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Grand Cru boardgame - Mead making variant

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MrMooCow

Got Mead? Patron
GotMead Patron
Nov 11, 2008
335
3
18
Woodridge, IL
So, referencing my post about the wine making game (Grand Cru - Wine Making Boardgame), and my throw away line about making a mead making variant. Having had a good nights sleep, and a chance to think about it some more….. I think I’ll give it a go.

My intent is to try to keep the core mechanics intact as much as possible, as I think it’s a fairly well designed game. My intent is not to create a commercial property, as I don’t expect we’d change things enough to get out from under Eggertspiele’s copyright (then again I’m not an intellectual property expert). Generally I expect to just make something folks can download, print out for free, and enjoy. The challenge of making it is fun enough for me. I don’t /think/ that would violate Egg’s copyright (especially if I only gave you the parts that changed, making their game a necessary purchase). What would be great would be to create something that meaderies like Isaak’s and B-Nektar could give away as a free widget (though that might be a copyright violation as it represents a potential profit).

Anyway…… If you’re interested in giving me a hand figuring out rules and concepts, drop me a PM with your e-mail address. We’ll hash things out through e-mail, periodically posting major ideas here on the boards for comment.
 

mccann51

Worker Bee
Registered Member
Nov 8, 2010
637
2
18
Southwestern USA
A friend and I were joking just last week about a brewing board game. After some discussion, it seemed like there's definitely some potential to abstract brewing procedures into game mechanics.

Hope it works out.
 

wayneb

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
I have absolutely no time to help until after we've recovered from the Mazer Cup and lived through tax season (call it late April), but I'd like to have a hand in it. You know, if you rely heavily on the Study Guide for the BJCP mead judge exam, you'd not only be making a fun game but you'd be creating an augmented study aid for the test!
 

schlapppy

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 28, 2010
287
2
0
Cranberry Twp., PA
What a great idea. I've done things like this before, and the only tip I have is to laminate the print after word. It'll keep the print looking good through the ages
 

MrMooCow

Got Mead? Patron
GotMead Patron
Nov 11, 2008
335
3
18
Woodridge, IL
Words! They invoke different ideas in different people, it's awesome.

You know, if you rely heavily on the Study Guide for the BJCP mead judge exam.....

I suspect we're thinking different things, though I see great potential in your idea. Grand Cru focuses mainly on the business side, with very broad generalizations about specific wines. Example: Pinot is worth considerably more then Gamay per bottle, but Gamay can be sold in the round it's made while Pinot must age for 3 rounds. Pinot is pinot is pinot. There is no mechanic for making better pinot then someone else. Other mechanics focus on manipulating the market, buying land and equipment, etc. However, similarly to wine types, land that generates pinot grapes just generates pinot grapes with no function for quality.

My general idea is to replace grape types with ingredient types in broad terms - Honey, Fruit, Spices, Grains, etc. Land just produces honey (fruit, spice, etc), not a specific type. You combine general ingredients to create different types of mead, then sell them based on the market for that type of mead.

A game that relied on the BJCP would likely be involved in the fairly detailed production of individual recipes, with a lot less concern for production costs or investment returns. I could see a very cool game being created, but I believe it would be a completely different beast then Grand Cru. Perhaps something that revolves around individual makers trying to win "Best in Show" by creating the best tasting mead from the ingredients they can obtain.

Or I'm completely off base on your comment. ;)
 

wayneb

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
No - you read it correctly; I just jumped before measuring the depth of the pool. By that I mean I didn't check out the Grand Cru concept first and I assumed that it dealt with the technical side of production, and the sensory aspects of the wine, in as much detail as the business side.

No worries - my bad assumption! Still, I think that a game along the lines of what I suggested might be both intriguing and useful for training purposes.
 

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,443
53
48
Ottawa, ON
I guess I'll have to put this one on the wishlist for the next game order so I can help too, my husband and I are incurable game addicts (board and RPG) and there are few things he loves more than dickering with game mechanics and details, he's an absolute stickler for game balance so if you need a game shaken hard to see what bits fall off, he's the one usually called... he's considering rewriting playable rules for Federation and Empire, if that gives you an idea of what a game geek he is (I'm not that bad, I refuse to play that one), but a mead variant overlay for an existing game is an awesome idea.

Might be an idea to contact the company to see if they'll make an issue out of it, although I can't see them having a problem if you do it in such a way that purchase of the original game is necessary... unless they think it'll be marketable enough to be their own expansion set...

And if I know my European games (most of the good ones are) it'll be a map of only Europe and completely ignore Canada and the US... so if you went so far as to redraw the map for North America to make a flipside like Power Grid did... ;D we'll call that my contribution till I can get my hands on the game!
 

crowquill

Got Mead? Patron
GotMead Patron
Jan 13, 2008
177
0
0
Syracuse NY
We have regular game nights at our house. I'll have to pick up a copy of Grand Cru sometime and try it out. Once we've played it, I might have some thoughts on a mead variant but for now I'm just going to look for a copy of the game.
 

Chevette Girl

All around BAD EXAMPLE
Moderator
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Apr 27, 2010
8,443
53
48
Ottawa, ON
Because it dosen't take long enough to play yet? :)

Hah, no... more because the current rules have holes big enough to fly a starship through... and pointing them out sensibly got my husband banned from their forum :p They're most certainly insane, did I mention that part?
 

skunkboy

NewBee
Registered Member
May 30, 2005
2,003
8
0
Between Jackson and Detroit
Hah, no... more because the current rules have holes big enough to fly a starship through... and pointing them out sensibly got my husband banned from their forum :p They're most certainly insane, did I mention that part?

Nice... I guess never get between a gamer and his rules applies even more if they designed the game... :)
 

Berliner

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 26, 2011
12
0
0
Guess
I could see there being like a Pictionary or Chararades-type game with honeys and/or meads: one person takes a blind taste test from one of the honeys or meads, tries to interpret it some way, and then everyone else (who have a list of the varieties available) guess which one they tried. I think it would be hard to come up with a strict rule-based game to deal with something as subjective as mead (or wine, for that matter) that was also meaningfully realistic.
 
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