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The one thing about most co-op games that I did not like was the fact that one person will start telling all the other players what to do. My idea was to make a game in which each player had the chance to make important decisions and each time you play a different "leader" would be responsible for group decisions. In our research of the Navy SEALs, we found that one person on each mission has the final say, so I designed that into my game. Each game you play there will be a Lieutenant Commander who will say "Hooyah!" when he thinks you are ready to go on to the Op Phase of the game. This way, over several games each person gets a chance to make those decisions.
And for all players, on their turn they will decide which skill and equipment cards to draw into their hands. Each player also decides when to use the special ability or abilities of his Navy SEAL, giving each player a role in the game while they collectively move forward on their mission.
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Speaking of which, I want to thank Bob Stokes, who did a lot of the Navy SEAL research for the game. Each of the five missions that come with the game represents an actual real-life mission, and the history behind each mission is included in the rulebook. He also helped me define the different skills of Navy SEALs so that I could represent them well in the game.
When I started playtesting my first version of this design, there was one former Navy man in the group. He started saying "Hooyah!" before each operation phase. I asked him about the word, and he said it means "Hell, Yes!" and is used in the military a lot as an affirmation of everyone being ready to go. This really stuck with the game and eventually became the title.
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Sample role and event/ops card
Hooyah: Navy Seals Card Game is a simple cooperative card game – I mean simple to play, not to win – that in an abstract way puts you in the tense and dangerous situations that Navy SEALs face. I spent the first three months of the game development playing it only solitaire, using this experience to balance the game system against the player or players. I urge everyone who has an interest in the game to play it solitaire as well as with other players. The few changes required to do this are in the rulebook, which also has a score system you can use to rate your play. If you ever score 200 or more points in a solitaire or multi-player game, you have achieved the Medal of Honor. It is possible but not easy.
From reading a lot of posts for co-op games on BoardGameGeek, I realize there is a range of preference among players from impossible-to-win to easy-to-win. With two special rules for each mission, I have given players the option to make them harder or easier than the published mission card.
Designer Mike Fitzgerald demos Hooyah at Spiel 2012
From Wyvern and my early trading card games for WOTC, to my Mystery Rummy series, my first priority in a design is to make a game fun to play. I know I find this game fun to play and hope you will, too.
Mike Fitzgerald
(And here's Fitzgerald at the BoardGameGeek stand at Spiel 2012, talking about the game and giving a more detailed rundown of gameplay.)
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