Introduction to Seej - a 3d Printed Game

What is Seej?

Seej is 3d printed, topple-the-enemy's-flag, game that is based on an old "board" game called "Crossbows and Catapults". Taken straight from Jim "Zheng3" Rodda's website, Seej is an Open Source tabletop wargame designed to advance the state of 3D printing through competition and player-directed evolution. Basically a game you 3d print and launch pennies at each other until you knock over the opponent's flags. This is a game where you set up fortifications with blocks called bloxen, these are set around your flags to keep your flags from getting knocked over. So what do you use as ammunition? Why, pennies of course! The models are designed with pennies in mind, this doesn't mean it can't be modified to fit another type of currency, this is just the original model set up. With all of the items on thingiverse for this game, you and your opponents can agree on the type of objects used, just masonry style bloxen? Pillar bloxen? Total number of bloxen? It's completely your choice.

The BEST kinds of games...

There's always a good laugh just around the corner when you're playing games with friends, slapping down that draw 4 card, buying that railroad to take over the entire side of the board, or laying down that royal flush, these all boil down to some great luck which gives everyone a good laugh. Games that evoke humor are the best kinds of games, it brings people together and brings out the fun side of people. My ideal games have:

• Easy to follow rules
  • That may or may not be modified upon mutual player agreement
• Have a little bit of thinking involved
  • Not something overly complicated, but if inebriation is involved, it makes things more interesting
• Great for multiple people
  • A game that can be enjoyed by a couple or by a group of friends

So now we introduce:

Seej

Safety

Everything has a beginning, and any project you start should have the same beginning, safety. We're going to be 3D Printing a set of objects designed to hurl pennies (or other currency) at a medium to high velocity. The projectiles aren't enough to break skin but if someone gets hit in the eye with a flying penny it can certainly take the fun out of the game. Eye protection is always a good idea with flying projectiles, you've been warned!

Rules

Again, straight from Zheng3's website, Seej has four core rules:

1. Topple your opponent's flags to win.
2. Players must agree on the models used in the battle.
3. Keep it friendly.
4. Show no mercy.

There are a few minor rules/guidelines that are also pertinent:

1. At the start of the game, one person flips a coin, winner launches first.
2. Players will alternate firing at each others flags.
3. Flags should be placed no more than the length of 2 bloxen apart.
   • This rule can be modified as long as players agree on it.
4. If outside forces topple a flag, it can be righted without penalty.
5. In the event of a draw (run out of ammunition with flags still standing), Players can pick up their 10 coins again.

Can you believe it, that's it. You can create new game rules to fit your play styles, do you want the ability to re-raise a flag after it's toppled? Well add in some guardians that give you that ability until they're knocked down! How about every time you miss a flag or bloxen, you drink a beverage? Say no more college physics goers! It's completely your choice.

We'll go into the bill of materials needed for the game in the next step.

Bill of Materials

Alright, let's get into the items we'll need to play this game

• 1 x Seej Starter 3D Model set - $1.00+ USD*
  • This is a link to the Seej starter set download page, you can download this and 3d print the models
  • The Seej Starter set comes with:
    • 1x Zheng3 Penny Catapult
    • 1x Marshmallow Mangonel
    • 1x Seej Battle Flag - Pennon style
    • 1x Bloxen - Basic Style
    • 1x Bloxen - Masonry style
    • 1x Bloxen - Varoni Style
    • 1x Single-piece Seej Battle Flag
• 1 x Bag of rubber bands - Varies (Roughly $4.00 USD)
  • It's always a good idea to have extras
• 20 x Pennies - .20¢
• 1 x Bottle of super glue. (May not be needed, but it wouldn't hurt)
• 2 x People
  • Grab a friend, or print more starter sets and have a group of people to battle

*Do note that the entire Seej set is available for free on thingiverse.com - however, people waste .99¢ on phone apps all the time, why not help promote people who give stuff out for free. This is a donation for the creator, not for me, just to be clear.

Strangely enough that's really it. There are a boat load of things on thingiverse that make Seej more enjoyable, for example:

• Guardians
• Different Bloxen Types
• Tankards (Penny/Ammunition Holders)
• And the obligatory, Much, much more...

Alright slow down there... what do I actually need to play?

That's a lot of words up there, I know it, Seej is a game where you can expand upon it and make it into something much, much more. But for starters the bare minimum to play will require you to print out:

• 2 Seej Flags
  • The more flags you print and decide to play with the longer the games will be.
• 2 Seej Catapults
  • The catapults can be moved around so you don't really need more than one for each
  • I've gone ahead and created a catapult print piece, this is designed to fit on a print bed no smaller than 180mm x 125mm. This will print out a full catapult in about 2 and a half hours depending on print speed settings (your mileage may vary)
  • I'll include building the catapult in the next step.
• 6 Seej Bloxen
  • Any type, although, I would say 3 bloxen for every 1 flag would be a minimum, the more bloxen you print the more fortifications you've got, just remember to keep it fair!
• About a meter of distance between opponents
  • This can be changed based on how you rig up your weapons of war, but the basic set up should net you a good time.

