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Resource management in a game with static resources

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Wed, 05/11/2016 - 12:42
ilyoTheHorrid
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Hi, I am making a card game, which has some resemblance to MTG, but it is sci-fi themed and has time travel. After 2 years of developing and testing, I am very close to release a print-at-home beta.

I will try to simplify my question so you won't have to read all the rules:

Each player has 6 cards that can be one of 3 colors and they function like mana in MTG. The cards are double sided and have a different color on the other side. You can flip them and use the color on the other side. Also, each player has one "creature" that provides some kind of mana bonus. This is how it is all through the game, there is no growth in resources.

You can see the full rules here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18wAH3ZCDJrXQtnllu9sREUpQBIVNwH9o2ABH...

I am looking for a way to make the game a little more flexible, without adding more "mana" cards, since there can be times you do not have enough resources to do the cool things you want.

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Wed, 05/11/2016 - 14:19
#1
djayshaggy
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You could have a mechanic in

You could have a mechanic in your game which allows the player to add additional mana for one turn at a cost. For instance, if the player uses none of their blue mana on this turn, their mana will be x1.5 next turn (sacrifice using 2 mana this turn to gain an additional mana next turn only).

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Wed, 05/11/2016 - 18:05
#2
Tedthebug
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Use the time travel

Let them draw down against future mana, so perhaps they use an extra 2 mana now but don't get any mana for the next 2 turns. Balanced properly it should provide a nice risk/reward decision point since they would be mana-less for the next 2 turns.

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Thu, 05/12/2016 - 01:11
#3
X3M
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Same suggestion as above. But

Same suggestion as above. But I think it is better to do it as an investment.
Do not spend 2 mana, next turn you get 2+2+1=5.

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Thu, 05/12/2016 - 09:59
#4
djayshaggy
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X3M wrote:Same suggestion as

X3M wrote:
Same suggestion as above. But I think it is better to do it as an investment.
Do not spend 2 mana, next turn you get 2+2+1=5.

I like that too. I guess it's really a question of balance. Do they get extra (encouraging the mechanic), less (discouraging the mechanic), the same, or do they borrow from the next turn (introducing a huge potential risk if this doesn't pay off...though it may be unfair to allow this for an end-game move)?

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Thu, 05/12/2016 - 14:41
#5
X3M
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You know what, now that I

You know what, now that I think about it. My version is even worse. You did mention MtG. And from personal experience, if there is no good drawback on this issue. Then don't.
Expensive cards tend to be exponential better in usage. Thus a bonus to mana after saving up is the worst thing to do.

Would it hurt to have a storage pool instead? Where players can store their resources (or mana) for later use?

A simple 1 saved up, means 1 in the pocket.
The real benefit might be that you can spend them later on, on something that is useful at that point.

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Fri, 05/13/2016 - 00:52
#6
McTeddy
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Couple of ideas, depending on

Couple of ideas, depending on how much or little you want to change.

First off, focus on mana manipulation abilities. Allow certain powers to flip cards so that you have a way to get the mana you need even if its not visible. Combine this with powers that screw with your opponents mana and mess up his combos.

Second, consider ways to "Burn" mana. As long as you're just flipping cards you'll have mana for activating counterspells... but certain abilities will cause you to remove the card from the table for a period of time. (Anything from next turn to don't take any actions to recover)

Third, possibly allow players to repeatedly flip the same card to net continuous mana. So, if you need 3 red... you'll end up with extra blue that you need to spend or suffer a health loss at the end of turn.

Finally, you could always make mana a competitive resource. Anything from having the players battle for control of mana... to sharing the same pool and knowing that flipping the mana may give your opponent the mana they need.

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Sat, 05/14/2016 - 17:42
#7
ilyoTheHorrid
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Thanx for some good ideas

Thanx for some good ideas, I think what I will try for now is adding more mana manipulators, and I'll try "overburn" - tap the same mana twice, but have it completely disabled on the next turn.

McTeddy wrote:
possibly allow players to repeatedly flip the same card to net continuous mana. So, if you need 3 red... you'll end up with extra blue that you need to spend or suffer a health loss at the end of turn.

I'm not sure I completely understood what you meant? You mean to make mana interchangeable? 1 blue for 2 red?

McTeddy wrote:
you could always make mana a competitive resource. Anything from having the players battle for control of mana... to sharing the same pool and knowing that flipping the mana may give your opponent the mana they need.

I thought about it, to have one stream for both players (if you read the rules) I should playtest this at some time.

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