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History:
Started making this game in June 2005. Messed around with the rules, points, etc.... and in May 2006, a "final" version of the game was at hand.
In January 2007, the game (2 player version) was introduced at BrainKing.com - a turn based game site, under the name "Frog Finder". [since the site already had a frog game with frog graphics, instead of making "men" for the game, the design was changed to frogs - with all the same rules]
As of July 2, 2007, almost 7,000 games have been played - and the long work and tweaking of the rules proved to be just about perfect - with the game very equal for each player (player 1 vs. player 2). Player 1 has a 50.08% win rate, while Player 2 has a 49.73% win rate - which is as close to equal that you can hope for.
Also as of July 2, 2007 - out of the 103 different games available at BrainKing.com, "Frog Finder" is in the top 10 of active games!
GAME:
Name Ideas: Hide-n-go seek (COAN.NET version), Hide-n-go sweeper (COAN.NET version), SuperSweeper (COAN.NET version), Frog Finder (found on BrainKing.com)
BOARD/SETUP:
Players: 2-6 players (red, blue, black, purple, yellow, green) each player gets 5 men
Board: 12x12 grid 144 spaces total
Teams: Can also be played as teams (2 against 2, or 3 against 3) Teammates can see each others pieces, and possible have a private notes area to talk. Teammates gain/lose points as a team.
Computer will randomly place all players pieces onto the board. At start of game, each player can only see their own pieces.
NOTE: Everything below will be written as if it was a 2 player game . but more can play if wanted.
QUICK OVERVIEW:
Goal Find your opponents men before they find yours.
Start of game: Each player starts with 0 points. (it is possible to go into the negative points during the game.)
End of game: Once everyones but the last players men are found, the game is over. The player with the most points win.
POINTS:
Shoot a man: Lose 5 points
Your man gets shot: Gain 5 points
Guess wrong: Lose 3 points
Guess Right: Gain 5 points
Last one standing: Gain 2 points
Bonus for each man not found: Gain 1 point for each man not found (or shot)
In multi-player games with more then 2 players, once all your men are either correctly guessed or shot, your game is over and you can not gain or lose any more points.
1) Take a shot
2) Take a guess
When playing with more then 2 players, taking a shot may reveal some good information for the next player.
** PICTURE EXAMPLE (from BrainKing.com Frog Finder game): In the picture, this is a what the red player would see at the start of the game - his own 5 men on the board that the computer randomly placed on the board, with their opponents frogs hidden from view.
SHOT:
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Example Someone takes a shot (middle space in this 3x3 example) and a 2 shows up. That means in the 8 surrounding spaces, there are 2 men.
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Example (cont) So this shows where the men are and shows why a 2 would show up. Of course the surrounding spaces and men would remain hidden until someone takes a shot or guesses in those spaces.
Example (board from
BrainKing.com Frog Finder) - As
you can see, someone shot at the space where there is a "2" - which means, in
the 8 surrounding squares, there are 2 men (frogs) total. As you can see,
1 is a red man (frog) - which means that one of the opponents men (frogs) is in
one of the other 7 spaces.
When a shot is taken, and the result is given that result stays visible on the board for the rest of the game.
Your shot results are visible to all players.
Also note that a shot near your own man will also show up on the shot radar also since all players men are on the same board, giving your opponents information that your pieces are near, so you may not want to shot near your own piece. But then again, since the computer randomly places the men, it is possible that your own man & an opponent man is sitting next to each other.
Also note that when you are playing with more then 2 players, your shot results are visible to all players and may end up helping your opponent also.
If you accidentally (or purposely) shot a man, that man is reveled to everyone. You will lose 5 points, while the player who owns that man will gain 5 points. (moral: Shooting a man is bad and costly, dont do it!)
GUESS:
PICTURE EXAMPLE (board from
BrainKing.com Frog Finder game) - This picture shows a game in progress.
The blue man (frog) at G9 had been shot by red (so blue got +5 points, red got
-5 points). The blue man (frog) at A1 was correctly guessed by red (red +5
points). This board also shows no men (frogs at A3-A6, B3-B6, C3-C6).
It also shows there is 1 man (blue frog) at either F7, F8, or F9.
END OF GAME:
Game ends when all but the last players men are revealed on the board. (Either by guesses or shot) The last player standing also received bonus points 2 points, plus 1 point for each man not found or shot.
At this point, the player with the most points win! If there is a tie in points, the player which stayed in the game longer gets the nod to be ahead.
CREDIT:
Game rules are free to use as long as credit is given back to COAN.NET. (And no major money is made from the game then in that case, I want a cut of it!)