GO GO ACKMAN BOARD GAME RULES: ATTEMPT 2 v6

GAME CHOICE

‘Go Go Ackman’

WHY I HAVE CHOSEN IT

It is an obscure platform game on the SNES that was only released in Japan. While I would not typically play it (the only easy way to play it is via emulators and I no longer do that kind of thing. It’s also a bit too dark), I have played all the Go Go Ackman games and thus can create a good physical game based on it.

GAMEPLAY MECHANICS

The basic core of the Go Go Ackman games is very simple: You play as a human demon and must defeat the angels that stand in your way.

The first game (the one I’m basing my physical game on) had you progressing through each platform based level and defeating a boss at the end. You must jump pits and defeat the enemies in your way.

How do I intend to replicate that?

Initially by making a board game in which the player rolls the dice to determine how far through the level he/she goes and whether or not he/she encounters an angel (enemy), a boss (enemy) or a pit.

The game uses card game elements for each of the ‘Pit’, ‘Angel’ and ‘Boss’ squares the player lands on in the board. There will also be a second player who controls the game’s enemies and operates the pits.

After that failed, I settled for having players (one playing Ackman, the other playing the Angels) move around a board, playing the ‘Hand Slap’ game, detailed in the rules of this document, if the players encounter each other.

Landing on pits would result in a Tiddly Winks game, and Boss battles will simply be a harder and longer version of the Hand Slap game.

THE EMOTIONS I INTEND TO REPLICATE

I want to replicate the feeling of defeating angels and playing through generic platform game levels and defeating a boss at the end (which would be a character from the Go Go Ackman video game). I intend to achieve this by having pits and enemies positioned throughout the game.

THE FIRST ATTEMPT AT THE GAME

My first attempt at recreating the Go Go Ackman game was not successful.

The game required the Ackman player to move around a board by rolling the dice. The Enemy and Boss battles in the game took the form of card battles.

For the Angel (standard enemy) battles, it was a matter of both players drawing the top card in their random decks and comparing numbers. The boss battles were the same, except with a different deck for the boss and dice rolls added on as well as drawing cards.

Landing on a pit square would result in more drawing cards and comparing them.

I thought the game was really good, but Sony, who are the bosses in this process, didn’t think it was close to the original game, so the game was cancelled.

THE SECOND ATTEMPT AT THE GAME

After the first attempt of the game failed to impress Sony, I quickly made another attempt at the game, this time with players (one, the Ackman player who controls the Ackman character, the other, an Enemy player who controls two Angel characters) taking it in turns to move across the level’s board.

Originally in the second attempt, the player encounters, or ‘angel battles’, had players throwing down cards on the table, with the first person to throw down their card being the winner, but it was discovered that a Hand Slap game (detailed in the rules) would be better.

Also, originally in the second attempt, the Ackman player had to literally lift their character piece over the pit square in order to jump the pits, but this didn’t work and was replaced with a Tiddly Winks game.

Finally, originally in the second attempt, the boss battles had players moving around another board in real time, attacking as they went. It was an experiment that didn’t work, so it was replaced with a harder version of the Hand Slap game. 

ARRANGING THE PLAYTESTS

I met with my Mother who I playtested the first attempt of the game with her, taking notes of any problems that occurred during gameplay.

When the time came for playtesting the second attempt of the game, again, I playtested the game with her.

I also playtested the first attempt of the game with Steve Harris, my lecturer, who also gave advice on how to improve the game.

Steve Harris also played the second attempt of the game, and, as with the previous attempt, gave advice on improving the game. He put me on the right track during the development of attempt 2, when I discovered Attempt 2 had serious flaws.

With all these playtests, the main problems were written down on a test results sheet, which you should get with this document.

RULES

1): The Ackman player must position his/her ‘Ackman’ character on the first ‘Start’ square (to begin with, on the top-left of the Level Board) and the enemy player must position his/her two ‘Angel’ characters on the furthest ‘Platform’ Square of the Level Board (to begin with, on the top-right of the board).

