Three 4 $5.00

The Three 4 $5.00 collection is a Black & White Games experiment.

For $5.00 you get a CD that contains three different Print-and-Play games and a couple short movies.

First, the B&W games...

I'd love to say you'd pay over $40 buying these games in their published form, but I can't. As much as I tried, I couldn't find a publisher who would print them! Each of them has a special place in my heart, though, and I'm thrilled to be able to offer them in this format.

The three games below are found on the CD as files in pdf format. The game files contain the rules and special components required to play. You'll have to print and cut out a few pages for each game to get the cards and tokens required. Additional items will be needed for each one too. So, yes, there's a little more work involved for preparation. But that's why you get three games for only $5!

Here are the details for each one.

King for a Day

On the fairy-tale island of Arleon the players compete for right to be the first king. In fear of civil war, the wise rulers determined each potential ruler would rule for only one day and after a time they would choose the best among them for the throne. In the game, one player takes on the role as king each round, granting bonuses and advantages to the other players who offer the best deals. After several rounds, the player who amassed the most power through a developing city wins the right to be the first king of Arleon.

For most of my exploration in game design, this has been my pet project. It represents my best effort toward creating a Eurogame. Several designers and publishers have praised the core concepts, but try as I might I have never been able to match the game with the right publisher at the right time! The edition that appears in this collection is a simple, trimmed down negotiation and resource management game with a novel offer mechanic. We've enjoyed it for years and it still fills a void in my collection - that of a short, non-confrontational negotiation game that gives room for thought, but also leaves plenty of room for laughs.

The game is for three to five players and it can be completed in 45- 60 minutes. You'll need to print and cut out 93 cards, a player sheet for each player and scrolls for the players. You'll also need pencils, several token (chips, counters or stones) to mark information and to use for currency.

If you bought an early edition of this game your CD may not include the money tokens for this game. We prefer to play with chips, but if you want the sheet of coins and counters, you can download it here:

King for a Day Coins

*Note: The first batch of CDs contained a slight mistake in the written rules for this game. The rules referred to a King Aid card, but no such card is found in the component files. This aid card was left out of this version of the game, as it added no extra information and it is not necessary to enjoy the game. We forgot to pull the reference from the text. The error has been fixed on our newer CDs. Sorry for any confusion this caused!

Get Paul That Promotion (2nd Edition)

What more could be said about this game of not being too creative? You can read all about the game and its background on the page for the first edition here. If you want to read why people love it or hate it, check out its page at the 'Geek. To sum it up, this is a hilarious party game for people who can role play and it's a colossal waste of time for people who can't.

I took some of the negative comments to heart and I improved this new edition. Many cards are new, offering more possibilities for creativity. The written rules have been improved as well to avoid some misunderstandings.

Four to six players can enjoy this game and it takes about 45 minutes to complete. This is the simplest of the lot to prepare. You'll have to print and cut three decks of 21 small cards. (These cards all fit on only three sheets of paper/cardstock.) You'll also need a sheet of paper and pencil for each player.

Blackmail

This is the game that takes no time to explain before playing! I based it on Speculation, a simple gambling game that uses a standard deck of playing cards. Blackmail uses the same basic rules, but special cards are included to add more choices and suprises. The simple choices and special cards that come up can be explained to everyone as the game is played.

The game works best for 4 - 8 players. You'll need to print and cut out a deck of 56 cards. Even though this is a "Black & White Game" the cards do need to be printed in color. Suits could have been used in the place of colors, but in an effort to keep this game immediately accessible to players of all types I chose to use color.

Then the B&W movies...

Did I mention this collection is an experiment?

Along with three fun games you'll also get these two short Black & White Movies in Windows Media File format:

We Need a Fourth (The First Episode)

This short film (just over four minutes long) highlights the exploits of Gamer Greg as he seeks a fourth player to join in fun games. In this first episode he heads to the masses armed with a copy of Loopin' Louie. Some of his victims make excuses, others join in the game and have fun. Decide for yourself if Gamer Greg is cool or creepy.

Bored Gaming Kids

An even shorter film (running almost three minutes), this one features the wife and kids--at their worst! We worked hard to contrast the dream of having a gaming family with the frustrations of competing interests.

You can buy the collection on CD from from Fair Play Games.

The B&W Games Blanket Project
All money we make from this CD collection goes to help individuals and families in need. Currently I.D.E.S.is the organization we support. They are working all over the world helping those who have suffered from natural disasters. Specifically, money from the my Black & White Games is sent to help efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi as people there continue efforts of recovery after hurricane Katrina. While that cause isn't drawing the media attention that it used to, the need is still great there. We're happy to help I.D.E.S. as they rebuild homes and families.

You can read more about the B&W Games Blanket Project here.

Return to the B&W Games page.

Last updated July 16, 2007.