Dotter - a card game

 Over the years I've attempted game design many times. My approach has always been less than scientific, and sadly unrigorous in the play testing department (my friends' unwillingness to ever try was probably the main culprit, though I was never very insistent).

Nevertheless, I've still come up with a couple that I think have some real potential. This one is very promising and I'd love it if someone out there tried it out. Contact me at yitzhar@veredfamily.net to give me any feedback!

Dotter

Background info

Equipment needed: Standard 54 card deck (with jokers). Cribbage board is helpful but not essential.

Player count: 2-? (Untested with more than 2 so far).

Play time: 20-40 minutes (Estimation, the few games played fell in this range).

Rules

Goal: Get to 121 points 6 times first.

Hand: Varying amount of cards, as will be described below. Cards are placed face down in rows of three in front of each player. Players begin with no cards in hand.

The play: Plays are taken in turns, the first player of the first round being determined arbitrarily. Each turn, players may take one of three actions: 

1. Draw - The player draws three cards from the deck and places them face down in a row along with their other cards. The cards are not looked at.
2. Peek - The player looks at two drawn cards. These may be his or another player's, but both must belong to the same player.
3. Score - The player scores three drawn cards. He turns the cards face up and scores as described in the scoring section. The scored cards are then placed in the discard pile. Additional restrictions on scoring in the scoring section.

Scoring

When a player scores, he must pick a player to score from. All three scored cards must belong to that player. Points scored from other players' cards are divided by two and rounded down!

Points: Different hands award a different amount of points as follows. 

Series - The three cards have the same difference or quotient. The score is then the sum of the two highest cards in the series. Examples:  

1. 5,7,9. When sorted in ascending order, the difference is 2 between adjacent cards. This series would score 7 + 9 = 16 points.
2. 1,3,9. When sorted in ascending order, the quotient is 3 between adjacent cards. This series would score 3 + 9 = 12 points.

Pairs and triples - The three cards include a pair or triple. The score is then the multiplicity of the card times its value. Examples:

1. 3,Q,3. The card appearing multiple times is 3. It's multiplicity is 2 (appears twice), so this hand scores 3 * 2 = 6 points.
2. J,J,J. The card appearing multiple times is J. It's multiplicity is 3 (appears thrice), so this hand scores 11 * 3 = 33 points.

Nothing - Scoring a hand with none of the previous simply gives the value of the highest card.

Aces - Aces are low in every context, except as the highest in a scoring series. Examples:

1. A,A,K. In this hand, aces form part of a pair, not a series. So the hand scores 1 * 2 = 2 points.
2. 6,10,A. In this hand, the ace is the highest in the series of difference 4. So the hand scores 10 + 14 = 24 points.
3. 3,4,A. In this hand, the ace is simply another card of nothing. The highest card is therefore the 4, and the hand scores 4 points.

Jokers - Jokers may be whatever the player wishes them to be, and may determine as seems fit at the time of scoring.

Guessing - Before scoring, the player may guess as to the nature of the cards he will score. The guesses are: Series (quotient or difference must be specified, but not what the quotient or difference is), Pair, triple. Guessing correctly doubles the score of a hand! Guessing incorrectly scores the hand to its lowest card. Jokers are determined at time of scoring, and can easily save a failed guess. Examples:

1. Guess: double. Cards: 3,3,8. The guess is correct, so the hand scores 2 * (2 * 3) = 12 points.
2. Guess: double. Cards: Q,K,A. The guess is incorrect, so the hand scores by the lowest card. Since the ace isn't forming part of a scoring series, it's the lowest card, and the hand scores 1 point.
3. Guess: series, quotient. Cards: J,J,J. The guess is technically correct (the quotient is 1), so the hand scores 2 * (11 + 11) = 44 points. Note: if  the player guessed triple, they'd get 2 * (3 * 11) = 66 points instead!

Guessing correctly off the opponent cancels out the rounding down of an odd score.

Restrictions on scoring - Cards that have just been drawn cannot be scored. New cards should be placed distinctly to the side to make this easy. Cards are no longer new once the player who has drawn them has had a turn, and therefore an opportunity to score them. 

In addition, I believe that having a bank of three protected cards is probably a good idea, though the exact implementation of this idea may vary. These kinds of ideas need more playtesting! 

Winning rounds - A cribbage board is very useful for keeping score of this game (it's where the 121 points comes from!). Once a player crosses the 121 point threshold, he doesn't immediately gain the leftover points. Instead, he only begins gaining points for his next 121 from his next score! In addition, the 121 'peg' can only be filled by one player at a time. Only once they've left it can other players gain the last point. Examples:

1. No player has scored 121 points in the game yet. Player 1 is at 80 points, player 2 at 115. Player 2 scores 20 points. He moves his peg to the 121 spot, and counts his first 121 of the game. Immediately, Player 2 scores 66 points. Instead of going right on to his next 121, Player 2 must wait at the 120 spot until player 1 scores again and starts his next 121.

Due to the nature of the game, players don't "win" rounds. Once the deck is exhausted, players continue peeking and scoring until no cards are left (in the case of any safeguards such as banks, this is the time they expire). Once no cards are left, the score of the current lap is observed. Only the players with the highest score of this lap retains his points to the next roud. If players are tied for first, all such players retain their points. The 121'st point counts as part of the next lap! Examples:

1. Player 1 has completed two laps of 121 points, and is currently on 53 points. Player 2 has completed one lap of 121 points and is on 78 points. So, player 2, leading, retains his points into the next round while player 1 starts from zero.
2. Player 1 has completed three laps of 121 point and is currently holding the 121 peg. Player 2 has completed 3 laps and is on 100. Player 3 has completed 4 laps and is on 100. Since the 121 peg counts as part of the next lap, players 2 and 3 retain their points, while player 1 must start from zero. He has still completed his fourth lap of 121 though.

Possible variations

As a possible alternative to scoring restrictions, limit the number of scorings you get per round? I suppose five to seven is the zone you're looking for. Maybe if you wanted to score more than that you have to give three cards from your side to the opponent's! Could be much smoother, but needs playtesting.

Final notes - The game is probably a bit too long for more than 2 players if doing the whole 6 laps. I'd suggest removing one lap for each additional player. Our games took around 3 - 6 rounds to complete, and I think that's a healthy number to aim for. Once again, 121 points and six rounds were chosen because they're what's on a cribbage board. I think it turned out surprisingly well given how the game the board is intended for is so different, but a different number of rounds and points may be what's needed to balance the game for more players. More playtesting needed! Finally, I may also try to make an online version of this game at some point. No promises though. If you do anything with this game such as playing it yourself, calculating probabilities, programming a variant and putting it up online, please please please contact me at the email in this article's opening! I'd love to see people build on my ideas!