun, with a touch of spectacle. What could be played?


 
 

Prizes

Well that's a whole topic.


 
 

Themes

Prizes bend toward a theme for a tournament, as do a minority of the games. A tournament could be Canadian, Caribbean(/South American), European, or (East) Asian.
 
 
 
 

For European, Fussball. Geschenkt (look it up) for multiplayer. Forma o Colore mystery. Pentago from Sweden. Quarto (a lot of row games there). A tafl or two. Hive. The GIPF project for the mystery games. Darts. Tintas in there, possibly a colourful demonstration game. There is a card game from Finland. Hive for eight-player individual contest. Latranculi demonstration. The old Abalone or the new Qawale could find a role.
 
 

blind darts

alcohol too


 
 

5 Games in a Row?! The GIPF that Keeps on Giving

Play these simultaneously, so that no one player has all the pressure on him.


 
 

Hive Tournament at UKGE

Short. Invented by an English man.


 
 

Hnefatafl - Fight of the century

Long. Those tafls are not really complicated.


 
 
 
 

For Canadian, crokinole will obviously be in there. Date Square, King of the Mountain and Thunderbird. Table hockey. Cribbage. Snowflake fits in there somewhere. A bit of Villa Paletti multiplayer - hero? KOTM individual contest. Nunami for demonstration. Loonie (which is kind of a black sheep game, but that's another story) for either first morning or demonstration. Should floor hockey replace Tripel Threat?
 
 
 
 

For Asian, Deception: Murder in Hong Kong would be an early icebreaker multiplayer game. A Fake Artist Goes to New York. Love Letter is from Japan. Yut Nori from Korea. Onitama. Go would be a hero game, as would ping pong. Thai chess isn't quite sure where it fits in. The Vietnamese game would be a mystery game. (More) Onitama for eight-player individual contest. Maybe Lanterns for demonstration. Jungle Chess demonstration, also the looker Tokyo Highway. Anybody interested in Shogi demonstration? Did you know that Gemblo is Korean (and do you like the game)?
 
 
 
 


 

Yut nori. Seems exciting.


 
 
 
 

For Caribbean, it looks like dominos would be the spine. For two or four players. All fours card game from Trinidad. Bunch of dudo, what you know as liar's dice, first morning. That's the one South American element. Mancala in there. Some ludi I suppose. Dominos for hero. Limited themed prizes, although lots of drinks. Drinkin' Dragons can be bent toward Caribbean - look at the themed characters. Sailboat mystery. Aqualin as a mystery game, and somebody out there is going to suggest Reef. Tobago begs to have a role. Some Caribbean music here and there.
 
 


 
 

I forgot how sweet that song was. You can dig up a louder version.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

What about a scaled down version of an Oak Games tournament, closer to the original vision? Four teams of five or six, straightforward playing tabletop games for the team over one day. The prizes situation would be different. Strictly OG games is an option, ~ sixteen game types (not those hunt games, for the record).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

tangents and themes