Ruck! 7s: Tracking Field Position

One of the key features of the game was tracking where on the field the ball is and who has possession. These are very common things to track across all sports but decidedly difficult in this contest where you are only allowed to use the 18 card set and the case they come in is off limits as a device within the game. The restraint made me think hard.

In the larger version of this game that I was developing there would be multiple spots horizontally across the field. I am dropping that all together as it does not thematically fit the game and at an 18 card count it didn't make sense. So the only field position to track was progress towards the try line (goal line). In the 15s version i was going to track the position with a meeple and the back of the box. In this challenge there are no meeples and no box. So thinking about what I had 18 cards for a game of sevens. If I had all 14 player positions that leaves me with 4 cards for "bench players" not exactly true to 7s rugby (there are usually 5 bench players) but it was a good symbolic representation.

So to maintain the spirit of the contest, I decided that the the bench cards would be a great way to track the field position.

The bench players are 2 cards per player set on either side of the draw deck. So to maintain the spirit of the contest, I decided that the the bench cards would be a great way to track the field position. What I came up with is that after every ruck the team in possession will move a card from their bench to the other teams bench. If you win a ruck and go to move the card and there are no more then you score a try! In Rugby 7s Tries are normally worth 5 points and you can get 2 more points if you kick the conversion. In Ruck 7s you flip the top card of the opponents bench after you have scored the try and then you are awarded the value in the top left corner.

I really like this method because it adds a lot of value and strategy to the bench cards and they are not just some cards sitting out the game. So keep tuned for more updates.

Players: 2

Year Published: ????

Recommended Ages: 12+

Time to Play: 15-30m