Snake Oil: Sale Five - Advertising Phase

[imaginality]

This is based on the Snake Oil party game. Whoever can best pitch their unlikely Items to an eclectic mix of Customers will be crowned the best Snake Oil Seller!

A note on the rules: I've adapted the rules for forum play. I think these rules will make for a good forum version of the game, but I'm happy to tweak them before game start by popular request.

the rules

Game Setup

• Sign up in this thread or via PM
  
• The game will begin in
  (expired on 2024-05-02 19:30:00)
  
  
• Additional players can still join after the game has started
  
• There is no maximum number of players
  
  
• Players start the game with six Word cards each
  
  Example: Fountain, Custard, Beard, Power, Fashion, Pizza

Advertising

• The Advertising phase begins when I reveal the Customer card
  
  Example: Hitchhiker
  
  
  
• Players use exactly two of their Word cards to make an Item, and pitch it to the Customer
  
  Example: "As a hitchhiker, you need drivers to slow down so they read your sign. That's where a Custard Blanket can help! Spread your Custard Blanket across the highway and drivers won't dare speed past you."
  
  
  
• Adverts must be a single post of 100 words or fewer
  
• No other posts are permitted during the Advertising phase.
  
• Players may advertise in any order
  
  
• The Advertising phase ends when I post to say it has - which will be soon after all players have advertised, or after 48 hours, whichever comes first

Ordering

• Players may post in the game thread during the Ordering phase, to:
  - comment on or ask questions about other Items, and/or
  ‐ respond to direct questions or comments about the player's own Item [no unsolicited pitches, just responding to Customer queries/feedback]
  
• Spectators may also post in the game thread during the Ordering phase
  
  
• Players must order whichever Item they think the Customer would want. Whether that's the most useful, the most fun, or simply the best pitched... a good snake oil salesperson can sell anything!
  
• Players order by PMing me their choice
  
• Players are not allowed to order their own Item
  
• Players who do not place an order will be docked a point
  
  
• In their PM, along with their order, players may optionally indicate their preference for how the next Sale begins:
  
  A. Refill hand to six Word cards [this is the default option]
  B. Discard all remaining Word cards and receive a new set of six Word cards
  C. Begin the next Sale with just the remaining Word cards (or draw just two cards, if players have no cards left)
  
  
• The Sale ends after all players have placed their orders, or after 72 hours, whichever comes first

Scoring and Game End

• Each Item ordered earns the player selling the Item one point
  
• After each Sale, I will reveal which Item(s) were the most popular; these Item(s) earn a bonus point
  
  Example: three players ordered Alice's Ferret Telescopes, two players ordered Bob's Helicopter Repellent, no other Items were ordered. Alice scores four points, Bob scores two points; I announce "Alice's Ferret Telescopes were the best-selling Item in Sale One!"
  
  
• I will then PM players new Word cards (or not, depending on which option the winner of the Sale selected) and the next Sale will begin
  
• At the halfway point, I will reveal the current standings
  
• The game ends after six Sales
  
  Special Sales:
  
• In Sale Three, you can include artwork with your pitches
  
• In Sale Six, there will be a 'Double Customer' for players to pitch to
  
  Example: Vampire Astronaut
  
  
  
• The player with the most points at the end of the game wins!
  
• In the case of a tie, the first tie-breaker is the number of Sales won; if still tied, the players' most popular Item(s) are the remaining tie-breaker(s)

Most importantly:

Have fun! Be creative! Enjoy! Play fair!

List of players:
1. biancospino
2. Jake The Wolfie
3. JerryArr

4. Charles510

5. DragonEater70

6.

This could be you!

7.

So could this!

8.

Etc.

9.

You get the idea

10.

Sign up now!

[imaginality]

With four players signed up, we are good to go! Round 1 will start in

(expired on 2024-05-02 19:30:00)

If you haven't signed up yet, you haven't missed
your chance - further sign-ups are more than welcome!

[imaginality]

The first Sale Period begins now!

You are pitching your products to a

Sports Mascot

.

The Advertising phase begins now and ends when everyone has advertised or in

(expired on 2024-05-04 19:30:00)

[imaginality]

Well, we have some great products on offer here today, folks - and now it's time to order your favourite!

You have

(expired on 2024-05-07 09:55:00)

to place your orders by PMing me!

And if you (anyone reading this) have any questions or comments about one of the products, simply post them here and the relevant sales rep will be happy to respond, I'm sure.

