Glider-Pit Gladiators 1998

Glider-Pit Gladiators (GPG) is a free print-and-play board game of ancient aerial combat. The latest version (GPG 2002) is available for download from the files section below.

Two to six players control primitive gliders descending into a deep, sheer-walled pit. Within this natural arena the glider pilots engage in ritualistic gladiatorial combat. A combination of martial and flying skills is required for victory. Every decision a player makes, from the selection of weapons to the anticipation of fickle air currents, helps determine whether a gladiator is on the road to glory -- or disaster.

The object of the game is simply to have the last glider airborne. The game features a variable player turn order (depending on the altitude and speed of each glider), five different types of weapons (including missile weapons and nets), risky ramming attacks, and up/down drafts. Players have the option of controlling more than one glider (up to three when playing with only two players). The game can be played as a competition between two or three teams of gliders, or as a "last man flying" free-for-all.

An experimental Campaign Expansion allows you to play a continuing gladiator character. The expansion includes rules for special abilities and advantages, character survival, and experience. Gladiator characters who survive a match (and aren't crippled in the process) receive experience and a chance to gain special abilities and advantages. Gladiators who are victorious are more likely develop skills that will help them gain future victories in the arena. A procedure for randomly generating experienced gladiator characters is also described.

Glider-Pit Gladiators was originally designed (under a deadline of a month or two) for the online 1998 Microgame Design Contest held via the Yahoo Groups Microgame Mailing List. The game was updated under the name Glider-Pit Gladiators 2002 (GPG 2002) for the second micro-game design competition. The 2002 update focused on cleaning up the rules and making improvements to the spartan components.