First a little history about me, I guess. I'm currently in the middle of my first game project, a (roughly) 200 card CCG, also called DISCORD.
DISCORD is loosely derived from M:tG, though with seven "sides" and I've given it more of a stategic feel; you hunt your opponent down through the terrain(land) in play, build structures, etc. I've created the mechanics, color-flavors, artwork and card design myself, and am currently sitting on about 100 cards completed. Wish me luck, btw.
Which brings me to my question. I consider DISCORD my "apprenticeship" game, and once it's finished I'll be starting work on my next game idea, STRIFE.
STRIFE will be a hybrid card/board game. The cards will likely be collectible, with basic decks available either with the boards or everything seperately. Essentially the boards are different sized grid-maps of a medieval city(small boards for 2 players, larger boards for longer games or more players). I'd like STRIFE to include the following features:
* 2-9 Players
* No luck or randomization beyond the cards you draw.
* Only one variable to keep track of, Gold.
* Hugely minimized "manascrew/manaflood" scenarios.
* Nine unique Factions, each with a number of different playstyles.
* The ability for each player to recruit specific characters and place buildings.
* Players and characters able to possess items, suffer ailments, and move around the map, interacting with other characters and buildings.
* Characters able to be promoted to superior characters under the right conditions, with at least four tiers of "levels".
* Villainy checks on each player/character that effectively run them out of town(remove them from game) if they become too evil.
* Difficult to actually "kill" players, and virtually impossible to "rush" them in the RTS sense....so in a nine player game, it's possible all players will still be active when a player wins the game.
* That being said, one player might be incarcerated in jail, another might be in hiding in the woods, another might be possessed by demons, etc....though none of these are necessarily "final".
* A rich world of nobles, beggars, thieves, guards, wizards, priests, courtesans, demon-summoners, and merchants.
Now....though I've only done very basic theory on all of the above, I _believe_ I have simple(well, relatively) mechanics to handle everything. So...just asking if this idea sounds feasible....or does this all sound entirely too complicated and overambitious?
Discord
A game of the complexity of say Magic, played with 9 would have lethal downtime. A game with the complexity of War might play fast enough for 9 but could get tediuous with 2.
Ahh...I should also have mentioned that there's no player turns....which hopefully will alleviate the many-players problem.
Essentially there's four phases per round. Dawn/Day/Dusk/Dark.
Dawn/Dusk are essentially "upkeep"/bookkeeping and should be pretty fast.
Day/Dark are the main phases, and are fairly identical except for obvious restrictions/bonuses for certain cards.
The main phases work somewhat like poker...active player either makes a play or passes...if everyone passes, moves to next phase. if someone makes a play, then other players can respond or pass, etc.
Whether this fixes the problem or not I won't be able to tell until playtesting, but hopefully it will improve on a 7-phase per each player turn system.
Discord