Party game Million Dollar Script combines Snake Oil with the silver screen
Persuade the producers.
Sell franchise-making film ideas to Hollywood producers in Million Dollar Script, an upcoming board game that combines elements of Snake Oil with movie satire.
Million Dollar Script is a party game for three to 10 players that focuses around film production and persuading industry bigwigs to invest in their movie idea. In the game, players split into two teams of writers who must compete with one another in order to get their dream film onto the silver screen - whilst one player takes the role of the producer who will be choosing between the two script ideas. Each producer character will be looking for different criteria which each team must attempt to adhere to as best as they can. However, the producer criteria remains secret until the very end of the game.
At the start of each round, the player in the role of the executive producer will reveal a briefing card which will describe what element of the movie they want each team to pitch to them - such as the hero and the villain of the movie. Players then take cards from the respective decks relating to those elements and use the options on them to help create their idea. For example, the hero cards will contain a personality trait, a list of potential roles and what their main motivation is. Depending on which genre of film that players have decided to play around with - such as blockbuster, science fiction, romance and more - they will choose the role that relates to that genre.
Then, players have just three minutes to come up with answers to the questions on the producer’s pitch card, before presenting these answers to the producer. Similarly to the party game Snake Oil, players will want to make their ideas as persuasive as possible to the current executive. However, the pitch will need to be done using the team’s task cards, which will dictate which team member is responsible for selling what part of the film. For instance, the main narration card will see that player providing a general overview of what is going on in the team’s film.
Once the producer has heard both team’s pitches, they must use their particular producer’s list of desired movie elements to determine which of the ideas they liked best. The producer is encouraged to play into their character’s personas to explain what they enjoyed and what they didn’t like about each pitch. The winning pitch is kept aside to be used to create the overall movie - with that team being awarded four points - and the players move on to respond to another pitch card. When all the pitch cards have been answered, the teams tally up their points and the final movie is brought together, with the winning team being whoever scored the most points.
Million Dollar Script was created by Daniel Stamm, with the board game being their debut design. Portal Games is the studio behind the tabletop title and is best known for releasing Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, alongside the co-op game series Detective: A Modern Crime Board Game.
The release date for Million Dollar Script is August 12th, with the game being available at a retail price of €13 ($15/£11).