One game that is similar to our concept is Monopoly. Although Monopoly is not a dungeon crawler while High Rollers is, they both share some of the same mechanics. The essential structure of both games have many similarities. Both Monopoly and High Rollers require a board, dice, money or tokens, and some type of “property” to obtain. Both games also use cards, albeit for different purposes. The board in both games functions as the primary way to track movement and progress in the game. In Monopoly, the board has square tiles around the perimeter. In High Rollers, however, the tiles are hexagonal and are clustered together. Dice are used in both games to determine how many tiles a player can move. In High Rollers, players do not have to move the exact amount of tiles that they roll. If a player rolls a 6, for example, they can move 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 tiles. Essentially, players can move between 1 and n tiles, inclusive, where n is the amount they rolled. This rule was necessary since the clustering of the hexagonal tiles allows players to move back and forth or cycle between them. This type of movement would not be possible in Monopoly since the players must move in only one direction for the exact amount of tiles that they rolled.
The resources in Monopoly and High Rollers are essential to the advancement of the game. In Monopoly, players start out with a designated amount of money and earn more as the game progresses. Players can earn money by drawing a Chance or Community Chest card, passing “Go,” and collecting rent from other players. The Chance and Community Chest cards are based only on luck. Sometimes they will help the player, and sometimes they will be detrimental and require the baker to pay a sum of money. Collecting rent from other players is passive, but requires the player to have previously purchased a property. Collecting $200 from passing “Go” is entirely passive as the player does not have to do any additional work or strategy planning beyond the normal mechanics and rules of Monopoly to receive this money. In contrast, there is no way to gain tokens completely passively in High Rollers. Players also all start out with zero tokens. To gain more, they must land on a yellow tile and roll, or duel another player.
The concepts and purposes of the two games also differ. The goal of Monopoly is to win by bankrupting all other opponents. This win is only achievable by purchasing properties, railroads, and utilities that other players must pay rent on if they land on the corresponding tile. The “property” in High Rollers are the Heart, Club, Diamond, and Spade collectibles. To win, a player must be the first to gather all four collectibles and be the first to make it back to the starting space with all four. High Rollers has a lot more luck-based gambling elements than Monopoly. Dueling a player requires both players on a tile to gamble a portion of their tokens. Passing through a Gambling Gate requires the player to risk losing the toll payment if their roll was not high enough to match the number of tokens needed for the toll.
