Okay, so I recently discovered the game Ghoulash and really liked the concept and simplicity, yet how tactically sound that that type of game can prove to be and was trying to search around for another game like it but had no luck.  So if anyone has time or knows of any game like Ghoulash (and if you aren't familiar with it, it's just an all paper based game that's played on graph-paper-like charts with little/no roleplaying.link:www.ghoulash.com ) I would be very happy it you could post it on this thread.  Thanks.

Hi-

Are you looking to design a game like Ghoulash, or just looking for another game to play? If its the latter, this is really not the place to post questions like that.  You may try the CONNECTIONS thread to see if someone with a game like that is looking for playtesters. The STORYGAMES forum (another site) may be of some help as well.

Good Luck,

Ken

Okay so here are my thoughts of two of the problems mentioned so far:

Making it more GM orientated:

You should think of casino poker games like Texas Holdem, the GM acts as "The House" with all the players playing against the house. So the GM lays out some cards onthe table (the basic situation) and both the players and the GM try to make the best out of the cards on their table and the cards in their hands.

Representing character skills:

In any given conflict the character's relevant skills affects the player's hand: So the ace gunfighter gets extra cards in any gunfight (but not in a brawl or when trying to jump on a moving train). These bonuses can be cumulative so if an ace gunfighter and sneaky low down rat gets the jump on someone their extra cards for sneakiness and for gunfighting prowess stack.

Also characters have different kinds of Chips, in combat say they have Toughness chips and Mettle chips, they bet wounds whenever they risk injury and mettle whenever they attempt something wild and daring. If they lose toughness chips it means they've been injured, if they lose mettle chips it means they've been shaken. There could be some generic Luck chips you can bet in any situation.

Characters may not always have the option of folding (if they end up in a combat situation they can only fold if there's a way out).