Dice Battles (Pilot)

[drgullen2]

With inspirations and permissions from both Immanuel Tims and Doug Morris, this is my take on a show based on Tic-Tac-Toe which has some similarities to both Immanuel's "Tic Tac Roll" mini-game from Jackpot Trivia and Doug's "Tic Tac Dice" mini-game from Top Card.

The idea here is a dice battle between two contestants, each of whom is trying to secure themsleves a Tic-Tac-Toe.

We begin by having the contestants setup the 9-square board with numbers you would find on the total of two dice (i.e. between 2 and 12 inclusive). Players then gain control of the dice by playing a word game I call "Across Down" where I give you two clues (one for the across word and one for the down word) and you have to come up with the two words. Example board:

B * *
* * *
* * *

The letter "B" in the top-left corner means we're using the top row for the Across word and the left column for the Down word. Each word contains only 3 letters.

The clues are: ACROSS: Used to smash dingers out of the park. DOWN: Early U2 album.
ANSWERS: BAT and BOY. Answering both words correctly earns the contestant $100 and dice control. Incorrect responses result in a free roll for the opponent.

Whoever gains control of the dice then rolls and either an X or an O is placed on the board depending on which player is rolling and corresponding to the number rolled. The battle aspect comes into play whereby if someone rolls a number that is already occupied, that X or O is removed from the board and it goes back to being neutral with just a number, meaning that space could then be taken by the opponent if they can roll that number again.

Based on how the players setup the board, there will be two numbers not on the board and if either of those are rolled, the player loses their turn and their opponent gets a free roll. Also, anyone who rolls doubles gets to roll again, unless that double is one of the two numbers not on the board.

We go back and forth like this until one of the contestants forms a Tic-Tac-Toe. That person earns $1,000 and becomes defending champion.

In a different format for a bonus round, both players get to play in it, but the champ is playing for a $10,000 bonus whereas the runner-up is playing for a consolation of $1,000 and again, the bonus round will be a similar setup except there will be no word game and this time, rolling an occupied number immediately switches it from X to O or vice versa.

Due to the unknown length of time it might take to win a game, episodes of this show will be played out in a "pick up where we left off" format. It might take us dozens of turns for a player to form a Tic-Tac-Toe or, it might take only one turn if a player rolls doubles twice and in three total rolls, has the right numbers in line to complete a Tic-Tac-Toe.

I need 2 players for this please. The first to sign up will play first and be assigned buzz codes 1 through 50, the second will be assigned 51 through 100. I will then be generating random numbers from 1 to 100 on Random.org to determine which player "buzzes in" during the "Across Down" word game.

I think that covers it. Any takers out there for this?

[bighornbattle]

Count me in.

[drgullen2]

Thanks George.  Once we find you an opponent, we'll begin.

[bighornbattle]

You are very welcome. I hope I do well.

[nelson21]

Me why not

[bighornbattle]

Good luck Nels.

[drgullen2]

Great, thanks Nels.  We'll get started soon.

[drgullen2]

(we open to a split screen of our two players with battle drums playing)

Rich Fields: "Today, we pit these two contestants against each other in a battle for the ages!"

(iso on George)

Rich Fields: "Contestant one is George Cluster from Spartanburg, South Carolina.  George is an experienced Mahjong player who likes to sing, listen to 80s music and watch game shows."

(iso on Nels)

Rich Fields: "Contestant two is Nels Snesrud from Golden Valley, Minnesota.  Nels is a department store cashier who enjoys league bowling."

Rich Fields: "They will battle head-to-head, but only one will become the champion and get a shot to roll the dice for a payout of more than ten thousand dollars!"

(audience begins continuous applause as the theme plays)

Rich Fields: "George...Nels...prepare yourselves for your Dice Battles!"

(camera switches to a wide shot of the studio)

Rich Fields: "And now, the man overseeing today's battles, the host of our show, Glen Brown!"

(continued theme and applause as I walk on from stage left and stand just in front of our board)

Thank you so much and let's keep that applause going for our beloved announcer, Mr. Rich Fields!

(audience applause continues as they get a shot of Rich)

Thank you again ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the pilot episode of Dice Battles!  Our two competitors are going to play out a game of Tic-Tac-Toe on our giant board here, but it's not going to be anything close to a typical game as their rolls will both place and take away Xs and Os in their dice battle.

In a moment, our players will be setting up this board with numbers found on the total of two dice and it's these numbers they'll be trying to roll to form a Tic-Tac-Toe either horizontally, vertically or diagonally to win the game.  They can also win by having a 5-4 lead in occupied squares if the board is completely filled with Xs and Os.

Before we begin the battle, let's chat with our players a bit, beginning with George Cluster!

(audience applauds)

George, it seems you have a lot of interesting hobbies according to what Rich said.  I'm wondering about the 80s music.  I grew up in that decade and it is by far my favorite decade of music, so I can't help but wonder what is your favorite 80s band of all-time?

[bighornbattle]

It has to be either AC/DC or Queen. My favorite singer goes to either Prince, Bon Jovi, or Michael Jackson.

