First I have to start by thanking "JewellGames" for presenting the "baseline" concept. To recap it's a short game about card drafting. Originally the concept was designed to work with three (3) different colors in three (3) different piles. The strategy in the game would be to figure out what "cards" your opponent is trying to keep to secure the victory and thwart his opponent.
When I first knew about the concept of "keeping the cards in piles", I immediately thought that what we should be KEEPing is MONSTERS. And so the revival of "Monster Keep", see you KEEP the MONSTERs! (Pun intended), had begun...
But as I told "JewellGames", there needed to be a BATTLE mechanic. Something that would allow the players to DUEL against their friends. I've talked with a few kids and they all say they enjoy DUEL games where the players battle!
The original "concept" had players revealing the card they chose. And that would be to help the opposing player better understand his opponent's strategy. I decided to take this UP one notch: I included a WAR-like mechanic (as in the Card Game of WAR). When you reveal cards, player's compare their ATTACK Values - and then we see who is the Victor who gets to take BOTH CARDS (like in War)! If it is a tie, both players keep their card.
So now we have battles... But the original game relied on three (3) colors or resources. I felt that this was *too simple*. Instead I proposed that each card have THREE (3) characteristics of the monster:
- Hunger: How much a monster savors FOOD.
- Greed: How much a monster prizes TREASURE.
- Bloodlust: How much a monster craves BATTLE.
Coupling this with a random selection of your LORD (Of The Keep). The corresponding stats match the Lord and are the ones you count as Victory Points (VPs). Originally there would be three (3) NOVICE Lords:
- Lord Asinius: a fat-bald headed Merchant. [Red]
- Lord Kane: a cut-throat master Thief. [Yellow]
- Lord Duncan: a forsaken Knight. [Blue]
Taking this ONE (1) step further, I have defined THREE (3) EXPERT Lords, which make the game even more strategic - but even harder to analyze. Instead of one resource, you need to vie for TWO (2) resources!
- Lord Rex: a draconian King. [Orange]
- Lord Sandor: a dark Warlock. [Green]
- Lord Taurin: a bullish Minotaur. [Purple]
This duel game therefore allows for two (2) modes of play: Novice and Expert. In the Novice mode, players score +2 VPs for each corresponding point of their Lord. In the Expert mode, players score +1 VP for two (2) corresponding points of their Lord...
When playing against younger players or teaching the game - you can use the Novice mode. When you want a more serious challenge, you can use the Expert mode!
Now my NEXT challenge lies in determining which MONSTERs to include in this game! :)
