Time to pawn up.
Start with the classic game of chess, complete with players as the chess pieces. Now, add in dodgeball’s ability to reach out and tag someone. Finally, add one special attribute for each type of chess piece. That, in a nutshell, is ChessBall.
Like traditional chess, each team’s goal is to capture the opponent’s king. Unlike traditional chess, however, each time a player moves, they can throw a ball at an opposing player to tag them out. Naturally, the opposing player can attempt to dodge the ball (but not catch it) to avoid getting eliminated. Each type of piece (pawn, knight, etc.) also has a unique ability that can help their team secure victory, such as blocking throws at nearby allies, or being able to throw twice after moving.
Knowing the basic moves certainly helps, but be prepared to think of chess in new ways: should your team do a full court press to eliminate as many opposing pieces as possible early on? Do you pair your defensive pieces with your queen for protection? Or should you focus on getting rid of the best throwers on the other team? Get your brain, and body, in gear for the showdown.
Designer – Matt Ploetcher
Matt Plotecher is a Game Designer currently located in the New York City area and has spent the past seven years designing games of all kinds: causal, hardcore, interactive narratives, board games, card games, urban games, and ARGs. He has helped run games in two previous Come Out And Play festivals, co-developed and helped run a conference game at Nokia’s Mobile Game Summit, and was Lead Designer on numerous award-winning Facebook games. But his proudest moment has been, by far, watching his mom get addicted to one of the games that he designed. You go, mom!
In addition to spreading sunshine and happiness at no charge to the public at large, Matt has also worked extensively with digital video, animation, storyboarding, audio design, photography, and writing.