Little Auction House of Horrors

TBD

Designer(s): JackTheFlop Match Type: MM (for 9 players)
Featured in: Mainly By Design

MAIN MATCH 4



Build the best haunted house around - just... don't make it too scary.


In Little Auction House of Horrors, your goal is to make the best possible haunted house by buying Scares for your house, placing them, and then inviting the perfect Entrants to enter to get scared - however, don’t be TOO scary otherwise you'll be sued.



Each player starts with a 9x9 grid to place their Scares into, with a start and end of the house marked by a green / red square respectively.



In addition, each player starts with $1000 to spend on various Scares.

Scares allow you to scare the people that walk through your house and as such earn Screams - you need the most of these to win.



There will be 9 Scare Auctions, where you will spend your cash on silent auctions to grab the Scares you want. There will be between 8-9 available Scares each Auction- each Scare is outlined in a separate thread linked farther below. There is no way to know what will come up for each Auction until that auction occurs. Each will take place over 24 hours.


In order to buy a Scare, you will state how much money you are putting on it in your submissions. You may offer on multiple Scares within a single round - however, you may never have a total submission for all Scares that is more than your remaining amount of cash. Please note that, if there are two of the same Scare in a particular round, they will be labelled as {SCARE} {LETTER}, such as Wolfman A / Wolfman B - you must specify which one you are going for.


In addition, there are also at least 9 walls available in each round which do not provide Scares - these will be sold for $50 a piece. You can submit for as many Walls as you’d like - however, they will be distributed equally to everyone, meaning that if there is an excess, they will be kept and sent to the next round’s auction.


You may only bid in whole dollars - using cents is not allowed. This is for all auctions.


After the submission period ends, the player who submits the MOST money for each Scare will earn it, paying the cash they put in and receiving the Scare while everyone else is refunded.


If there is a tie for most cash bid, those bids will then be IGNORED and refunded- instead, the person with the 2nd highest bid will take it. The same tie rules happens for any ties for 2nd highest, 3rd highest, etc. bid that are necessary to look at.


If either there is no winner for an auction due to no interest OR all bids tying, then the item will be moved to the next round. If there are extra Scares / walls at the end of the 9th round, then those will simply be discarded.


~

Ex. Submission:


Grunkle A: $59

Wolfman: $100

Desk Job: $12

Walls: 3 (stating $150 does the same thing)



Once you successfully buy a Scare / Wall, you’ll be able to place it during the next round. You have been given a link to your own board- you will place it coloring the area of the Scare the color shown on your sheet and the Activation Area (if it exists) in purple. Please note that, for placement, a Wall is considered a Scare for simplicity.



Scares can be rotated in any 90 degree rotation, BUT CANNOT BE FLIPPED VERTICALLY OR HORIZONTALLY unless the piece can do that via traditional rotation. In order to place a Scare, you will physically place it on your gameboard that will be sent to you. Right after, please ping the Dealer so that we can verify it - make sure that it is correctly placed, **as you can’t change it once the round ends. **


All of the Scare that is colored and outlined in red MUST fit within your plot and not overlap any other scares - however, the activation area does not need to fit within and can overlap. If the activation area falls outside the house, it will simply be ignored. You can NEVER place a Scare such that it or its Activation Zone is on the start or end space.


If two activation zones overlap, the Scare that will be activated is the one that is in the farthest column right, followed by the farthest row up, (aka the closest to the exit).


If you fail to place a Scare(s) during a round, it will be discarded and an additional $50 will be taken from your funds for each that you don’t place. If this causes your Auction offers for the round to fail, then you will not bid for that round. If this causes your total funds to dip below $0, then you will automatically become eligible to be the Elimination Candidate. This is to prevent inactivity, as that is truly horrifying.



Once the final Scare Auction finishes, you will then place an offer for each of the 4 people you want to go through your house. The bets will work like normal, but there will be 4 possible slots to buy them for. The entrants will be listed below. You MUST bet on at least 4 Entrants unless it is impossible to do so due to a lack of funds- you may bet on MORE than 4.


