Hello,
I am in development for a deck-building game heavily based off the Civilization series (namely Civ 5). It will have many elements of Civ 5, such as Science, Gold, Culture, Food and Production. Here is the full list of 'elements' and concepts that this game will have:
1. Food
Food cards are used to keep your Civilization happy, and to increase your Population.
2. Population
Population is the size of your Civilization, and its size is represented by your hand size.
3. Production
Production is used to buy cards, much like Gold in Dominion.
4. Gold
Gold can be accumulated (unlike Production) and can be used in lieu of Production and possibly as a sort of booster to Science. It could possibly also be used to activate Military cards (Gold is a WIP).
5. Military
Military cards give you a way to interact with other players, impeding their progress to support your own. They may possibly lead to a Military Victory, though I'm not entirely sure how.
6. Culture
Culture is accumulated overtime, and can be used to purchase Social Policy cards, and eventually to win a Cultural Victory.
7. Social Policies
Social Policy cards give unique, specific bonuses, similar to Wonders, and are valuable cards to have.
8. Buildings
Building cards are cards purchased with Production that allow special actions.
9. Wonders
Wonder cards are great works of human engineering that provide unique actions or powers.
10. Science
Science is used in Researching Technologies, and can be accumulated on a track.
11. Technologies
Technology cards are cards that, when Researched, immediately unlock new cards to buy.
12. Happiness
Happiness cards are used in activating Citizen cards, and mark the contentment of your population.
13. Land
Land cards are cards gained through exploration, that provide bonuses through ownership of them.
14. Victories
There are many types of Victories: Cultural Victory, achieved by reaching the end of the Culture Track; Science Victory, achieved by Researching the last Tech card; Diplomatic Victory, achieved by getting the most votes once the UN Wonder is built; and Military Victory, achieved through a means I have not yet determined. I am also thinking of adding a Time Victory, triggered once a certain number of cards runs out, achieved by having the biggest deck of cards.
I have some questions:
1. What do you think of this game? Would it be unique enough?
2. Are there any games out there similar to this?
3. How should Military be worked?
4. Do you have any further questions about the rules? There's a lot I didn't publish because it would have taken up too much room.
Okay, I guess it's time to actually post the rules. This might take a while. I'm not great at writing rules, but I will try.
1. Food Cards and Population
Food cards are cards in your hand that serve 2 purposes:
A. Keep your people happy
B. Increase Population
Keeping people happy will be explained in the next section.
Population marks the size of your civilization, and is tracked on your Civilization sheet. At the beginning of each of your turns, you will draw cards up to your Population.
2. Happiness Cards and Citizen Cards
Happiness is a necessity for a growing kingdom. Happiness is represented in your hand by Happiness cards.
Happiness cards can be played to activate a Citizen card in your hand. Citizen cards can be played, if activated, to grant you things such as Science, Food cards, Production cards, Gold, Culture, etc.
Citizens form the basis for expansion, as they are some of the first cards you will get. Without them, your civilization's development could easily slow to a standstill.
Happiness is tied to Food. If, at the beginning of your turn, you have at least 1 Food card in your hand, your people are fed and content, and you have nothing to worry about. However, if you don't have any Food cards in your hand at the beginning of your turn, your people are discontent and will complain. You must immediately trash 1 Happiness card. If you don't have any Happiness cards in your hand, you must instead gain a Rioter card in your discard.
Rioter cards represent unhappy citizens. When you draw a Rioter card, you have a choice. You may either discard a Happiness card before doing any other actions, or you may trash 1 Happiness card from your hand to also trash the Rioter card.
If your hand is ever occupied by more Rioter cards than other types of cards, you must trash 1 Building card or Citizen card from your hand.
If your hand is every completely filled up with Rioter cards, you must decrease your Population by 1.
3. Production and Building Cards
Production is the currency by which Building cards and Citizen cards are bought. Production does not carry over from turn to turn, so there is no reason not to spend it.
Production is gained from cards such as Citizens or, in some cases, Buildings.
4. Culture and Social Policies
Culture marks the societal development of your civilization. It is used in purchasing Social Policies.
Culture is counted via the Culture Track, and Social Policies may be gained when your Culture gets high enough. Periodical points on the Track will be marked (i.e. 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, etc.) with increasing distances between points.
Social Policy cards provide unique bonuses that no other cards normally would provide (i.e. +1 Production this turn for every Citizen card in your hand).
Once your Culture reaches the end of the Track, you win a Culture Victory as soon as you have 50 more Culture than any other player.
Some example Social Policies:
Aristocracy - Social Policy
Wonders cost 2 less Production this turn. If you have at least 1 Citizen card in your hand, gain 1 Happiness card.
Free Thought - Social Policy
Score 1 Science for every Citizen card in your hand.
5. Science and Tech cards
Science, just like Culture, is marked on a track. It is used to Research Technology cards, which allow you to buy more advanced cards. Some Tech cards also increase bonuses gained by certain cards. When the final Tech card is Researched, you win a Science Victory.
6. Building cards and Citizen cards
Building and Citizen cards are the main cards that you will be buying with Production. They are the main way to gain resources. Some example cards include:
Farmer - Citizen
Gain 1 Food card.
Miner - Citizen
Gain 1 Production this turn.
Scientist - Citizen
Score 1 Science.
Courthouse - Building
Trash 1 Rioter card from your discard, or all Rioter cards from your hand.
Workshop - Building
All Building cards cost 1 less Production this turn.
Monument - Building
Score 1 Culture.
7. Wonder cards and Tourist cards
Wonders are cards that provide major bonuses, similarly to Social Policies, but usually much better. As well, most Wonder cards allow you to gain Tourist cards, which are useful in gaining the advantage in Culture when going for a Cultural Victory.
Tourist - Citizen
All other players lose 1 Culture.
Some example Wonders:
Great Library - Wonder
Gain 1 Tourist card. Gain 3 Science.
Temple of Artemis - Wonder
Gain 1 Tourist card. Gain 1 Food this turn for every Citizen card in your hand.
8. Gold
Gold is an accumulated currency that can be spent instead of Production when buying new cards. Unlike Production, it is carried over between turns.
9. Land
At the beginning of the game, a Land card deck will be placed in the center of the play area. Players may play certain cards (such as Scouts) to draw from the deck. The cards they draw are placed in front of them and represent their owned territory.
When an Ocean card is drawn, you can no longer draw from the deck until you have Researched the Navigation Tech card.
Land cards provide bonuses each turn.
10. Military
Military cards are still a WIP, and I'm not entirely sure how to work them. I'm thinking that they may let you do things such as steal Land cards from other players, cause players to trash cards from their hands, steal Gold from players, or maybe have wars where Military strength is compared.
These are the rules so far, I hope it's clear enough.