A Megagame is a game that is geared specifically to have from 20 to 100 players, all play the same game, at the same time. When I first heard about them, I wanted to play. Unfortunately I have never had the opportunity. But that does not stop me from thinking about them. Imagine! 100 people all doing the same game at once! Obviously these are no ordinary games. Board games, Miniatures, and RPGs all start breaking down after 10 players or so. To use the machine model;- the referee gets overloaded with the need to give feed back. This causes friction which slows the rate of play down and consequently bores the players to tears. So megagames must be very different. [Note: I've not tried a mega Matrix Game but my guess is that it would not work to well.] My best guess is that megagames give an experience that is much more like acting in a play, or playing a team sport, rather than the more sedate regular gaming experience. I see it stressing rules mechanisms that encourage players to use their own initiative in solving problems. This means the referee would not CONTROL the game so much. He would only be there to resolve conflicts the players deadlock on. I see a megagame consisting of a large group of people in a large room doing their own thing (within the rules of the scenario) in such a way that to on lookers would appear chaotic. This is of course only a surface illusion. The order of the experience does not come from the referee but rather front the players following a set of simple rules that tell them NOW to do things not WHAT to do. With these ideas in mind, I propose the following game... Agamemnon I am not normally a great fan of ancients games. They can be very slow and ponderous. But I do like the ideas behind what it took to. fight a war in the ancient world. AGAMEMNON is a game that is to show the to doings of a bunch of small city states each ruled by a king and his merry band of warriors, each of which is trying to be top dog. All that you need to play is ... 60 players or so divided into "Kingdons" of about 10 player each. 4 cardboard "crowns" (1 gold, 3 silver) per kingdom - 1 large bowl or box per kingdom Lots of corn seed, pebbles, slugs or whatever for each kingdom's bowl 1 ziplock plastic "money" bag for each of the players 3 or so tolerant calm referees to act as on the spot judges 1 large room in which to play the game 3 or 4 hours to burn before the next tournament game The game is played in a series of phases. At the beginning of each phase the referees explains the rules to the players of what Is coming up next. The players do not need to know ALL the rules and should not concern themselfs with the overall running of the game. The same applies for the referees. once they explain the rules they should take a back seat and let the game take care of itself. PHASE 1: Set up. The players are organised into "kingdoms" of 10 people each. The kingdom's resource bowel is filled with the tokens and placed on the floor. The 1 gold crown and 3 silver crowns are handed outL to whoever grabs them and the phase is done. PHASE 2: Choose a King. The players, through some procedure of their own devising, choose one of their members to be king of the country. The king must then name the Kingdom. If the other players disagree with his choice in name then the bum is thrown out of office and a new king is chosen. Once a king and name have been settled on, then the king writes the kingdoms name prominently on the 4 crowns. That ends the phase. PHASE 3: King appoints his vassals. There are 3 social classes in Agamemnon... 1. Kings 2. Warriors 3. Peasant scum The king hands out the 3 silver crowns to whoever he wants to be his loyal warriors. Everyone else assumes the peasant scum status. Let them grumble about this for a few minutes then tell them that it doesn't have to last forever. There will come a time when they can revolt (make certain the king hears this!). That ends this phase. PHASE 4: Explain the rules. The whole point of the game is to gather in your money bag the most tokens you possibly can. You get them by doing the following ... PEASANT SCUM: Form a line behind the resource bowel. In turn you may stoop down and remove from the bowl a "pinch" of tokens. You then place them in your money bag and step aside so the next scum can go. Once your money is secured, go to the back of the line and wait for your next chance to "harvest" the crops. KINGS: The king may demand that a peasant give him 1/2 of the money he has just pulled from the pot. Taxes you know. If they only got one token though the king can't take it. (So all you peasants be ready to lie!) The king can also extract excessive taxes by taking a pinch of tokens from the peasants bag. WARRIORS: Warriors may only get money from war or from any gifts the king gives them. Warriors may NEVER pull money from the resource bowl since to do so is beneath their dignity. Only kings and Warriors may fight. They do so as follows ... Fighter vs Scum: The warrior gets to take a pinch of tokens from the peasants bag. He may not take another pinch full from the same peasant until after either 1. returning home or 2. abusing someone else. (obviously the scum will flee in the face of enemy warriors) Fighter vs Fighter: warriors must always fight other warriors, before abusing the poor, if the enemy warrior calls out a challenge to do so. Battle is done in a series of rounds. In each round the warriors secretly decide who many of THEIR OWN money tokens to risk. They do so by taking a single pinch of money from their bag. The two amounts are compared and the side with the most tokens risked wins. The two pinches of tokens are then set on the floor in front of the winner. When they both agree to do so the battle ends and the winner picks up the tokens in front of him and goes about his business. When Battle continues, more rounds of combat are held. When a player runs out of money he must either give his silver crown to his enemy (but get to keep the money that he has won in the rounds of fighting) or flee from the field, loosing his money but keeping his crown. The king can come up at any time during the battle and give his man more money. So watch out when you invade a seemingly weak kingdom. You may find a king and a peasantry willing to pay to their liberty. Whenever a player thinks that someone is not going by the rules stated above, he is encouraged to go to his king and complain. The king may be able to settle the matter without involving the referee. If this doesn't work, then get a referee, but watch it. Referees are encouraged to give quick, summary, and harsh justice. (Remember King David ready to cut the disputed baby in two.) More often than not the referee should fine both the petitioner and the plaintif. In other words, be real certain before you go involving a referee. And that ends this phase. PHASE 5: The king gives a rousing speech. The king now has the opportunity to make a short speech to his people. Spelling out the policies he intends to go by and generally organising his men for the challenge to come. That ends this phase. PHASE 6: Action. You know the rules. So now do them. The referee will signal you to stop after about a half hour or so. PHASE 7: Revolt time. The king is dead (remember, always keep your food taster well bribed). The players get to choose a new king, in what ever manner they choose, if someone is chosen you don't like you can revolt against him. Everyone is considered to be a warrior this time. Once out of money, you are automatically a peasant to be. This conflict continues until those with money left compromise on who will be king. Once chosen, the king appoints new warriors. If there is no king by the time the referee sounds the end of the phase then there will be NO KING or warriors in the next phase. PHASE 6: 2nd Action. Do another round of farming and raiding. PHASE 9: Count your spoils. The player with the single most money tokens is declared "Big Man." If he is a king he Is called "King of Kings." While the Kingdom whose king has the most tokens at the end of the game becomes an "Empire" and earns a foot note in history. Congratulations everyone is a winner. If anyone has the manpower and resources to run this sucker, feel free. I think It will be a fun afternoon. Back to Experimental Games Group # 6 Table of Contents Back to Experimental Games Group List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1990 by Chris Engle This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com