The Entrant Selection works the same as the normal Auction - everyone will bet on the people they want to enter privately. Once the round ends, the slots will be filled in order based on the dollar amounts submitted - the highest bid will be placed first, then the next, then the next and so on.


If multiple bids are the same value, they will be attempted to fill at the same time - if this causes an issue where there are not enough slots for people, then the bids will be ignored.


If all of the bets are filled for a particular Entrant OR a player already has 4 Entrants stacked up, that bid will instead be ignored.


Any slot that is not filled will be randomly matched up with a player that needs them - no player can get multiple slots of the same person walking through their house unless it is impossible to assign them anyone else.


~

Ex. Submission:


Jumpy Jack: $150

Wandering Wimp: $203

Controlled Chao: $5

Timid Tim: $152



Once all four of your Entrants are selected, each of them will walk through the house as stated by their descriptions. Entrants can move in any cardinal / diagonal.


Each Entrant will start with a Fear of 0 for each stat - if they enter the activation zone of a Scare, the values of that Scare's traits will be added to their Fear meter.


Once the person gets through your house, the values of all the Fear stats will be summed together as the total Screams - then, any special scoring abilities will be calculated and added as well.


Please note you can overwhelm a Entrant and give them a heart attack by causing one of their Fears to go over their limit- if you do, you will be sued to hell and back and your final screams for all four entrants combined will be multiplied by -1. This does not stack if you overwhelm multiple Entrants - it will ALWAYS be negative.



Once all four run throughs are complete and the scores are tallied, the player with the worst screams plus anyone with negative money totals (see Scare Placement) will be eligible for the Elimination Candidate.


The player(s) with the MOST total screams will win and earn TOLs - if there is a sole winner, they will hand out a second TOL to anyone but the Elimination Candidate. If there is a choice for the Elimination Candidate, then the winners will decide who is the Elimination Candidate before this occurs - if this does not happen, then they will be stripped of their TOLs and it will be decided randomly.


In addition, for every 20 screams you manage to obtain, you will receive a Garnet.


Once the EC is found, they will select a DMO and enter the houses themselves to truly take on the fright of their lives.



Now this is the REAL scary stuff.


I personally will try and be around as much as possible to answer any and every question ASAP. However, please be patient (at least a little).


Each auction will take place over 24 hours, from 10 PM to 9:59 PM EST every day (realistically there might be a slight delay as we type things up) with a pregame period for initial questions and a endgame calculation period sandwiching those auction periods each being 24 hours. Note that during those auction periods you will be placing the previous auctions' winnings. For example:


Day 0: Pregame

Day 1: Scare Auction 1

Day 2: Scare Auction 2, Scare Placement 1

Day 3: Scare Auction 3, Scare Placement 2

...

Day 9: Scare Auction 9, Scare Placement 8

Day 10: Entrant Auction, Scare Placement 9

Day 11: Endgame

Day 12: Results / TOL Stuff


All Auction submissions will be public on who won, but NOT how much money was spent. All boards will be private and will be available to see post-match.


All A* calculations from the Entrants are calculated using https://qiao.github.io/PathFinding.js/visual/ using Manhattan pathing and diagonals on.


All money is your own. All scares / walls bought are your own. All entrants bought are your own. Trading is not an action in this game no matter the circumstances.



Wall: Is literally a wall. No activation.

Stats:

  • Monster: 0
  • Existential: 0
  • Phobia: 0



Playtest: Your entire project is falling apart…

Stats:

  • Existential: 5
  • Monster: 0
  • Phobia: 0



Wolfman: He just came out under a full moon. He's a top.

Stats:

  • Existential: 0
  • Monster: 5
  • Phobia: 0



Nightmare: Your worst fear is here for you…

Stats:

  • Existential: 0
  • Monster: 0
  • Phobia: 5



Desk Job: The future comes to haunt you…

Stats:

  • Existential: 4
  • Monster: 0
  • Phobia: 1



Slug Boy: He just wanted to change, but not this much.

