Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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MacGyver™

"If you don't have the right equipment for the job, you just have to make it yourself"
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The game includes a SitRep book, Item Cards, set of identical Reference Booklets, a pad of scoresheets and pencil, and a life-sized cardboard 'Richard Dean Anderson as MacGyver', sporting a small shoulder-pack to store the game in.

Everybody sits in a circle; whoever's turn it is to be Narrator sits in front of the cutout, with the Sit-Rep book.

The Situation-Report Playbook is divided into sections of increasing levels of difficulty. Each page contains a Situation, written as a first-person narrative by MacGyver, giving a quick background story relating the situation he finds himself in and what needs to be accomplished, as well as any unusual circumstances, features or objects in the area. The rest of the page is filled with Minutiae: what would normally be non-sequiturs (humidity, the exact size of any sundry objects, etc.)

The Situation, goals and environment is the same for all the Players.

After reading out loud the Situation, the Narrator deals out a number of Item Cards to each Player.

The front of each Item Card shows an everyday'ish item that can reasonably be expected to fit into a pocket or small pack. On the reverse is a detailed list of the item's material properties. Each Player can trade any duplicated Item Card(s) in for a new one, if desired.

The Narrator starts the timer (he or she may play the round they're narrating, but score isn't counted). The players can use their Ref-Booklets (basic formulas, chemical properties, et cetera) as well as any other allowed references during the time period. Players may of course question the Narrator at any time concerning not-previously-mentioned Situation minutiae.

MacGyver is assumed to always be carrying a standard Swiss Army Knife™.

Available in Standard, Challenger and Educational-Series Editions
Expansion Packs sold separately.

FlyingToaster, Mar 23 2010

[link]






       I always appreciated MacGyver as a soft way to teach and get young minds interested in practical uses for science. In my mind, always the most effective way to learn.
jurist, Mar 23 2010
  

       This could be easily adapted to a tabletop RPG game. That would be superfun.
DrWorm, Mar 23 2010
  

       Very good. (+)   

       There could be a scenario where the player is trapped in a barn, surrounded by armed bad guys... possibly led by a disgruntled army colonel.   

       Some specific wild cards are dealt, along with cards from the standard deck:
i) A tractor (or milk float, or traction engine...)
ii)Some steel plate, sections, and/or pipes just lying around
iii)A welding torch, complete with fuel & safety mask
iv)A muscular black man with a mohawk hairdo.
Jinbish, Mar 23 2010
  

       The cards are for what the player is carrying, the narration would include any objects-of-note in the environment, and "minutiae" (at the bottom of the Narration page) details the things that would likely be found but aren't specifically mentioned in the story (ie: a hotel room contains many things but mentioning and detailing them all specifically would really bog things down)   

       Though if you mean give each player a different special-object card, that's an interesting variation, as is dealing only one hand of cards for everybody to use.
FlyingToaster, Mar 23 2010
  

       Ah, right. No, no - the idea is grand, I just always leaned towards the MacGuyvering of the A-Team to the MacGuyvering of... er... MacGuyver. Less science and more cut-scene kick-ass deus ex machina... which won't be such a good game.
Jinbish, Mar 23 2010
  

       /A-Team/
actually that sounds like a kickass computer-game... more virtual welding, less slide-rules.
  

       [edit: LOL at Mr-T which I didn't recognize first time'round]
FlyingToaster, Mar 23 2010
  

       I would definitely buy it. Could be sold with the box set of DVDs.
DIYMatt, Mar 23 2010
  

       (+) "Ok, now everybody has to put on their mullets."   

       //mullets//
<harrumph> nuthin' wrong with a mullet, keeps you from going bald: how many bald guys have mullets ? See ?
  

       Likewise an afro on a white-guy is a perfectly valid method of temperature and birth control. (a bit of 'net research and from the pictures of Japanese guys with afros, I'm gonna guess the same holds true there too) § x1
FlyingToaster, Mar 24 2010
  

       "I ain't getting on no Flying Toaster, sucka"
Jinbish, Mar 24 2010
  

       I really like this idea, but I agree with DrWorm in that it would be better if it were a tabletop RPG.
Alx_xlA, Mar 24 2010
  

       RPGs are themselves a fairly effective means of birth control.   

       This should be a reality show akin to Junkyard wars. Those guys from Mythbusters would be awesome in this format. Talking about stuff blowing up and catching fire is a distant third place behind blowing stuff up and catching stuff on fire, with drinking beer while watching stuff blow up and catch fire taking a strong second place.
bungston, Mar 24 2010
  

       DrWorm, AIx... this *is* a "tabletop RPG game", no ? you don't *have* to sit on the floor...
FlyingToaster, Mar 25 2010
  

       [bungston]: Amen.
Jinbish, Mar 25 2010
  

       But of course doing all those things at once wins the coveted half place position.
rcarty, Mar 25 2010
  

       reminds me of my gaming style with D&D, im always the one to come up with the impossible solutions...
Arcanus, Mar 26 2010
  

       //with D&D// //impossible solutions...//   

       <Rolls a natural 20> Wa-Hey! My infinite cellphone (perpetuum mobile) battery works!
Jinbish, Mar 26 2010
  

       [+] What would McGyver make of:
a title
a summary, and
a better mousetrap?
pashute, Sep 19 2010
  
      
[annotate]
  


 

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