Tokens and credits
A few weeks after The Khayan Py and Saylah went to a cookout at one of his closest friends' place. It was a great apartment with an epic view and an exclusive rooftop lounge area where tenants could entertain as long as it was not too loud. Things with Saylah and Py were going great, this was the first time that she would be around his inner-circle. It should have been nerve racking, but it wasn’t, everyone instantly felt like old friends. Py’s best-friend Hero basically came home with him from the hospital and was more of a sister than anything else. Em had also brought one of her friends from university who was somewhat awkward but not in a bad way.
They met in a gaming lobby, which makes sense because Em doesn’t really speak to anyone outside of this group without a reason. Yves was the guy who came with Em and was not the typical looking nerd. He was average height, but obviously fit, built like a rock climber or break dancer, you know slender but seriously ripped. My first impression would have been, social butterfly or something like that, but he was very soft-spoken. When anyone tried to start a conversation with him his answers were polite enough, but when Em spoke to him it seemed like nothing else in the world mattered.
Em told Eu that Yves is a game developer who hopes that his third attempt at university would break the curse. He came from a family of medicine, but not doctors. His mother and father are LPNs which were like doctors, but no MD on their degrees. It looked like Yves was a shoe-in for the family business because he was an EMT straight out of high school. His double life as an EMT during the day and a professional gamer at night was one his parents didn’t approve of. They pushed him to go to med-school. According to his side of the story he went along so that he would have more time to focus on gaming.
After failing out of university for the second time because he stopped going to class, Yves was essentially kicked out of the house. Fortunately he had enough money from gaming to afford a place of his own. With all the extra time he started character modding and map building. To his surprise, not only was he good at this, but he grew to become obsessed with learning more. This drive to learn led him back to school. Em says that Yves is of the impression that finishing a degree will show his parents that he isn’t a lost cause or a failure. She admired his tenacity and courage to do what he is passionate about, but it was also easy to see the way his parents treated him frustrated her too.
Eu sensed something else though. It wasn’t like her to give any more than a word or two about anyone, now here she is talking about him like this. Following Em’s eyes Eu looked out of the living room into the kitchen and saw Yves talking to Hero; they looked like long lost friends gossiping about the day that was wrapping up. By the time he turned his attention back to Em she had her headphones on and was turning her eyes from Yves to her phone with an out of place hint of a smile.
(Hero) That was the best cookout that we’ve had in a while. Thanks for helping with the cleanup.
(Yves) It’s not really that bad everyone else did a great job pitching in as they were leaving.
(Hero) True, but it’s always that last little bit that seems the hardest.
(Yves) That’s fair.
(Py) Hey, you all down for a game of TaCs when we are done?
(Hero) SERIOUSLY! TaCs… I’m almost one breath away from a food coma and my arms are about to fall off from cleaning! No way do I have the mental capacity for this.
(Py) Cool you’re on Em’s team!
(Hero) WHAT!? NO I don’t want to play!
(Py) It’s you and Em, me and Saylah, Yves annnnnnnnd…. Eu.
(Yves) What, wait, I’m playing a game and Eu is my partner. That’s awesome!
Hero and Martin, who no-one had noticed until now started laughing so hard Martin had to run to the sink when he started coughing encase he threw-up. Yves stood there with a blank expression, at a loss as to why that would be funny. Eu would be the perfect person for any boardgame. According to Em he knew 80,000 digits of Pi and could solve any math problem without writing it down. To top things off he is a cryptography genius and a prodigy who’s been working in the field since he was seven. As far as Yves could tell Eu would be the best person to have on a team for TaCs, where’s the joke come into play?
(Yves) Okay, first it was confusing, then it was funny, now I’m scared! What the hell is so funny!?
Hero and Martin took one look at Yves and started laughing even harder and Martin slid off the countertop onto the floor wheezing, as he held his stomach he involuntarily farted which broke Hero. She ran away hysterically laughing with her knees pinched together as her feet uncoordinatedly dashed her to the bathroom; her legs looked like boat propellers spinning to each other while she was yelling an almost unintelligible “I’m gonna pee! I’m gonna pee!”
(Yves) SERIOUSLY!!! Is it that bad!!???
(Eu) S’up Yves!? What’s up with those two? (Yves) They think it’s funny that I got you as a teammate in TaCs.
(Eu) BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA! Shuddup! We’re playing TaCs!? HAHAHAHAHAHA! You’re screwed!
Eu chuckled a few more times and started making his fifth hamburger of the cookout, occasionally chuckling, then laughing, then chuckling again.
(Yves) WHAT!
The comfort all but left his face and he scanned the room frantically looking for Em. He needed to know that he had someone safe around. This day has been amazing up to now. Now he was on the verge of an anxiety attack as he weakly asked… Can someone please tell me what’s so funny.
(Eu) Dude…. I’m seriously dyslexic and it gets worse with stress. TaCs is the worst game for me to play.
This should not have been comforting for Yves, but it was. If the only risk was losing a board game where stats could not damage rankings in a paid tournament why worry about it at all. Yves finally gave into the hysteria and laughed a little with Eu who was now leading him into the room where Py was setting up TaCs on a funky looking coffee table made from vintage metal milk crates and wooden acrylic that Saylah had fallen in love with. She went on for 30 minutes or more about it, telling Py all the details of getting the wood and the acrylic to bond. It wasn’t clear what he was more interested in, the technical process, or just listening to Saylah talk.
