Run! Fire!

I just put these rules together. Feedback welcome. Feel free to tell me that they are confusing or broken.

Run! Fire!

A card game for 3 players. 15-20 minutes.
In this game, you play three ranchers trying to escape a huge grass fire. Will you help put the fire out? Will you panic and run? Who will survive?

Setup

3 players
Deal each player 3 each of Fire and Run. (Use red cards for Fire and black cards for Run)
Make a central deck of 2 Fire and 2 Run
Each player starts with 10 coins

Play

Every player plays one card of their choice face down into a pile in the center. The tallest player is dealer this round. The dealer draws one card from the central deck, shows it to all the players, and puts it face down in the pile. Each player then bets.

To bet, lay down a card from your hand face up. Place at least one coin on that card. (Betting represents your decision whether to help extinguish the fire or run and try to save yourself. If you play a face up Fire card, you are trying to fight the fire. The more coins you place on it, the more committed you are to extinguishing the fire. If you place a face up Run card, you are trying to save yourself by escaping the fire.)

After each player bets, the dealer shuffles the pile of face down cards. He plays one card in the middle of the table face up. He then places the rest of the cards on the top of the central deck. If this card matches the face up card a player has bet, that player is a winner this round. Everyone else loses. The winners split all the coins that have been bet. If the coins cannot be split evenly, give the extras to the dealer, even if the dealer lost this round. Place the face up card that you bet with back in your hand.

The player to the tallest player’s left is the new dealer. Players play another card of their choice face down in the middle of the table. The dealer takes one card from the top of the central deck, shows it face up to all the players, then shuffles it facedown into the facedown pile. Then everyone bets. (If you have coins left, you must bet at least one during each round.) Then the dealer plays one card from the facedown pile face up. Players who match that card with their bet card win. Split the coins among the winners, then place the card you bet with back in your hand.

The position of dealer then rotates one more time, so each player has had the chance to deal once. Play another round just like before.

Scoring

Now, each player shows their remaining cards face up, and everyone calculates their score. Any player with more than 10 points lives. That means you escape the fire and win the game.

Run!

Look at all the players' cards. If more than half are Run cards, the ranchers were not able to work together and put out the fire. (Those who lived are the folks who ran away. Those who died are those who tried to extinguish the fire.) Run cards are worth 2 points. Fire cards are worth 0 points. Coins are worth 1 point.

Fire!

Look at all the players' cards. If more than half are Fire cards, the ranchers were able to put out the fire. (Those who lived worked together bravely to extinguish the fire. Those who died were the ranchers who panicked, made a wrong turn, and got caught by the fire.) Run cards are worth 0 point. Fire Cards are worth 2 points. Coins are worth 1 point. 

7 Ways to Reuse Abandoned Games

What do you do with abandoned tabletop games? Think of card, board, or roleplaying games that you own that you no longer play. Maybe the rules don't interest you anymore. Maybe they interest you, but you no longer have someone to play with. They are missing pieces. They are too expensive. For whatever reason, you have abandoned the games you used to play. But is there a way you can still use them?
Let's talk about a few ways to repurpose those games so that you can still get some use out of them, or at least have fun with their components. Now, I don't know what kinds of games you have lying around, so I've decided to phrase these ideas as questions. We're relying on your creativity to figure out how they apply to your specific situation.

1. Physical Components: Can you use the art, cards or board pieces in another game? Maybe the art would make a good inspiration for another rpg. The board pieces could be replacements for another game.

2. Rules Hack: Can you change the rules to skip the part of the game that doesn't work for  you? There's no game police telling you that you have to play a whole game of Monopoly. You can skip to the end, if you like.

3. Spiritual Sequel: Can you write your own game that uses this game as inspiration? Our hobby has a long tradition of fantasy heartbreakers, that are essentially someone's attempt to use D&D as inspiration for a new game. Though not all of these are great, some of them are. Can you make a "heartbreaker" based off of a card or board game you abandoned?

4. Swap: Can you trade this game away to one of your friends for another game? This may feel like cheating. You aren't hacking the game. You are literally reusing it by giving it to someone who wants to play it. In return, they probably have a game that you've never tried that they are willing to give you.

5. Update: Are there alternate rules for this game available on the Internet? Playing with revised or updated rules may help renew your passion for the game. Are there errata that have been breaking the game? Nerfing those can make a world of difference.

6. Doing It Wrong: The French poet Paul Valery wrote "That which has always been accepted by everyone, everywhere, is almost certain to be false." What can you do to break this game, to use it incorrectly, or to play it backwards? How can you make a new game by using the old game wrong?

7. Steps: What section of the original gameplay was the most fun? What did you love to do in the game? How can you borrow just that part of the gameplay and do it in a different game?

Here are seven ways to squeeze a little more fun out of tabletop games you've abandoned. But I'm sure there are more methods. What other ways can you think of to reuse, repurpose, or recycle tabletop games that you used to love? Send your tips or examples to gingergoatpress@gmail.com