Prepotent

Description

In Prepotent, players breed, bet on, and race horses. Designed by Tom Russell, Prepotent blends the short term tactical thinking found in its streamlined racing mechanisms with the long term strategy of horse breeding. Additional intrigue is found in the betting mechanisms: Do you want your horse to strive for only second place so the opponents lose their bets?

In game terms, each player has two horses: one stallion and one mare. When players breed horses, they breed their mare to other players' stallions, and each player can set a stud fee for how much this costs. Players must decide if they want to breed a new stallion or new mare; with a new mare, desirable traits will last longer, but with a superior stallion, races are more likely to be won in the immediate future.

Players can bet on each horse to win, place, or show. Money is made both by successful bets and by the player's own horse placing well in races. In addition, the older a player's horse is, the slower it becomes, but the more money it makes if it places well in races.

Each horse has a set of traits, and when a new horse is bred, the most desirable traits are what players strive for. Parent horses that are genetically compatible can offer gene traits superior to unmatched mates. Each of these traits represents an action the horse is required to take during the course of the race. Each race is four rounds long, and each horse has four traits, so each horse will use every one of its traits, helpful or hindering.

Players acquire money by setting stud fees that other players must pay to breed with their stallions, winning bets on races, and having their own horse place well in races. The player with the most money at the end of the game wins.