Requirements:
- 1 Moderator
- 6+ Players
- Open Space to jump around
Description
Angry Mob is a turn-based strategy combat game inspired by Ninja. Players begin as Civilians in a circle standing at arms length, then take turns attempting to to tag other players’ hands in order to build their Mob. Civilians that tag other Civilians become Mob Leaders. Civilians that have been tagged become Rioters and must follow the Mob Leader’s orders. The goal of the game is to be the sole Mob Leader and control everyone
Player Types
The Civilian
- Vulnerable to all other players
- Can attack Mob Leaders and other Civilians
- Cannot attack Rioters
The Rioter
- Crazed Citizens that have been persuaded to follow the orders of a Mob Leader
- Is invulnerable to Citizens and Mob Leaders
- Is vulnerable to enemy Rioters
The Mob Leader
- Converts Civilians into Rioters by tagging them
- Converts Mobs by tagging their Mob Leader
- Controls Rioters by giving verbal commands on his/her turn
- Is afraid of enemy Rioters and cannot attack them directly
- If Mob Leader is tagged, he loses his Rioters to the attacker, becomes a Civilian and is allowed 2 moves to run away (no attacking).
Gameplay
- Players begin in a circle each standing at arm’s length away from each other
- A random person is chosen by the Moderator to begin, and turns go clockwise around the circle
- On their turn, each Civilian or Mob Leader is allowed to make one attack. This can involve the whole body.
- Convert Civilians into your Rioters by slapping their hands. You must hold your position at the end of your movement.
- Mob Leaders can also designate one person as a target for their Mob to attack on their turn. Civilians and Rioters tagged by Rioters are “jumped in” to the Mob Leader’s gang.
- If you are attacked by another player, you may dodge (even if you’re a Rioter) but you cant move your feet.
- As a Civilian (with no followers), if you’re tagged by another person, you become their Rioter. You can still dodge if attacked.
- As a Mob Leader (with followers), if you’re tagged by another person, you lose all of your Rioters to the Attacking Mob and become a Civilian again. At that moment, you are allowed two consecutive moves to flee, but you cannot attack.
- The game ends when all players are following one Mob Leader.
Play Testing
After playing Ninja last week, I was really inspired by the simplicity of the game mechanics, but was a little disappointed to see some players get knocked out of the game at the early stages. This idea played with the Power/Politics theme we were given last Wednesday and the game mechanics of Ninja. The overall goal was to add the element of totalitarianism to the game and to have players still be involved after being tagged.
We tested this game with 6 players on the grass on campus. Some early concepts had players mirror or shadow their leader’s movements from where they were standing, but with everyone in different positions it quickly became frustrating to execute the same movements in a timely manner. It was also frustrating to people that they didn’t have any choice points as a follower. After loosening up the constraints and simply having the leader designate a target, we allowed the followers to attack the target however they wished. This increased engagement and made the game much more fun for everyone.
