Ideas: Branch of fate randomising game device/Also: The rules of "Numero" and "Icarus"

Branch of fate - Randomising game device

A Branch of Fate is a tube with one entrance at the top but two (or more) numbered exits at the bottom and the exits each have transparent spheres attached to them called catching spheres.
Players drop handfulls of numbered counters into the entrance of the tube and they can either fall through one exit or another. Which exit counters fall into can be discovered by looking into the transparent spheres.

The Rules of Numero – A different sort of dice game

1.            A player scores a point for each time he can roll a dice without rolling the same number twice.

2.            However when he rolls the same number twice then his opponent has a chance to steal his turn as well as all the points he has accumulated simply by rolling a number that he hasn’t yet rolled.

For Example:

Player A rolls a 2, a 5 and a 3 which scores him 3 points but then he rolls another 5 and so now, if player B can roll a 1, a 2 or a 4, he can steal Player A’s 3 points and it will also be his turn to start rolling for points.

3.            Each time a Numero player manages to score six points, either by rolling or by stealing, he moves onto the next in a sequence of six different coloured dice – a black dice; a red dice; a pink dice; a blue dice; a yellow dice and, finally, a green dice.

4.            The first of the two players to score 6 points with the last dice in the sequence wins the game.

ICARUS – A tactical dice game –

1. Firstly, every player has three lives;  Alpha, Beta and Gamma and each life begins with a lifescore of 10 points

2.  a) If the score of any of those three lives goes above 20 then the life is lost b) If the score of any of those lives goes below 5 then the life is lost. c) A player that loses all three lives loses the game. d)A player that holds onto at least one is the winner.

3. Players take turns rolling two dice together; an ordinary six sided dice (referred to as the point dice) and the Icarus dice.

4. The Icarus dice has eight faces. On two of its faces is printed the word “Win”; on two of its faces is printed “lose”; on two of its faces “Dump” and, on the last of its two faces, is printed the word “Steal”.

5. Whenever a player rolls “Win” then they win the number rolled with the points dice, adding it to the score of one of their 3 lives; whenever they roll “lose” then they lose the number rolled with the points dice removing it from the score of one of their 3 lives ; whenever they roll “dump” then they can ‘off load’ the number rolled with the points dice from the score on one of their 3 lives onto the score of one of the three lives of the opponent player of their choosing and, finally, whenever they roll “steal” then they can steal the number rolled with the points dice from the score on one of the 3 lives of the opponent player of their choosing.

6.  Why are “Dumping” and “Stealing” important? – Firstly, “Dumping” allows players to push opponents life scores upwards past the 20 point limit while “Stealing” can do the opposite, pushing an opponent’s life score downwards below the 5 point minimum.

7. Why is this a tactical game and not simply a game of chance? Because players can choose which other players to dump points on or steal points from.

8. Why have 3 lives? – Simply to make the game harder. Rather than just worrying about the position of one thing you have to keep an eye on the position of three things.  Furthermore, 3 lives makes possible the tactic of point shifting.

9. SHIFTING – If the life score of one life is too high then points can be shifted from it to one of a players other lives that has a lower score.

10. How to dump or steal points: say “Dump/Steal (number of points) on/from (name of player)’s  Alpha/Beta/Gamma”