Stats:

  • Existential: 1
  • Monster: 4
  • Phobia: 0



Roach Cannon: We got some PVC, roaches, and CO₂. Why not?

Stats:

  • Existential: 0
  • Monster: 1
  • Phobia: 4



Grunkle-In-a-Box: I CAUGHT HIM! HE'S IN THE BOX! DON’T LET HIM LEAVE!

Stats:

  • Existential: 3
  • Monster: 2
  • Phobia: 0



Man-Spider: I’m sure we ordered the right one.

Stats:

  • Existential: 0
  • Monster: 3
  • Phobia: 2



Coffin Banger: You’ve seen too much. Get in.

Stats:

  • Existential: 2
  • Monster: 0
  • Phobia: 3



That One Teacher, Ya Know: They were really mean and picked on you. They were scary.

Stats:

  • Existential: 2
  • Monster: 2
  • Phobia: 1



Big Tentacle Man: …and I'm being told this is NSFW? Dude I dunno it’s just an octopus guy.

Stats:

  • Existential: 1
  • Monster: 2
  • Phobia: 2



Blood Walls: They leak blood. Your blood. Don’t ask questions - it’ll just make it worse.

Stats:

  • Existential: 2
  • Monster: 1
  • Phobia: 2




Below are all the Entrants. Remember that along with their typical goal, they also score the value of all of their Fear Meters. They are also stated in order of when they'll enter.


DASHING DUO (Myth / Pseudo)

Pathing: They start at each end and find each other using bi-directional A*.

Fear Limit: 10 for Each

Special Scoring: For any limit divisible by 2, gain 5 bonus Screams.

~


JUMPY JACK

Pathing: Jack will use A until they enter an activation zone - they will then run as far down vertically as possible until they hit a Wall / Scare, where they will then recalculate A from that position and go back.

Fear Limit: 10 for Each

Special Scoring: For every activation trigged, gain 2 bonus Screams.

~


RANDOM RED

Pathing: Red will walk in a random cardinal direction but never go on a space they've already touched. They will also not go on a space that would make it possible to walk to the exit while using the remaining unvisited spaces.

Fear Limit: 12 for Each

Special Scoring: For every 6 spaces Red walks, gain a bonus Scream.

~


WANDERING WIMP

Pathing: Will go to the closest non-activated Activation Square using A*, then go to the closest from there unless the exit is closer. Will always prefer the highest letter and then number (for example, if E3 is the current space and it is either C3 or G3 to move to, it will choose G3).

Fear Limit: 12 for Each

Special Scoring: For every activation trigged, gain 2 bonus Screams.

~


STRAIGHT SHAUN

Pathing: Shaun will go in a cardinal direction until hitting a Wall/Scare/edge of the map, then rotate 90 degrees and continue moving. If this causes a scenario where the path would send them back to the start, the next 90 degree rotation is used instead - if all directions fail, then they will go back along the path and check the stop right before. The order to check is Down, Left, Up, Right.

Fear Limit: 12 for Each

Special Scoring: For every time a full rotation is checked (up, left, down, right), gain a bonus Scream.

~


ZOOMING ZERO

Pathing: Zero will use A* to get to the end as quick as possible.

Fear Limit: 8 for Each

Special Scoring: All screams are worth double for Zero.

~


CONTROLLED CHAO

Pathing: Chao will follow your exact instructions through the house - you will send the coordinates of the path Chao will take. Chao cannot go back on tiles they've already stepped on.

Fear Limit: 10 for Each

Special Scoring: None.

~


TIMID TIM

Pathing: Tim will use A* to get to the end, avoiding Activation Zones and treating them as solid walls unless literally impossible to move forward by avoiding them.

Fear Limit: 6 for Each

Special Scoring: All screams are worth quintuple for Tim.

~


LAZY LEBOSS

Pathing: Leboss will use the same pathing style as the previous person before them - this CAN be different than them.

