Three Player Goosed
Every now and then I like to go back and review my older games to see if there are any clarifications that need to be made in the rules doc. Checking in on Goosed has reminded me that there was interest in a three player variant to the rules. I have not had the opportunity to test anything, but my initial instinct is that I can pursue two different dynamics with the design. For both ideas, the deck remains 28 cards, each player receives 9 cards. The final card is turned up to determine trump. If the turn up cards is a goose, then capturing the remaining three means you get goosed.
the first person to play a goose, and the first person to capture it become red foxes (if the same person plays and captures, they are a lone fox).
The two red foxes are trying not to capture all of the geese, and it is the third player's position to try and goose them (or take the rest of the geese for maximum points). In my mind, it would be trickier for two players to avoid all of the geese while also capturing tricks to increase their own individual score. The other option is:
the first person to capture a goose becomes the red fox. The other two players are the white foxes.
Flipping the script, it might be easier to goose a single player, but the two white foxes will be tempted to capture as many geese as possible to improve their own scores. I don't think the incentive for goosing (or working together as a team) is quite as strong here.
Ultimately, both of these ideas need tested. Someone else has also put forth rules for a 5 player game (but they changed the game quite a bit for it). I am so happy that people have taken the game and made it their own! What I would like to do is find a way to accommodate as many player counts as possible without changing the basic concepts of the game. My original motivation was to create different games that hit different player counts. Goosed is for four players, Duckit is for three players, and I am working on a two player game that fits with Goosed and Duckit in regards to mechanics and dynamics. Perhaps a better approach would be to not only develop these different games, but to also develop different player counts for them (if the game allows).
Finally, I would like to share my big idea for these games. When all is said and done, I would like to put together a book or zine that includes all of the games related to Goosed and Duckit. I think of it as a soundtrack of sorts, a collection of a dozen games or so tied together by their mechanisms and dynamics. Isaludo was a big inspiration for this. I also think it would be fun to publish a box that includes a special fowl weather deck, the rulebook/zine and all of the game pieces needed to play the games. More on all of that to come!
If anyone tries the above mentioned concepts for a three player Goosed, please let me know (whether the game worked well or not, I'd love to hear about the experience).