That Damn Babyby Nathanael Smith

based on the short-story Feathers by Raymond Carver

Characters: Bud, Olla (couple)Fran, Jack (couple) Joey (peacock)Harold (ugly baby)Above are all the characters from the story Feathers. In the board you can only play with characters Fran or Jack.

Backstory:

Feathers is a story about narrator Jack and his wife Fran and their experience going to a dinner party at Jackʼs coworkers home. Jack is eager to go to the dinner party while his wife Fran “wasnʼt too thrilled”. Jackʼs coworker, Bud, is married to a woman named Olla and they have a eight month old son named Harold.

The story deals with issues of love, lust, happiness and reproduction. While before their dinner party Jack and Fran were never interested in the idea of having kids once they meet Budʼs child they both desire having a baby. The couple immediately pursues having a baby after their dinner party is over. Once they have a child their entire life is ruined. Fran and Jackʼs relationship becomes empty, their child undesirable and Franʼs demeanor, bitter. Rather than catalyze a potentially romantic, baby-filled life, dinner at Budʼs house becomes the main reason Fran and Jack end up living the life they never wanted. Franʼs beautiful long blonde hair becomes the running symbolism of the story. In the beginning it is long and elegant, Jackʼs favorite attribute about Fran. In the end Fran has cut off her hair, taking with it her dignity and health.

Game Type:Feathers is a 1 v. 1 player game.

Game Play:

The goal of feathers is to avoid your ultimate fate: having a baby. Playing as either Fran or Jack you move your players around the game board that is Budʼs home. The game starts off with Jack and Fran pulling up to Buds home.To win the game a player must travel the entirety of the game board (that is the dinner party) acquiring as few liability points as they possibly can. However a player does not want to pass the finish line with more liability points than their opponent. If this is the case, or if they have the card (“See Budʼs Baby”) than that person automatically loses. Therefore it can be advantageous for a player to try and wait to cross the finish line or wait for their opponent to do so. If the game lasts more than 10 minutes, the winner is determined by the person with the least negative points in their hand.

The game is played by rolling a die and pulling cards from a deck. Cards are only pulled from the deck when a player lands on card specific spots on the game board. If a player acquires a “peacock” card they can either use that card to pass up a roll or use three of those cards to exchange a card with their opponent.

When a player acquires three peacock cards and wishes to exchange with their opponent they must discard the peacocks, and pick another card from their deck which they wish to discard. Their opponent must than hold out there hand face down and allow them to pick a card randomly from their deck. The “TV” card is a wild card. When you acquire this card you must roll the die. Your opponent must call out either negative or positive roll. If they are right your “TV” card becomes negative whatever number you roll. If they are wrong your card becomes positive whatever number you rolled. Example. If I receive a “TV” card and my opponent says “even”. I roll my die and get a “5”. That means I receive a card with +5 pts.

The liability cards in the game are:Map to Buds -2.Bring Bread -2.Discuss Ollaʼs teeth -1Fran seeʼs Harold the baby -12Fran cuts her hair -10Fran quits the creamery -5Fran gets fat -4Your kid has a conniving streak! -5Fran receives peacock feathers from Olla -7Fran whispers to the baby -5

The asset cards in this game are:

Lose the Map +4 Become ill before the party +8 Decide to reschedule +4Maintain sexual connection +2Buy a new car +3Take a vacation to Canada +3

Game Pieces:- deck of game cards- die- game board- timer

[ example of game cards ]

F  e  a  t  h  e  r  s

peacock

[ game board ]

your opponent picks a card

roll again, pick a card

you pick two cards, opponent blindly takes one of the two cards

free-zone

pick a card

F  e  a  t  h  e  r  sstart