Design 2
A war between two factions where the third player is the gravedigger (death/war).
What does the gravedigger do when he is not digging? Maybe he sells each side weapons.
The gravedigger wants the war to go on for as long as possible so he can make as much money as possible or so both sides kill each other off.
Side 1 and Side 2 want to beat the other side first.
This game perhaps works well in concept – the game could theoretically last for a long period of time.
This is based on a traditional story and can be found in films like Yojimbo.
Design 3
Three players have to work together to move an object and get something done, say, navigate it through a maze.
One player controls vertical movement.
One player controls horizontal movement.
One player controls turning the device.
I think this has been done before, but using complex hardware and in virtual reality. It could be done with say, a control pad, a mouse, and a keyboard, and so does not require complex 3D graphics to work. It also might be possible to a physical turn-based version of this game.
Design 4
Three-player thumb wrestling.
Difficult to think how this would work because I can't understand how the three hands would lock together. Players would probably lock their last two fingers together with the last two digits of the player to their right and the second and third fingers together with the player on their left. Players could also grasp a single object that brings their hands together.
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Design 1: 3 Player Rummy (version 1.0)
This game is similar to Rummy only it uses three players. The trick is to blaance the rules so that each of the three players has an equal chance of winning.
Early concepts:
Player Black – Can only play black cards; lay out all black cards
Player Red – Can play only red; lay out all red cards
Player Three – Can play both red and black – must bridge two sets together
Goal is to be the first to get rid of all cards.
Player 1 (Black) can only play black cards.
Player 2 (Red) can only play red cards.
Player 3 (Both) can play both red and black cards.
Setup:
Each player draws a card from the top o the deck. The first player to draw a black card is Player 1. The first player to draw a red card is Player 2. The third player is Player 3.
Shuffle the cards.
Each player is dealt 7 cards at the beginning of the game.
Playing Cards:
At the beginning of your turn, draw one card.
At the end of your turn, discard one card.
Play a chain of three or more cards (three consecutive-value cards in the same suit).
Play three or more of a kind (three or more cards of the same value).
Build off a chain:
Play one or more cards that continues a chain of consecutive-value cards from the same suit.
Play one or more cards of a kind.
If there are two red cards of the same value, and black player has one or more black cards of the same value, the black player may play those cards to add to the set.
Playing from the discard pile: Any player can draw any number of cards from the discard pile. However, they have to play at least one of the drawn cards before the end of their turn.
If the draw pile becomes depleted, shuffle the discard pile into a new draw pile.
The Joker can be used as any card in the deck.
Optional/Test Rules:
Red can discard any number of black cards at the beginning of the turn, but has to draw that many cards plus one. Black can discard any number of red cards at the beginning of the turn, but has to draw that many cards plus one. This rule would conceivably put Red and Black at an advantage over Player Three because they can burn through cards faster to get combinations. However, it solves the problem of getting rid of dead (opposite-color) cards. Perhaps the rule could be emended to limit their discards/draws to two. Or, playing from the discard pile could be emended for the Third Player so he has the advantage of drawing more cards from the discard and using them.
Red and Black players can play two cards of the same value but can only play three consecutive cards of the same suit. This rule would also give more power to the Red and Black players. However, Player Three would have an advantage without this rule, as he can play any combination of colors.
Player 3 plays with his hands face-up. Red and Black players may take one card from Player 3's hand instead of drawing a card or drawing from the discard pile. They cannot draw from Player 3's hand if Player 3 has only one card. This rule would make Player 3 play all his cards when possible because other players could conceivably take his cards. However, it decreases the number of cards Player 3 has, bringing him closer to an empty hand.
After each of the three players has completed a round of turns, players then rotate clockwise such that the Black player becomes the Red player, the Red player becomes Player 3, and Player 3 becomes the Black player. Play then resumes. This means that whoever is Player 3 will take an additional turn after completing the round. It also means players will have to consider how close they are to completing the game and whether they want to screw their hand up for the next person. The game would be a bit more confusing. In conjunction with Player 3 Hand Open, this would make the game a bit more complex, as well.