I wasn't exactly sure where to post this, but I figured this was the best place.
A while back I was looking for a new way to play SMW instead of just hacking it to make it something else. What I came up with involves vanilla SMW but with a board game feeling. The only other person I played it with was a friend of mine who lives down the road, and I've been meaning to share this with someone for a while. Who better to share it with than a community who loves SMW?
I can't say it's perfect, though I have tested it two or three times and adjusted the rules accordingly.
SMW The Board Game
Goal: Make it to Bowser and defeat him to win! The first player to do so is the winner.
Materials:
One copy of SUPER MARIO WORLD, with all levels available for play
One six sided die
One coin
Two players
Basic Rules:
1. Both players agree on any optional rules of their choosing. Once step 2 has started, there cannot be any changes in these rules.
2. Both players roll the die. Highest roll goes first.
3. Both players start on the YELLOW SWITCH PALACE.
4. In order to advance, a player must roll the die and move the number of spaces denoted on the die.
5. At the end of the roll, when landing on a level tile, the player must complete the level.
a. If the player completes the level, they may stay on the tile and wait for their next turn.
b. If the player dies, they must go back to where they were prior to rolling the die.
6. The game ends when a player either loses all their lives or lands on either FRONT DOOR or BACK DOOR and defeats Bowser!
Specific Level Tiles:
• YOSHI’S HOUSE: if a player lands on YOSHI’S HOUSE, they must advance to and complete YOSHI’S ISLAND 2.
• Any tiles with two exits (excluding STAR WORLD levels): whether or not a player lands on one in the middle of their roll, they must flip a coin if and only if it branches to another path and not a single level, e.g. if landing on or passing DONUT PLAINS 2, the player will not need to flip a coin because the only alternate path is to the GREEN SWITCH PALACE. A player’s turn should not end while being on a switch palace, or on TOP SECRET AREA. The only special cases are for star warps and pipes; a player must flip a coin if the other path leads to either.
o If the coin lands on heads, they take the normal exit.
o If the coin lands on tails, they take the secret exit.
If a player loses at any given level and goes back to a tile with two exits, they MUST flip a coin again to determine which path.
• PIPES: when a player lands on a pipe, this does not decrease the amount of spaces they roll. Only when a player passes a level tile does the amount of spaces they can continue to move decreases. A player’s turn should not end while being on a pipe.
• STAR WARPS: when a player lands on a star warp on either the main world or on a submap that is not STAR WORLD, they must enter it as if it were a pipe. However, if a player is on the STAR WORLD submap, things play out a little differently. Check the ‘Specific Submaps’ rules for further information.
Specific Submaps:
• SPECIAL WORLD and its levels are off limits.
• STAR WORLD: When a player is in STAR WORLD, they do not roll the die to advance. Instead, once in STAR WORLD, the player advances to the next sequentially numbered level (looping back to STAR WORLD 1 after STAR WORLD 5.) The player must stay on that level tile until it is beaten. Playing the level counts as taking a turn. Once the level is beaten, the player advances to the next star warp. Once on a star warp, the player flips a coin.
o If heads, the player takes the star warp.
o If tails, the player does not take the star warp.
A player’s turn should not end while on a star warp. Instead, they must always advance to the next level tile and end their turn. For example, let’s say the player lands on the star warp after DONUT SECRET HOUSE. Their turn would play out as follows:
o The player advances to STAR WORLD 1 and plays the level. If they beat the level, they advance to the next star warp and complete the coin flipping process. Let’s say the player flips a heads. They would use the star warp and end their turn while landing on VANILLA SECRET 1. They would NOT have to complete the level. But, if they flip tails, they must continue on to STAR WORLD 2 and end their turn, waiting to complete that level on their next turn.
Lastly, one more thing to note – if a player is coming out of STAR WORLD, they do not need to flip a coin when landing on the level tile. Instead, they will continue on the normal path.
Optional rules:
• All levels must be completed by the normal exit (or any variation of this rule where each level that has a secret exit must be completed by it, etc.)
• If a player is stuck in the FOREST OF ILLUSION submap for more than two turns due to coin flips, they may exit the map the normal way without flipping any more coins.
• Players can only advance through the normal way – no secret exits may be used.
• Players must always defeat a certain level tile (castle, fortress, ghost house, etc.) while passing it, either ending their turn on that tile or not afterwards.
• CHOCOLATE SECRET and DONUT SECRET 2 must be completed when passed and may or may not end the player’s turn.
• The players may take their choice of power ups from TOP SECRET AREA before the game starts.
• STAR WORLD is off limits.
• STAR WORLD functions like the rest of the game, without any special rules.
• A player can never get power ups from yellow or green switch blocks, or only use power ups from those blocks.
• A player cannot use any powerups.
• No Yoshis.
• If a player accumulates enough bonus stars and gets a bonus game, they get another turn.
• Instead of returning to the prior tile before the player rolled if a player dies, they may not roll again until they beat the level they died on.
• No breaking the stage with a cape or blue shell.
• Instead of the winner being determined by who makes it to Bowser’s castle
• Instead of flipping a coin, the way the player goes will be determined by which exit they take in the level.
I hope you guys have fun with it, even if you do just play it once!
