BEGINNER question.
Their answer is an “argument” for
ENGLE MATRIX GAME RULES
Are you ready for a fun game? Okay, here is
what I think a fun game is. It is fast. Players clash
with one another. Someone wins and the rules
don’t get in the way. That is what this game is
all about. It has a short play time and will get
people’s creativity powered up
This game is about a conflict. Six or so characters
face off over an issue of life and death. Someone
will lose. The question is who that will be. Each
player wants to accomplish his goal and get
away with it. Others want to pin blame, get
revenge or try to stop the other players. Of course
a few want to save the world! The important
thing is that players go after one another and
make things happen.
Each game has its own conflict that is spelled
out on the game board.
PICK A CHARACTER
Players pick a character to champion in the
game. Read the description out loud to the
other players. This tells what the player has
to do in the game. If a player’s character dies
before the climax, they are not out of the game.
They continue taking turns to push their goal
forward. Don’t waste time killing characters!
Make their lives miserable instead.
MAKING THINGS HAPPEN
Players start the game with 15 tokens/coins
that they use to buy the right to make things
happen in the game. They take turns making
things happen. The youngest player goes first.
Play then proceeds clockwise around the table.
The active player picks one of the “Questions”
that form the map. This tells the player what
type of thing they will try to make happen that
turn.
Players make things happen by answering the
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what occurs next in the game. The only limit on
what an argument can be is that it must answer
the question the player picked. Pick interesting
questions, make fun answers and the game will
work well.
DOES AN ARGUMENT HAPPEN?
Players pick another player to be their referee.
The referee’s job is to decide how likely an
argument is to happen. Start with the assumption
that all arguments are “Okay”. This means they
happen 50% of the time. Ask yourself “Does
this seem better or worse than that?” As referees
learn to trust their judgment they can raise or
lower strength rolls. The player then rolls one
six-sided die to see if their argument happens.
TO HAPPEN TABLE
Can’t miss Roll 6-1’s to fail to happen
Really Strong Roll 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 to happen
Pretty Strong Roll 3, 4, 5 or 6 to happen
Okay Roll 4, 5 or 6 to happen
Pretty Weak Roll 5 or 6 to happen
Really Weak Roll 6 to happen
Impossible Roll 6-6’s to happen
SUCCESSFUL ARGUMENT HAPPEN
This may seem obvious and it is. The events of
successful arguments become part of the story.
Future arguments build from there. Failed
arguments just don’t happen. There is no partial
success or additional punishment for failure.
It is a good idea for one player to write down
a summary of successful arguments. Nothing
fancy - just a brief note will do. Not everyone
has a great memory.
THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN!
COUNTER ARGUMENTS
If a player doesn’t like the argument just made
they can pay a token/coin and buy the right
to make a “counter-argument”. This is just
 like a regular argument except that it must be
opposed to what was just said.
All the players can pay a coin and jump in
with a counter-argument each turn. This is fun
because it triggers a dice-rolling contest.
Counter-arguing players pick a referee as
before and the referee decides what it’s “to
happen” roll is.
RESOLVING COUNTER-ARGUMENTS
Each player rolls for their own argument. If they
roll successfully they get to roll again. If they fail
their roll they are out. Rolling continues until
only one argument is left. If all the arguments
roll out then nothing happens. Move on to the
next turn.
STORIES BUILD TO A CLIMAX
When players start running out of tokens/coins
they should move the game to a climax. They
pay a token/coin and pick “the final question”.
This is the one question that will resolve the
conflict of the game. All the actions up to this
point build to this moment.
When a player picks the climactic game ending
question they are calling for all the players to
make counter-arguments about what happens
to end the game.
One player alone cannot end the game like this.
At least one other player has to agree it is time
to wrap things up.
CLIMAX ARGUMENTS
Each player gets to say how they think the
game should end without paying a coin. This is
their chance to put a final spin on what happens.
Usually this will determine who loses.
Players make arguments and pick referees who
determine argument strength as usual. They
then roll for their own argument. If they succeed
in their roll they get to roll again. If they fail they
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drop out of the rolling. This continues till there
is only one argument left. If all of the arguments
roll out then ALL of them come back to do
another round of rolling. One argument WILL
HAPPEN!
AFTERMATH ARGUMENTS
Once the climax is resolved the players get one
last argument to say what happens to their
character after the game. This is when players
claim victory. Players make arguments, pick
referees and roll as usual. If multiple players
claim victory they resolve who really wins by
a counter-argument dice-rolling contest. The
dice gods will resolve the matter.
OPTIONAL RULE: SET REFEREE
One player can opt to not run a character but
instead to be the referee.
OTHER ENGLE MATRIX GAMES
This is a Beginners Engle Matrix Game. If you
like the freedom that making arguments gives
then you should look into the advanced game. In
those games players can make arguments about
more things. They can slow the game down by
requiring a second round of argument to resolve
fights, and may make trouble arguments to save
their characters when disaster strikes. They
can also speed the game up by having all the
players argue about one point. They can even
hold criminal trials.
Engle Matrix Games have been around since
1988. While they are fun they can also be used
for serious purposes such as planning, training,
psychotherapy and testing.
Hamster Press
7251 West State Road 46
Ellettsville, Indiana 47429
http://www.HamsterPress.net
HamsterPress@gmail.com