[imaginality]

Well folks, we're about to enter the final day of this Sale. If you haven't placed your orders yet, make sure to do so, you don't want to miss out on these literally fabulous items!

[imaginality]

Our first Sale has ended and the phones were ringing non-stop with literally some people placing orders!

The best-selling item was the

Fear Broom

™ , a literally terrific product!


Our new Sale will begin shortly. Tune in for more amazing offers!

[imaginality]

Sale Two

has begun - you can advertise your Items now!

You are pitching your products to a

Grave Robber

.

The Advertising phase ends when everyone has advertised their Items or in

(expired on 2024-05-09 10:23:00)

[imaginality]

Just a reminder, the phone lines won't be open for your questions until all the adverts have run.

And adverts should be 100 words or fewer. I'm not going to be super-strict on that front... but don't push your luck.

[imaginality]

All the adverts have run, so now our phone lines are open for you to order the Item you dig the most!

You have

(expired on 2024-05-11 23:15:00)

to place your orders by PMing me.

And if any of our viewers have any questions or grave concerns about one of the products, you can share them here now. We've hit the graveyard shift but we still have a skeleton crew waiting by the phones ready to help!

[imaginality]

Well, it's dead quiet on the customer helplines. Remember folks, these special offers are limited time deals. The Sale ends in just over a day so make sure to place your Orders in time!

[imaginality]

The phone lines have closed, the Orders have been tallied, and this season's must-have Item for all aspiring grave robbers is... the

Sun River

! Remember folks, use with caution!

Our next Sale will begin a few hours from now, so stay tuned!

[imaginality]

Sale Three

has begun - you can advertise your Items now!

You are pitching your products to a

Castaway

.

The Advertising phase ends when everyone has advertised their Items or in

(expired on 2024-05-14 03:23:00)

As a reminder, for this Sale you can, if you wish, include artwork in your advertisement. You can use your choice of medium. The artwork must be created by you. Please note any words used in the artwork count towards your 100 words.

[imaginality]

And that's all the adverts for this Sale, folks. The final sales team were unable to pitch their product due to rogue-tidal-wave-filled-with-crocodiles-surfing-on-sharks-related reasons.

It's time for you sandy survivors to write your questions in giant letters on the sand for the various sales teams to respond to.

You have

(expired on 2024-05-17 08:00:00)

to place your orders by sending me a message in a PM-shaped bottle.

[imaginality]

As another sunny day dawns on your island, remember you only have today left to place your Orders. Don't let these fabulous items drift away!

[imaginality]

Dusk falls on the island, your hammock swaying gently as you sip coconut water through a bamboo-stick straw. You hear a sound from afar, a voice carried across the waves on the warm evening breeze:

"The best-selling Item in Sale Three was the Star Ticket!"

[imaginality]

We're halfway through the game, and hopefully you're finding it fun so far - there's certainly been a great mix of ideas and some entertaining pitches and answers!

Our current standings:

biancospino - 7 points
JerryArr - 2 points
DragonEater70 - 2 points
Jake The Wolfie - 1 point
Charles510 - 0 points

With five players in the game, it's possible to win as many as 5 points per Sale if your Item is impressive enough (4 Orders plus the bonus point), so there's still everything to play for!

[imaginality]

Sale Four

has begun - you can advertise your Items now!

You are pitching your products to a

Teacher

.

The Advertising phase ends when everyone has advertised their Items or in

(expired on 2024-05-19 11:20:00)

[imaginality]

Assuming I got two votes in the round I won, wouldn't I have 3 points?

Sale Two was initially a three-way tie (1 Order each) but you were tied with Charles510 and Jake The Wolfie who both didn't vote, and therefore both lost a point for not voting, making your Item the sole winner. So you correctly earned 2 points for that Sale.

[imaginality]

All the products have been pitched, so it's now time to learn more, and order the Item of your choice!

The Ordering phase ends when all orders are placed or in

(expired on 2024-05-22 11:45:00)

[imaginality]

The Sale is over, and it's clear teachers want to make some major changes in their classrooms next semester. The best-selling Items in Sale Four were

Hormone Murder

and the

Desk Tank

!

Sale Five will begin shortly - stay tuned!

[imaginality]

We're beginning our penultimate Sale now, so make sure your pitches are polished (like a shuriken), sharp (also like a shuriken) and well-targeted because this time, your target Customer is a

Ninja

.

You have

1 day, 0 hours, 12 minutes

to create your Items and advertise them here!