There must also be a person taking notes. This person must have a pen and paper handy and write down the number of lives the Ackman player has remaining (5 at the beginning of the game), number of health points the Ackman player has remaining (4 for each life) and the energy that the boss has remaining in the boss battles (each boss starts with 4 energy points).

If the Ackman player runs out of health points, he/she looses a life. If the Ackman player runs out of lives, the Ackman player looses. All angels are regenerated when the Ackman player looses a life. When this happens, the Enemy player simply places his/her Angels on the furthest platform.

2): Now, the Ackman player and the Enemy player takes it in turns to move their characters forwards (to the right for the Ackman player, to the left for the Enemy player), from platform square to platform square, one platform square at a time.

The enemy player must position only one of his/her Angel characters forwards during his/her turn. The Enemy player may move one of his/her angels backwards (to the right) instead of going forwards, if the player wishes. If one of the ‘Angel’ characters moves to a pit square, it will go to the next platform square beyond it.

3): If the Ackman player lands on the ‘Pit’ square, he/she may jump the pit by playing ‘Tiddly Winks’, which is done by:

Take out a small tiddly wink (small disc) and a large tiddly wink (large disc) and place them on the ‘Pit’ board.

Now, the Ackman player must push the large tiddly wink against the back end of the small tiddly wink, causing it to jump forwards.

If the Ackman player’s small tiddlywink goes past the pit, the player jumps the pit and positions his/her Ackman character on the next platform square on the main board. It is now the Enemy player’s turn.

If the Ackman player’s small tiddly wink doesn’t reach the pit, he/she must place his/her ackman character on the platform before the pit. It is now the Enemy player’s turn.

If the Ackman player’s small tiddly wink reaches the pit, the Ackman player looses a life and must pace his/her character on the last start square he/she was on. It is now the Ackman player’s turn.

4): If the Ackman player’s character touches a platform with the Enemy player’s ‘Angel’ character, it is time for the ‘Hand Slap’ game.

In the Hand Slap game, the both players must put their hand flat on the table, 1cm apart, and count to three.

After this, the Enemy player must move his/her hand away from the Ackman player.

If the Ackman player manages to slap the Enemy player’s hand before it moves away, he/she destroys the Angel (put it out of play). It is now the Ackman player’s turn.

If the Ackman player doesn’t slap the Enemy player’s hand before it moves away, the Ackman player looses 1 health point and goes to the next platform square. It is now the Ackman player’s turn.

If there are two angels, and the Ackman player destroys 1 angel, repeat the Hand Slap game again.

5): If the Ackman player touches or goes beyond the ‘End’ square, he/she must place his/her character on the ‘Start’ square below it.

Now, the Ackman player and the Enemy player must play the game in the reverse direction. The Enemy player must also reposition his/her angel characters. Any angels that were destroyed are now restored.

6): If the Ackman player lands on, or goes beyond, the ‘Boss’ Square, the ‘Mega Difficult Hand Slap’ game begins.

In the Mega Difficult Hand Slap game, the Ackman player and the Enemy player must place their hands on the table, 1cm apart.

The Ackman player places his/her hand flat, while the Enemy player places their hand vertical. Both players must now count to three.

After this, the enemy player must move his/her hand away from the ackman player.

If the Ackman player manages to slap the Enemy player’s hand before it moves away, the Enemy player, who is acting as the level’s boss, looses 1 energy point.

If the Ackman player doesn’t slap the Enemy player’s hand before it moves away, the Ackman player looses 1 health point.

Repeat the Mega Difficult Hand Slap game until one of the players runs out of health/energy points.

If the Ackman player runs out of health points, he/she looses a life and must place his/her character on the last ‘Start’ square he/she was on. The health points and boss’ enemy points then reset. It is now the Ackman player’s turn.

If the Enemy player runs out of health points, the Ackman player completes the level.