Game In A Week... Part 1

Next weekend, I'll be bringing WEGS to MACE - a game convention in North Carolina. This will officially be the furthest south the game has travelled, and I'm really looking forward to the con. MACE holds a special event called "Iron Mace Game Chef" competition - a week before the con, participants get a set of rules and the secret ingredients. The game could be a role playing game, a board game or a card game. So, I threw my name into the hat. I figured it would make the creative juices flow. The ingredients/rules were announced two days ago:

Korea
Highway
Axe
Ceramic
River

I get to chose two of those ingredients for inspiration. I also need to chose two of the following guidelines:

Use a Tarot deck
Make the game playable for 3 - 15 players
Have an internet or online component
Players must write sentences
No randomizers like dice or cards

I spent Friday night mulling over the ingredients and quickly became overwhelmed with frustration. The six ingredients seemed all wrong. Incompatible. I wanted a re-deal! My knowledge of Korea is pitiful. Highway and River have potential, but pretty much boil down to the same symbols. Ceramic made me think of teeth. Axe made me think of Paul Bunyan.

A game about dentistry and axe-wielding lumberjacks!

Nope (though that def has potential for some fun)... I began assembling the words for inspiration:

Highway To Korea
River To Korea
Road Rage (Highway of Axe-Wielding Maniacs)

I was frustrated by the rules, too. Instantly I was turned on by the Tarot deck and turned off by no dice. 3-15 players had potential, as did writing sentences. I didn't think I'd have any use for the Internet component. Individually these two rule sets (ingredients and rules) pulled my mind in two different directions. I had a tough time figuring out how to make them blend. I started off in one direction then pulled in another, then another.

This was going to be a lot tougher than I thought...

By Saturday afternoon, things were STILL up in the air. I decided to ignore the rules and focus on the setting. I figured I could back the rules into the setting. I needed to commit to one, not both. I needed a starting point. I needed the plot and the purpose. I googled the key ingredients and started filling my head with images and ideas. I spent lots of time looking at Korea... The one ingredient that turned me off at first was sucking me in. It has so much potential for setting. It also is probably the most dangerous as the potential here is SO big. I didn't have time to be factually correct on this topic. The game could only use Korea as a symbolic basis.

I had myself my first ingredient....

I hope...

I went back to the kitchen...

(Oddly enough, I received a box of Godiva chocolates from a Korean friend on Friday. I'm hoping this didn't affect my choice... Done in by a box of candy...)