Fear Limit: Same as Previous Person

Special Scoring: Same as Previous Person


Clarification: You may share your Houses (aka your gameboards). You are in charge of your own link - I will not step in if someone shares around your link because you gave it to them.


Clarifications / Addendums:

Auctions

  • Entrant auctions can be overwritten. The Garnet bids will be evaluated first - you must specify which Entrant the override is being used for. The same tie / bid failure rules apply as normal.
  • You may buy as many of one type of Scares / Walls as you want - the only thing limited to one a person is Entrants unless impossible.

House Runthroughs

  • Each walkthrough is done independent of each other. The house will reset before each Entrants enters.
  • The only squares an Entrant cannot walk through are the ones taken up by the Scares / Walls. Empty squares are simply empty and can be walked through with nothing happening.
  • If the value of a scare goes over the limit of an Entrant, it triggers a heart attack. Matching it exactly is fine. Ex.: Getting to 10 Fear for any stat for the Daring Duo is fine- getting an 11 would cause a heart attack.

Entrants

  • Red moves in any cardinal direction, never stepping on a tile he has already stepped on. Any move that would make it impossible to complete the walkthrough by stepping on it from that direction is not considered in the movement.
  • The Daring Duo has one scare meter. It’s really for flavor- it just uses bi-directional A* so having two people makes more sense.

Clarification: any Entrant that can move diagonally can NOT slip through a diagonal gap - for example, an Entrant that can move diagonally can NOT travel from C3 to D2 even though it is separated diagonally by these walls.



Clarification: Wandering Wimp will take the shortest path as determined by the length, indicated at the bottom of the A* calculation site in Admin Stuff. If it is tied, then it will prefer the highest letter and then number.


Clarification: If a Scare/Wall were to occupy the same space as a Activation Zone, the Activation Zone is ignored.


Clarification: Here is a clearer explanation of walls being bought.


We will check how many walls have been bought. Everyone who pays for 1 will get 1 (just how the math works). Then if anyone paid for 2 and there are enough to give everyone who asked a second, then they'll get a second. Then third, fourth, etc.


If at any point there are more people than walls, no one gets any more walls and the extras will be moved to the next auction.


Addendum: There are two important things to note about Straight Shaun.


First - if Shaun needs to backtrack, the backtracking is not counted in any rotations for extra scoring.


Second - if it is impossible for Shaun to progress towards the exit due to the layout of your house and all backtracking possible has been completed, he will move to the highest letter / number combo (in that order) that allows them to continue making progress towards the exit within the space that has been traveled over. Let me create an example to illustrate this.


~

Consider this smaller board. Starting from the top right, you move down, then left, then up. All of the spaces in light red have already been traveled, and blue is where we ended.


Now, from D1, there is no potential moves that would send Shaun to a new place, and going backwards and doing all other possible moves on blue spaces this doesn't change. As such, the only way to make new progress is to go through C3. As such, we start on the highest letter / number space that we can work with. That is E3.



As D1 was scanned through and nothing worked when we started with R, then we start with R at E3. That and D don't work, so then L works and we move to A3. From there, Up to A1, right to B1, Down to B5, and Left to A5 solves Shaun's path.


This would total to 3 bonus screams, as marked by the R's.



Addendum: Your house must have an orthogonal (left, right, up, down only) path from the Start to the End. This is to prevent scenarios where Entrants cannot possibly walk through your house.


Clarification: During the final auction, if you have multiple bets happen at the same time, they all go through, and you would have more than 4 people going through your house, the LAST one on the list would be ignored (Leboss, then Tim, then Chao, so on).


Clarification: If, somehow, by God's unholy grace and the devil's will, someone gets all 4 Lebosses, the first one will become a Chao. Note that this can only really occur if someone manages to literally have no other option to accept all 4 Lebosses (or buy 1 and be forced to accept 3).


Clarification: If someone fails to place in the final round, the same penalty still applies - if that causes you to not have enough to bid, then all your bids are void.

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