Game Announcements from GAMA Expo 2020: Control a Cube, Rub Out a Robot, and Craft a Million Dollar Script

In Ctrl, players try to dominate a cube by crawling over it with their colored bricks, preferably covering other players' bricks along the way.

In more detail, you start with a 3x3x3 cube that has one block of each player color stuck into one of the cube's holes. (In a two-player game, each player controls two colors, but at the start of play they secretly choose one of those colors to be their scoring color, with the other color serving only as a blocking mechanism.) Each player has a matching colored flag that sticks out of their block.


On a turn, a player removes their flag from its current location, adds one cube of their color to the side of any of their blocks (where such a move can be made), then they "grow" their color by adding two blocks in a straight line from the block they just added, crawling around corners and covering other players' blocks if needed. To end your turn, plant your flag in one of your final blocks, ideally blocking where someone else might like to play while also preserving future ground in which you can play.

Once all the blocks have been placed, you calculate your score by looking at the structure from all four surrounding sides, as well as from the top, and counting each unblocked square of your color that is visible. Thus, if you plant a block high up on the cube, you can possibly score 5 points for it since it would be seen from all sides and the top. Climb high, and block others from blocking you!

Your battery cards give you the energy to move, power your weapons, and buy powerful new cards for your deck. Navigate around the hazards of the arena, and blast your opponents to score points. Destroyed bots respawn each round, so you're never out of the action! Alliances are made and broken! The robot pilot with the most points at the end of the game wins!

It's the time of the year when big Hollywood studios are thirsty for new screenplays that will surely become the next big summer blockbuster. Screenwriters — often working in teams — try desperately to get a foot in the door, to land a meeting with a powerful film executive. So many screenwriters are knocking on the door, but big breaks are one-in-a-million.

Million Dollar Script takes place in a lavish Hollywood office. Through extensive market research, the studio has identified the perfect hero, as well as an equally perfect villain counterpart in order to make them millions. But beyond that, these bigwigs aren't taking any chances; they're going to be following that tried-and-true structure of nearly every record-breaking blockbuster of the past forty years. This film will be one of the greats like Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, The Avengers, and Titanic.

Two writing teams have been invited to pitch their finest most preeminent ideas to a studio executive, a.k.a. "the Exec". During the meeting, both teams are working on the same movie, pitching their ideas for each of the five traditional story events. Each round the Exec picks the pitch they prefer, which then becomes part of the shared storyline. The losing pitch gets discarded and treated as if it never existed, much like what should have happened to Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000.

Each team of screenwriters is trying to nudge its way into the good graces of the Exec by winning the majority of the five rounds and scoring points in order to secure the profitable writing deal for themselves.

We are looking for exciting new adventures, compelling storylines, and fun new plots – what scenario the fans of the game themselves would like to play?

Players can write their scenario in a simple text document or use one of the scenario templates available on Portal Games website (.zip file), and send it by e-mail to [email protected] by the end of May.

The winner will receive $250 to spend in Portal Games official store as well as recognition by including the scenario to the upcoming expansion Robinson Crusoe: The Book of Adventures coming to Kickstarter in [Q4] 2020.