For a minimum game that's all you need.

Building the penny launcher of doom

Building the catapult is pretty simple. It takes a PC component type of mind set, if it fits, it's probably supposed to be there.

The basic seej catapult requires the following:

1. 1 x Catapult arm
2. 1 x Top bar support
3. 1 x Arm catch
4. 2 x Side braces
5. 2 x Rubber band keys
6. 2 x Low bar support
7. 4 x Feet
8. 3+ Rubberbands

Now depending on your print you may need to use some glue if the pieces don't fit snug together. It's pretty much just plug and play,

1. We'll start out by gluing two feet to to one of the side braces, we'll do this twice for each side brace
2. Next we'll put the 3 bar supports into one one of the side braces
   • It may be worth noting that this is where glue may be needed
3. Now we will thread the top bar support through the arm catch peice before we put the other side brace on
4. At this point we will line up the bar supports with the side bar holes, we just push them together and we've completed the basic frame
   • Again, a little bit of glue wouldn't hurt if you're having issues with the frame
5. At this stage, we take one (1) rubber band key and loop our rubber bands through hole and "tie" them around our key
6. Once we've got one (1) rubber band key set up we can than loop it through the big holes in our side supports
7. We will now tie the three rubber bands around the other rubberband key and we are pretty much finished
8. The final part is to place our catapult arm into the rubber bands and then we turn the keys around to tighten our rubber band
   • Do note that we want to turn the keys the opposite way we will be pulling back on.

How to Play - Basic

So this section is going to be about how to play the game and a few game variations, just to get your imagination sparking. Bullet points and numbered lists are fun, so let's continue the trend:

1. Start out by handing out the Starting equipment
   • An equal number of flags
   • 10 pennies to each player(more or less, again depending on your play style)
   • An equal number of bloxen for both players
   • At least One Seej weapon (Catapult/ballista/etc)
2. Players will then go through the process of setting up their flags and their bloxen, again trying to stay within the length of 2 bloxen rule in regards to the flags
3. Once the players have their equipment you should then flip a coin to see which player will lead off their attack.
4. The winner of the coin toss should then let out a battlecry to declare war and then wind up their catapult and launch their copper discs of fury. This part is semi-optional.
5. After that, players will alternate launching pennies at each other's flags until one of two things happen
   1. An opponents flags are completely knocked down
      • To complete the victory it is necessary for the winner to chant an inspiring speech to his fictitious army. Again, semi optional, but recommended.
   2. Both players run out of pennies.
      • Players should then re-acquire their copper discs of war in preperation for another seige

How to Play - Creative

In this section I'm going to ellaborate on somethings that players can agree on to enhance the fun. For this we'll be requesting the aid of this guardian. Guardians need a few bit of rules, they're there to protect, but should a player go against a gaurdian and win, it's very demoralizing! Let's get started with the same basic set up, the new items will be bolded for emphasis, because bolding is fun.

1. Start out by handing out the Starting equipment
   • An equal number of flags
   • 10 pennies to each player(more or less, again depending on your play style)
   • An equal number of bloxen for both players
   • At least One Seej weapon (Catapult/ballista/etc)
   • At least one guardian
2. Players will then go through the process of setting up their flags, their bloxen, and guardians, again trying to stay within the length of 2 bloxen rule in regards to the flags
3. Guardians should be placed in the same fashion, but on top of a bloxen structure as to oversee the battle.
4. Once the players have their equipment you should then flip a coin to see which player will lead off their attack.
5. The winner of the coin toss should then let out a battlecry to declare war, call for the protection of their guardian, and then wind up their catapult and launch their copper discs of fury. This part is semi-optional.
6. After that, players will alternate launching pennies at each other's flags until one of two things happen
   1. An opponents flags are completely knocked down
      • To complete the victory it is necessary for the winner to chant an inspiring speech to his fictitious army. Again, semi optional, but recommended.
   2. Both players run out of pennies.
   • Players should then re-acquire their copper discs of war in preperation for another seige.
7. Guardians will add a new mechanic, at the start of the player's turn, said player can sacrifice either a penny or a bloxen to bring a flag back into play unless it is their last penny or bloxen.
8. Should an opposing player knock over your guardian, that player gains the ability to raise one of their own toppled flags free of charge.

Again, with Seej being a 3d printed game, you can print new pieces, create new rules, and create a whole new game by the time you're done tinkering around, that's the point!

Over, already?

As it stands with any good game, it should be easy to follow, allow for rule variation, and it has to be fun. Seej is full of all these factors. The game is easy to get set up and play to have a good time. And as always, Keep it friendly, show no mercy.