[drgullen2]

Those are all great choices.  I would have to say mine is Van Halen.  George, it's a pleasure to have you with us and good luck on the show today.

Your opponent is Nels Snesrud!

(audience applauds)

Nels, Rich mentioned you are a league bowler.  I used to partake myself back in the day, I'm wondering how close you ever came to bowling a perfect game?

[nelson21]

No I have not

[drgullen2]

Well, it's something to put on your bucket list then perhaps...here's hoping a perfect game of bowling happens for you someday.

Nels, thank you as well for being with us and good luck to you!

Gentlemen, at its core, this is simply a game of Tic-Tac-Toe.  George, you control the Xs and Nels the Os.  Whichever one of you can complete a horizontal, vertical or diagonal Tic-Tac-Toe first or is the player with a 5-4 advantage of his letter on a full board, wins the game, $1,000 and gets a shot at $10,000 more on our Bonus Board!

(audience applauds)

Here's the battle aspect of it though.  Once a square is occupied by either an X or an O, the opponent has a chance to take that letter away and then replace it with his own.  So, depending on the rolls of the dice, this battle might end quickly or it might take us quite some time for one of you to finish the other off.

We begin by filling those 9 squares on our board with numbers, more specifically, the numbers you would find when totaling the throw of a pair of dice.  This would mean the numbers 2 through 12 inclusive.  Once those numbers are up there, those are the numbers you need to roll in order to place your X or O there to try and win the game.

George, since you won the coin toss backstage, you will go first and select the first set of 3 numbers.  Nels will then select the second set and then we go back to George to complete the board by selecting the third set.  You can choose any numbers from 2 to 12 inclusive that you wish and place it in any available open square that you wish.  The idea here being you place your favorite numbers in such a way that if you rolled them, you'd form yourself a Tic-Tac-Toe.  Of course, your opponent can roll those same numbers in an attempt to win as well.

George, unless you have a question, tell us your first 3 number selections, along with where on the board you'd like to place them please.

[bighornbattle]

6, 7, 8.

[bighornbattle]

Across top Row.

[drgullen2]

(ding...ding...ding)

Alright, very good.  Nels, it's your choice next.

We want nine different numbers total up there, so choose any three other than 6, 7 and 8 along with where you want them please.

[nelson21]

5 9 2

[nelson21]

Bottom row

[drgullen2]

(ding...ding...ding)

Alrighty, George back to you.

This leaves 3, 4, 10, 11 and 12.  Which three of those shall we place in the center row?

[bighornbattle]

12.

[drgullen2]

I need you to pick 3 of those remaining numbers George please.  You've only said 12 here.  12 and which other two?

[bighornbattle]

11 and 3.

[drgullen2]

Okay, so just to confirm, 12 on the left, 11 in the middle and 3 on the right?

[bighornbattle]

Correct.

[drgullen2]

(ding...ding...ding)

Alright, our numbers are in place.  The two that weren't selected are 4 and 10.  If either of you roll one of those numbers during the game, you lose your turn and your opponent gets a free roll.  This includes if you roll those numbers with double 2s or double 5s.  For all other doubles, you get to roll again!

(audience begins continuous applause as the theme plays)

Our board is set, the players are ready, it's almost time to start our battle!  We will kick things off with the first "Across Down" word game that will determine the initial controller of the dice when Dice Battles returns right after these words from our sponsors!

(applause and theme continues; jib cam does a slow pan of the stage and audience; fade to black)

[drgullen2]

(fade in with theme and applause)

We are back for more Dice Battles!

Gentlemen, on your podiums there, you have the ability to have our computer generate the roll of a pair of dice that will appear on our board.  It will be these dice rolls that we use to determine who controls what squares up there.  Can you each give me a test roll of the dice to make sure they are working properly.  This is a test only and the values rolled here will not count towards anything in our game today.

So George and Nels, each of you roll two dice if you would please.

[bighornbattle]

9PISEBVr�

[nelson21]

UcsbE|52�

[drgullen2]

Very good, your dice seem to work so I think we're set to play our first game of "Across Down".  Let's light up that board please.

(ding)

So we play this mini-game to determine which of you gets control of the dice.  In each game, we light up only one letter somewhere on the board.  In this case, we've lit up the letter K in the lower-right corner.  This means our "Across" word is in the bottom row and ends in a K and our "Down" word is in the right column and also ends in a K.  Each word has 3 letters.

Hands on buzzers gentlemen.  Here are the clues.  You must answer both words correctly to earn $100 and control of the dice.

ACROSS: Noah built this.

DOWN: 35th US President initials.

[REMINDER: George's buzz-in codes are 1 to 50.  Nels' codes are 51 to 100.]

Nels has buzzed in.  Nels?

[nelson21]

Ark jkf

[drgullen2]

Well, close enough, I think you meant JFK there, so you are correct!

(audience applauds)

(ding)

All correct answers are worth a hundred bucks, so Nels is on the board!

(audience applauds)

(ding)

Now, as long as you don't roll a 4 or a 10, you'll claim the first space on the game board Nels.  Roll those dice please sir!