Let's make it so the creator of the game can specify the bonus and the starting points. I think the very first game would have played better if the starting point was 1,000 instead of 20,000. Then the bonus of 500 would already be figuring into the play and Czuch would be having a little more fun.

As for the amount of people at the start, I really don't see how that matters much aside from the length of the game. When there's just three people left, the game will be determined by their scores. If close, it could make for a good finish.

Varying the bonus in proportion to the starting point will make a big difference though. From no bonus all the way to say three quarters of the starting point. There's room for lots of experimenting in this game. Now the we can create the game, eventually good amounts will shake out and most creators will try to have parameters near it for a good game. Imagine starting the game with 30 players and 60 or so points and no bonus. Lots of guts and no extraneous bull worry about a bonus awarded. Or same parameters, but a bonus of 30. Now it'd be a whole different deal and you'd have to think about that bonus.

The way the first game is going, I'd be surprised if the bonus figures too much in the final outcome. By the time alesh gets to 0 maybe the bonus will start to figure in the play.

What all of you seem to be forgetting is that some people have a different agenda than playing to win. If any of you are familiar with a board game called "Risk" it only takes one of the players to spoil it for everyone else. All one player in that game has to do is attack one other player until their whole army is depleted. Yes, it makes no sense to play that way, but I've seen it plenty of times. The person that was attacked has suffered a lot and the rest of the players can move to take him out. Three or four handed "Line Five" is the same way. This "Pond" game seems a little more robust to such playing "tactics", but we've already seen some problems from players purposely playing poorly and it having an effect on the rest of the players.