Idea
A boardgame for 4 - 8 players that is a cooperative game, though each player can "win" by making the highest personal profit.
Scenario
The players work for a corporation that is building a colony - most likely on a distant planet - and they are working together to create a viable colony. There will be opportunities to sabotage other employees work, there will be temptations to "pocket" some payments. However, all lose if the Colony does not achieve its targets. It will be possible for players to having different goals; so there might be more ways to win than just "money".Inspiration
- The most excellent campaign of Colony 51, in Jim Wallman's "The Universe".
- Boardgames
- Books
- The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company, a 2019 book by William Dalrymple
What's the new idea
I want to design a cooperative game that reflects the dilemma of maximising private gain and yet still achieve corporate success.
All the boardgames above are zero sum games - one player wins by achieving the most points. This is not what I think happens in the world. This could get philosophical. But I regard most human activities as being collaborative - trading, running a company, playing a game, organising a picnic etc. Some might take a leading role. Some might contribute to only part of the enterprise. But together we make something.
I want a game to reflect the politics (with a small p) that are at play - the inter-personal politics - that all of us encounter in our daily lives and work - as we strive to achieve some goal.
