March 18, 2005

Double digits

A rating from Switzerland on BoardGameGeek has placed Ambition into the double-digit club. There are now 10 countries in which Ambition has a verified presence, though probably many countries not on this list should be, as I'm including only verified places. They are: Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States.

There is further, but unconfirmed, evidence indicating a high likelihood of Ambition presence in six more countries. Some of this, however, is admittedly speculative (such as Mexico, included on account of the reported "Orange County cluster" of players in southern California).

March 04, 2005

Variant: Trippy Twos (T2)

Trippy Twos is an variant of Ambition that developed, as a byproduct, of the design process. This version makes for some fun play, though the 2 becomes very unpredictable. So I wouldn't recommend T2 for the settling of epic disputes.

In Trippy Twos, the high property of the 2 is activated not merely by honors in the same suit, but also by off-suit honors. So, for example, the trick 9-6-K-2, which would traditionally be won by the 9, would instead be claimed by the 2 .

This version often occurs accidentally among players who learn of the game by word-of-mouth and don't catch all the details. They often comment on the colorful play thus generated. T2's not to be taken as seriously as regular Ambition, but can be quite fun.

Variants so-far blogged: S* - Trippy Twos.

March 01, 2005

Ambition: Motivation, Design, and Evolution, Part I

Cross-posted to Mike Church's blog.

The first installment of "Ambition: Motivation, Design, and Evolution" has been posted here at The Games Journal.