Edit: Disregard second to last optional rule
waiting for SMWC2 to come out since 1995
A while back I was looking for a new way to play SMW instead of just hacking it to make it something else. What I came up with involves vanilla SMW but with a board game feeling. The only other person I played it with was a friend of mine who lives down the road, and I've been meaning to share this with someone for a while. Who better to share it with than a community who loves SMW?
I can't say it's perfect, though I have tested it two or three times and adjusted the rules accordingly.
SMW The Board Game
Goal: Make it to Bowser and defeat him to win! The first player to do so is the winner.
Materials:
One copy of SUPER MARIO WORLD, with all levels available for play
One six sided die
One coin
Two players
Basic Rules:
1. Both players agree on any optional rules of their choosing. Once step 2 has started, there cannot be any changes in these rules.
2. Both players roll the die. Highest roll goes first.
3. Both players start on the YELLOW SWITCH PALACE.
4. In order to advance, a player must roll the die and move the number of spaces denoted on the die.
5. At the end of the roll, when landing on a level tile, the player must complete the level.
a. If the player completes the level, they may stay on the tile and wait for their next turn.
b. If the player dies, they must go back to where they were prior to rolling the die.
6. The game ends when a player either loses all their lives or lands on either FRONT DOOR or BACK DOOR and defeats Bowser!
Specific Level Tiles:
• YOSHI’S HOUSE: if a player lands on YOSHI’S HOUSE, they must advance to and complete YOSHI’S ISLAND 2.
• Any tiles with two exits (excluding STAR WORLD levels): whether or not a player lands on one in the middle of their roll, they must flip a coin if and only if it branches to another path and not a single level, e.g. if landing on or passing DONUT PLAINS 2, the player will not need to flip a coin because the only alternate path is to the GREEN SWITCH PALACE. A player’s turn should not end while being on a switch palace, or on TOP SECRET AREA. The only special cases are for star warps and pipes; a player must flip a coin if the other path leads to either.
o If the coin lands on heads, they take the normal exit.
o If the coin lands on tails, they take the secret exit.
If a player loses at any given level and goes back to a tile with two exits, they MUST flip a coin again to determine which path.
• PIPES: when a player lands on a pipe, this does not decrease the amount of spaces they roll. Only when a player passes a level tile does the amount of spaces they can continue to move decreases. A player’s turn should not end while being on a pipe.
• STAR WARPS: when a player lands on a star warp on either the main world or on a submap that is not STAR WORLD, they must enter it as if it were a pipe. However, if a player is on the STAR WORLD submap, things play out a little differently. Check the ‘Specific Submaps’ rules for further information.
Specific Submaps:
• SPECIAL WORLD and its levels are off limits.
• STAR WORLD: When a player is in STAR WORLD, they do not roll the die to advance. Instead, once in STAR WORLD, the player advances to the next sequentially numbered level (looping back to STAR WORLD 1 after STAR WORLD 5.) The player must stay on that level tile until it is beaten. Playing the level counts as taking a turn. Once the level is beaten, the player advances to the next star warp. Once on a star warp, the player flips a coin.
o If heads, the player takes the star warp.
o If tails, the player does not take the star warp.
A player’s turn should not end while on a star warp. Instead, they must always advance to the next level tile and end their turn. For example, let’s say the player lands on the star warp after DONUT SECRET HOUSE. Their turn would play out as follows:
o The player advances to STAR WORLD 1 and plays the level. If they beat the level, they advance to the next star warp and complete the coin flipping process. Let’s say the player flips a heads. They would use the star warp and end their turn while landing on VANILLA SECRET 1. They would NOT have to complete the level. But, if they flip tails, they must continue on to STAR WORLD 2 and end their turn, waiting to complete that level on their next turn.
Lastly, one more thing to note – if a player is coming out of STAR WORLD, they do not need to flip a coin when landing on the level tile. Instead, they will continue on the normal path.
Optional rules:
• All levels must be completed by the normal exit (or any variation of this rule where each level that has a secret exit must be completed by it, etc.)
• If a player is stuck in the FOREST OF ILLUSION submap for more than two turns due to coin flips, they may exit the map the normal way without flipping any more coins.
• Players can only advance through the normal way – no secret exits may be used.
• Players must always defeat a certain level tile (castle, fortress, ghost house, etc.) while passing it, either ending their turn on that tile or not afterwards.
• CHOCOLATE SECRET and DONUT SECRET 2 must be completed when passed and may or may not end the player’s turn.
• The players may take their choice of power ups from TOP SECRET AREA before the game starts.
• STAR WORLD is off limits.
• STAR WORLD functions like the rest of the game, without any special rules.
• A player can never get power ups from yellow or green switch blocks, or only use power ups from those blocks.
• A player cannot use any powerups.
• No Yoshis.
• If a player accumulates enough bonus stars and gets a bonus game, they get another turn.
• Instead of returning to the prior tile before the player rolled if a player dies, they may not roll again until they beat the level they died on.
• No breaking the stage with a cape or blue shell.
• Instead of flipping a coin, the way the player goes will be determined by which exit they take in the level.
I hope you guys have fun with it, even if you do just play it once!
Edit: Disregard second to last optional rule
waiting for SMWC2 to come out since 1995