Tokens and Credits is a fast-paced game that works on a pot of money. Each player is required to buy in. If the buy in is one dollar each, that dollar is broken down into tokens that would last for at least a 30 minute game. Think of it like poker but with words. Each round lasts one minute and the time starts when a grid is built. The grid is a 5x5 board of D20 dice that are locked into place exposing only the top part that represents a letter, Qu, or a blank that can be any letter of your choosing. Letters must touch, and must be real words.
The board is the only physical aspect of the game, the other part of the game is the player's phone. The minimum number of players or teams is two, but there is no max. All players are connected to the game’s Bluetooth network. While connected the board controls everything else. After the dice are locked in the board is flipped and three seconds later the top drops to start the time as well as expose the letters. Players use their phones to enter as many words as possible within that minute.
Knocked out players - "hallucinations" can add an extra minute, or remove 30 seconds once, or once every five minutes if there are more than two no longer actively in the game. When the time ends the scores are tallied. Words are graded on how many tokens it would take to make that word, not all iterations of a single word cost the same amount of tokens. Hello, hello, and hEllo are not the same cost. Compound words could cost the same as a long word but creativity will reduce token cost. This means that players need to not only know the words but also strategy on which words to present for grading.
When the time runs out the “tokenizer” on the phone will choose a winner, and a loser for the round that starts the payment. Payments are either won or Credited. The loser must guess the winner's most efficient word as the winner acts out the word not using any writing or vocalizing. If that player successfully gets the word right in less than 30 seconds the team wins and the loser's buy-ins are shared at an 80/20 split to the winner and loser.
No sooner than everyone sat down did Py start collecting the mandatory buy-ins; Since this was a family game there was no real money put in. Just because there was no money on the line didn’t mean that it would not be a serious game. Yves now knew that Eu was not going to be much help so he started off really strong, but Em was the Queen here and made sure to show it. Yves would have none of that and the two battled it out like it were a real game with make or break steaks.
Saylah and Py were the first out, maybe intentionally because they just sat in each other's arms instead of sabotaging the game like they should have been doing. Next out were Martin and Shelly who had perfectly timed sabotages. Each round that past Yves started to notice a trend, Em’s words started from the center and worked out, and Eu was really good at the charades part of the game. Em changed strategies when she lost three hands in a row and saw that Yves would think more than he typed, she also saw that he played worse when the stakes were higher so she went all in on her next hand.
Yves thought to himself when he saw that Em went all in that it was his chance. The bluff of cracking under pressure worked, but this time Eu had the winning word. He was great at putting together the context clues when Yves acted them out, but he sucked at acting things out himself. The glint in Em’s eyes was an evil taunt that Yves’ didn’t want to have to be reminded of if he lost this one. The other “hallucination” players were no longer hugging or goofing off. They were glued to their seats, locked into this final round of charades. Em made a winner take-all bet that if Yves couldn’t get the word in the lightening round Em would win the whole game.
(Eu) Ready to WIN!!!
(Yves) LET’S GOOOOOOOOO
(Game) Lightning round starting in, 3, 2, 1… GO!
Eu put his fists to his chest and started prancing around the table jerking his head at the couch or Py’s head after scratching at them with his feet. Yves yelled out CHICKEN! Eu gave him the thumbs-up and two fingers. There were two words that described a single thing… Crap Yves thought to himself… Two words and one is chicken! Is that the first or the second? No time, Eu was already hiding behind the couch.
(Yves) Chicken shit!
(Eu) Rolls eyes
Yves thought to himself - He’s behind something, and moving like a chicken… what would a chicken be behind and why? As he processed Eu’s movements, time ticked away and the game brought everyone closer to the edge of their seats.
(Game) 15 seconds have passed
Eu got out from behind the couch repeating the chicken movements then put his hands over his head. This looked like he was doing a Bollywood dance so Yves yelled out BUTTER CHICKEN, CHICKEN DANCE. Eu just shook his head and repeated the chicken movement as he fell to his knees trying to fit under the coffee table. Yves screamed out CHICKEN LITTLE, and the timer said, FIVE, FOUR… Yves yelled CHICKEN WHOLE, THREE, CHICKEN SOUP, Eu, thought he heard the right word and tried to stand but flipped over the table with his head instead as the clock said TWO, ONE, Yves yelled CHICKEN, CHICKEN COOP, but the buzzer was already buzzing.
Em threw her hands up in celebration and jumped off her feet, shocking everyone in the room. Em was never emotional. Now here she was celebrating like she won a world championship. Her victory yell overshadowed Eu’s pain as he moaned, frantically rubbed his head and Yves pleaded with looks to get someone else on board to say that Coop came out before the buzzer, but it didn’t. The game was listening for the word and had it beat the buzzer a celebration song would be playing.
Em danced around like a toddler in a diaper as the room silently watched. When she got to Yves she threw her arms around him, kissed him on the lips and made a number one on his forehead. Conceding defeat Yves kissed her back and touched his forehead to hers. They almost won the game. Eu the genius mathematician who couldn’t even spell the word and Yves a game developer with the emotional IQ of a psychiatrist almost beat the queen herself. The rest of the night was full of laughs as no-one else left, instead, they all eventually drifted off to sleep in the living room one-by-one.