Game #4/12 - Those Magnificent Men - an adventure game with programming

Those Magnificent Men

An 18 card adventure game with programming for 2-4 players.

In 1923 a coalition of nations embarked on a convert mission of genocide. Deep in the Pacific Ocean the last of the strange forms of Man (Vampire, Warewolf, Merman, Mummy and Tinman) tried to fight off the invaders.

You play as the captain of a three man pilot crew of a bi-plane delivering goods, rescuing survivors and shooting down the invaders.

Files for playing:
Rules:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/62ifvf6ihzlv3ui/those_magnificent_men_rule...

Cards:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/q2bptjpkqgx2r34/those_magnificent_men_card...

Additional resources needed:
1 D6 for placement rolls
3 D6 per Player {12 max}
2 Red Health Cubes per Player {8 max}
3 Grey Ammo Cubes per Player {12 max}
1 Black Marker cube for scenario progress
6 Pink Survivor Cubes
1 coloured Action Cube per Player {4 max}
1 Matching colour Player Disc per player {4 max}
6 Orange Enemy Discs

Game play:
The game is played in 2 phases.

In the first phase you're drawing cards and deciding whether to play the crew side of the card into your private crew roster or play the location side of the card to make up the common map. Both pilots and locations have unique abilities so you have to manage taking powerful cards for yourself and playing useful cards for the group.

In the second phase you're executing actions defined by the crew roster you build in the previous phase. You'll be collecting D6s at locations to deliver to other locations (triggering their ability), spending ammo to shoot down enemies and rescuing survivors. You claim rewards for your actions based on the scenario set for the game.

There are three different scenarios that can be played, one prioritising deliveries, one for rescues and other for shooting enemies.

The winner is the one with the most rewards.

Reflection:
This is my forth game of my challenge to make 12 18 card PnP games in 12 months.

This was probably my most enjoyable development to date. Everything just seemed to naturally come together and the resulting game play was very enjoyable.

The theme I had for this game was "play the game you make". Originally I was thinking of making a mini version of 504, but I quickly realised that was madness and figured it was better to limit the scope to a single game type and allow the players to 'tweak' the game, rather than have a blank page.

I quickly thought of doing a euro game managing resources, but after some tests I settled simply on actions for an adventure game. I pretty much plucked the thematics out of the blue - I'd been looking at some art deco art posters for horror films and I thought why not combine that with the game. I feel that it works and I liked creating the style.

I think the game runs pretty well it has a nice level of complexity and there is quite a bit of replay-ability despite the small card count.

Anyway, I'd love to hear how others feel it plays.

If you're curious, here's the link to the other game so far:
Game#1:
https://www.bgdf.com/forum/game-design/game-design-workshop/gene-dreams-...

Game#2:
https://www.bgdf.com/forum/game-design/game-design-workshop/game-212-dya...

Game#3:
https://www.bgdf.com/forum/game-design/game-design-workshop/game-312-ani...