Once a month, Georgia and Miriam give themselves one hour to devise an original game concept based on a prompt. Below is an overview of our simple social set-collection card game, Antiques Roadshark.
THE ELEVATOR PITCH
Antiques Roadshark is a bluffing, trading and set-collection card game for 3 – 6 players. Players are sharks operating stalls at an undersea jumble sale, trading, bartering and bluffing as they seek the items that will make them their fortune.
THE LOOK
Antiques Roadshark is a lighthearted family game with a cartoon feel but a strong atmospheric theme, characterised by the underwater environment and the rich detail of objects.
The components include:
- 128 Item cards (distributed across 4 colours, 4 numbers and 4 suits, with 2 copies of each card)
- 16 Goal cards
- Single page with thumbnail versions of every Item card design (for use as a guide)
Item cards have a dedicated illustration of 1 – 4 objects united by the same colour (white, red, grey or gold) and the same suit (tools, pottery, textiles or treasure). For instance, a card might show three white porcelain teacups, a pair of gold amulets, or a single steel spade. Number, colour and suit are also indicated as symbols on the card.
Goal cards each indicate a certain kind of set that players can seek to collect, for example:
– four of a kind (number, suit or colour)
– one of each (number, suit or colour)
– two pairs (in specific suits)
– highest total value
THE AIM
At the beginning of the game a selection of 3 Goal cards are chosen for all players to work towards. By making trades (both open trades and secret deals), players seek to complete one or more sets in their hand. When any player calls that they have completed a set, the game ends and a final check is undertaken: can any player claim a higher bounty, either with multiple sets or by displaying their Big Ticket item?
To set up, the Goal cards are shuffled and three are played face up to the centre of the table. These are the three types of set that all players will be aiming to complete during the game.
All Item Cards are shuffled and one is dealt secretly to each player. This is the Big Ticket item that they will be seeking a match for. The player keeps this card separate and hidden from other players.
Players are then dealt two separate sets of Item cards. First, they are dealt five cards which will become their starting hand. They then each receive three cards which will be displayed face up in front of them as their “shop”.
TURNS
At the beginning of their turn, if a player has more than 5 cards in their hand, they place cards into their Shop until they have five.
On their turn, a player must offer an open trade. To do so, they choose another player and point to one or more items in that player’s Shop. They offer a trade with items from their own Shop, for example, “I’ll give you my two cushions if I can have that lovely necklace in your Shop.” The targeted player can accept, decline, or make a counter-offer. The two players come to an agreement. If an exchange is made, then all the cards which are exchanged go into the players’ hands (the size of a player’s hand is always reduced down to 5 at the beginning of their turn, with excess cards added to their Shop).
The active player may then seek a secret trade. To the same player they just spoke to, they ask that player a question about what is in their hand. The question can be vague, such as: “Do you have anything sharp/made of metal/anything old?” Alternatively, they may ask something more specific such as: “Do you have anything grey/anything that comes in a pair/any vases?” The targeted player must answer honestly, within the remit of the question. They can be direct: “I have two coral-coloured vases here”, or more evasive: “I’ve got something VERY sharp” (a grey three-piece suit!).
The players then agree whether to make a secret trade. In a secret trade, all cards are offered face-down. Both players can make claims about what they are offering, but are not obliged to be truthful. Again, all exchanged cards go into players’ hands.
SUMMARY
Turns continue, with players making open and secret trades, until one player announces that they have completed a set as per one of the Goal cards in play. The round completes (each player getting an equal number of turns), then the following steps determine the winner:
- All players turn over their Big Ticket Item card from setup.
- Players reveal their hands and take turns to announce how many sets they managed to complete (a lucky/skilful player could have completed all three!)
- The player(s) who completed the most Goals with their final hand is/are the winners. A player who retained their Big Ticket Item in their final hand counts as completing an additional Goal.
WHAT’S UNIQUE ABOUT THIS GAME?
Antiques Road Shark is a friendly family game with a fun theme. It combines light strategy with low-level elements of misdirection/deduction and social politics to make a small-box, pick-up-and-play game.
Big Crow Games 