1994 · Howling Falcon
King of the Sandbox is a game of control of a school playground. It's a DTP game, requiring cutting (and pasting to cardboard if you're smart). Lots of pieces representing kids (neutral and factions), candy, sodas, stuffed animals, etc. A map of a playground is also included.
You start the game with one "troublemaker" and have to convince neutral kids to join your gang: your Smarts + 1d6 vs their Smarts +1d6. You can bribe them with quarters, candy bars, stuffed animals, etc., to influence the die roll. You can bash kids in other gangs: your Size + 1d6 vs their Size + 1d6. You can gain weapons (shake up a soda for a grenade, bop somebody with a stuffed animal, throw sand - for shame!) to influence a fight. Results can vary from broken weapon to running away to being beaten up to running home crying out of the game. You can soothe beat up kids with candy but suffer severe humiliation for being beaten up with a stuffed animal.
To win you have to control three of the six areas with members of your gang.
From the back cover: "Remember that Genghis, Caesar and Rommel were all kids once, too!" And a quote from an anonymous mom: "It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye."
