I did a quick search but didn't see any recent posts on this topic so here goes.
So as some of you may know, I'm working on a strategy game. One failing that many games of this type has is that opponents' turns are mostly irrelevant to players. Sure you get to roll occasionally when you're attacked and a good commander can tell a lot from a player's turn but still. Aside from the dice, you can just sit back and wait until your turn and then drink in the board and figure out where to go from there.
For my game, I'm playing with a card system useful for both offensive and defensive situations. I'm thinking each player will have a hand of 4 (or 5) cards and can play only one card per turn (that is every player's turn). So in a round of four players, you will get a chance to play 4 cards, one for each players turn. If you don't play a card in a given turn, you can discard it and gain income for doing so. However, you only draw new cards at the beginning of your turn.
I'm hoping this will cause players to watch each other's turns more carefully to see if something they could play is of value and if not, they can get a monetary bonus. If a player has good cards that they don't want to use yet, they might choose to forego bonus income as well, curbing the effect of powerful cards because of the lost income potential.
What do you think? Will this work? I'm worried about the high rate of turnover of cards. Also, should hands scale with the number of players?
In general: what are some other ways to make opponent's turns relavent? Are there any examples from games you like?
I completely agree with you on this point. I also worry about the mini-turn idea in slowing down a turn so that it could fee hi-jacked from whomever's turn it is.
My idea is that cards individually specify when they can be played and it is the responsibility of the owner of the card to play it when appropriate. My only concern with this is for the player whose turn it is to rush through phases to try and catch opponents off guard. Maybe that's a good thing that will keep people vigilant.