Tag: boardgame

Testing MLB Team Rules for the RallyBird Baseball Board Game

I designed the RallyBird Baseball Board Game for a easy, 1-hour, thoughtful board game experience of the sport. This meant when I recently took on the task of adapting historic MLB team performance to Rally Bird, I did not try to drill down on the charismatic, individual statistical performance of players. Instead, these optional, add-on MLB rules I’m testing depend on team averages over the season. This is a necessary simplification to keep the RB board game quick and playable, yet with emphasis on decisions for offense and defense each At Bat.

Within these broad modifications, the decisions of the board game players and their dice determine the individuality of events. It’s fun for me to try to adapt MLB team performance to the characteristics of this board game. Does it succeed? I don’t know yet, but I’ve designed and ordered the components I need to test the playable asymmetry of the 2018 season. This includes a larger set of Glove defense tiles, and the print out of the adaption rules (1 page) and individual team ratings in RallyBird Board Game categories.

By the way, enjoy today! It’s opening day of the new MLB season! –PG

Prototype of the Mini RallyBird Board Game

Yesterday, the third prototype of the Mini RallyBird Board Game arrived…

I left the scissors in the photo to help you get a sense of the small, portable size.  The smaller size also means cost savings for the consumer, both for the game itself and cheaper postal fees. Gameplay is the same, but some of the components are a little different, and I’m adjusting the game board accordingly to help match, and for visibility.

I was able to make revisions and order a fourth prototype…. this is progress!

Here is a link to the rules PDF: RallyBird Rules, Guide, FAQ .

You can pick up your own copy of the regular sized RallyBird Board Game here.

 

 

Rules Here! Download the Rules to the RallyBird Baseball Boardgame

Here are the RallyBird boardgames rules in colorful PDF you can download and read!

The rules take up the first 3 of the 8 pages. The 4th page is a diagram illustrating the simple system, plus some some variants including the fun RallyBird rule. The 5th and 6th pages are a Beginner’s Guide that offers some help (for those who want help) with the cards and their tactics. The last section, the 7th and 8th pages, are Frequently Asked Questions by my play testers, and my replies. This pdf is 7.6 MB.

RallyBird Rules, Guide, FAQ

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You can purchase the RallyBird Baseball board game here.

Theory 4 video: Baseball “Sacrifice” At Bat Evaluation (RallyBird Baseball Board Game)

What is the shape of value of the “sacrifice” At Bat in baseball? In this intuitive approach, I try to offer this. I call it a shape because it’s more than just a yes/no thing, more than a simple risk/reward relationship, but highly situational. Even when you consider all batters equal, there are still a lot of factors to weigh. The answer may have to be your choice of will, not your confident calculation. Lines and shapes are ways to try to wrangle the forces that push on the outcome.

Df6O3sMUEAA-9dl.jpg-large.jpegWhen you’re playing the RallyBird Baseball board game, you have the opportunity to make these evaluations for yourself based on your runners on base, how many outs you have, your inning, the number of runs you need, your opponent’s defensive style, and how many runs you want to score. What combination of risk and reward works best for you tactically and strategically?

This video explores the dimensions of risk and reward behind a decision to hit a ball in such a way to trade the batter’s Out to advance a runner already on base. To me its a fascinating risk/reward question with multiple, drifting variables. With all batters equal, when is it better or worse to hit a sacrifice rather than attempt a normal At Bat? This is one of the decisions you need to make when playing the RallyBird Baseball board game. As I say in the video, this need to make decisions provides the “good pain” in board games that I like.

For sale now (June, 2018) here: https://bit.ly/2rvmzBa .

Also see: RallyBirdBaseball.com . Thank you for watching.