New Play Mode Idea? HUNGER GAMES! Splinterlands!

THE HUNGER IS REAL

The @splinterlands community is constantly clamoring for more ways to sling digital cardboard.

Sure, we just got SURVIVAL mode, but that was but an aperitif for our pallets, which yearn for ever more modes of play! It was but a drop of water to a parched playerbase. A tiny oasis in a desert of desire and lust for battle!

Bring in a conversation between @doloknight, @gatheringthemagic, and I, and the basic rules of the new most hardcore and rewarding game type of all: THE SPLINTERLANDS HUNGER GAMES!

WHAT IS THE "HUNGER GAMES" FORMAT?

The Hunger Games takes the best parts of 2 of Splinterlands newest creations, smashes them together, and creates the competitive mode with the highest reward to date!

When you join the Hunger games (which runs concurrent with existing leagues) your account is given 1x ghost card of EVERY CARD EVER MADE, at max level
When a card is defeated, is is removed from your Hunger games account the same way a defeated card would be in Survival... BUT it will NEVER come off cooldown. When it's gone, it's gone.
There is NO energy used in Hunger Games mode.
BOTS are NOT allowed in the Hunger Games, this is a PLAYER ONLY mode.

ENTRY FEE AND REWARDS

Since we are not using our own assets, we are using ghost cards, there needs to be a way to both have an "entry" fee, as well as a form of prizing.

Here is where Hunger mode really starts to shine!

Entry fee is 2000 DEC per player
HALF of all entry gets BURNED (optional?)
The other half of the DEC gets paid out in 1 of 2 ways (unsure which is better)

ALL to the winner! 1st place gets the ENTIRE REWARD POOL!
Top 10 payout! 1st gets 50%, 2-10 each split remainder.

So to illustrate this concept, say there are 100 people who join the Hunger Games.

Each would pay 2000 DEC, which puts 2000 X 100 = 200000 DEC into the pool.
Half would be burned, leaving 100000 in the prize pool!

IF all went to 1st: they would receive 100000 DEC!
IF 1st got 50%, rest split: 1st gets 50K DEC, 2-10 get 5,555 DEC.

Now ramp this up and let's assume we get 500 players...
Suddenly the prize becomes 500000 DEC for 1st OR
250000 for 1st and 2-10 get 27777 DEC each!

I am leaning towards the top10 payout simply because it would promote more gameplay. It would discourage people from playing if the 1st place was 100 points above you and you felt you couldn't catch up, BUT if you were only 20 points behind 10th, you may still grind away!

Now, how do you WIN and gain points on the Leaderboard???

SCORING POINTS / HOW TO WIN

At first, we thought that maybe the traditional point system would work.
No, this is the Hunger Games! We need to make it more like its namesake!

When playing Survival mode, we know there is a field that shows how many cards of yours are "depleted". Therefore, we know that somehow, someone defeated those cards to have put them on cooldown.

Using that information, the best way to "score points" in Hunger Games would be based on:
"How many cards did I DEFEAT??"

Yes, you read that correctly!
Ideally, your score would be based on how many of your opponents cards you ELIMINATED!

So the tally of "Your Depleted" would become "You Defeated", and the more cards you defeat, the higher you would rise on the leaderboard!

This means that even if you lose a battle, you could still earn points! As long as you defeat enemy monsters in the battle, you will earn points for those kills, even if you do not win the actual match.

This would encourage more play at the end of the season when match liquidity could be running low as players try and defeat even single cards on opponents teams to raise their scores. Risk vs reward: "Do I play more and try and get a few more points OR do I stop playing so that I am not giving away any more points"? Someone can always catch up if they start playing late in the season, so scores are never "safe"!

TO SUMMARIZE...

Hunger mode would be an AMAZING addition to @Splinterlands!

It would provide an arena for players who may not have the depth of collection to participate in Survival mode to still experience it by virtue of using Ghost Cards.
It would be extremely competitive because of the prizing structure where all rewards are concentrated to the top end.
It would be another "human only" format to create an even split between bot and human play modes.
It creates its own reward pool, and even has a burn mechanic built in.
It would be another use of the Ghost card and Survival mechanic.
And of course, it offers yet ANOTHER way to play SPLINTERLANDS!

I hope you've enjoyed this idea on a new "HUNGER GAMES" game mode!
I would love to hear your feedback!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you around Praetoria,
The Psilence!