I Cut You Choose PNP

Below is a game that I started working on recently. I'd love to get some thoughts on it. I love the "I Cut, You Choose" mechanic so this game was born from that concept.

It's a 2 player game where players take turns dividing up a kingdom, gaining resources, building cities, and controlling regions to come out victorious.

Forgive me if any of the rules are confusing. Leave a comment and I'll try to clarify them.

If anyone is interested in testing out the game I'd love that! At the moment I don't have a whole lot of opportunities to playtest the game with people. (You just need 2 pencils, and 2 pieces of paper and you are ready to start playing.)

SETUP
Give each player one resource sheet and a pencil.
Place one kingdom sheet in the center of the play area.

GOAL
Divide the kingdom, control regions, built cities, and gain the most points to claim victory.

GAMEPLAY
The starting player is the person who most recently visited a castle.
Each turn consists of 4 phases:

1. Cut
2. Claim
3. Collect
4. Control

CUT
On your turn begin by drawing a solid line over the dotted lines on the kingdom sheet, dividing one section of the kingdom into exactly two distinct sections. (At the start of the game you will be dividing the entire kingdom into exactly 2 sections.) You can never divide a region in such a way that it becomes more than 2 regions.

CLAIM
Your opponent will then choose one resource in either section and then claim all the resources of that type that are found in the section they chose. After your opponent has chosen, you must then choose a resource from the section your opponent did not choose. Claim all the resources of that type that are found in the section you chose.

When you claim a resource write your initials in the spaces of the resources you are claiming. Place an ‘x’ on your resource sheet for each resource. The ‘x’ should be placed in the row that corresponds to the resource you claimed.

If claiming a space in a section results in only one remaining unclaimed space in the section, you may claim that space as well. A turn should never end with a region only having one unclaimed space.

Note: Some resources require other resources to claim that space. To claim a horse space you must pay 1 grain. To claim a fortress you must pay 1 stone. To claim a village you must pay a wood and grain, and claiming cities cost a combination of grain, wood, and stone.

If you cannot claim a resource you may place a large ‘x’ over the resources. This means neither player may claim that resource for the remainder of the game.

When you spend resource(s) to claim a space, scribble out one ‘x’ on your resource sheet for each resource you spend.

For example, if you claim 2 village spaces you must scribble out 2 x’s from your grain area, and 2 x’s from your wood area of your resource sheet.

Cities
When you claim a city space you must choose which of the 5 cities on your resource board that you want to build and pay the costs associated with that city. To indicate which city you have built place a large ‘x’ over the city icon on your resource board.

Once you have built a city, you may begin filling up the horse and gem rows associated with that city. Horses will increase your military strength while gems will give you victory points. When placing x’s in horse or gem rows connected to a city you must always place x’s from left to right in the row.

At any time you can scribble out an x from the horse or gem row and place an x in the horse or gem row connected with a city you have built. This indicates you have moved that resource to that city.

COLLECT
Once the CLAIM phase has been completed each player may collect resources.
For your collect action you may do one of the following.

- Collect 4 grain
- Collect 2 wood/stone (Or you can collect one of each).
- Collect 1 horse/gem/fortress. (Note that if you gain a horse you must pay 1 grain, and to gain a fortress you must pay 1 stone).
- Collect from every space you own that touches one of your villages.
- Collect from every space you own that touches one of your cities.

CONTROL
Once player have completed their collect action, check to see if any regions of the kingdom were completed this turn. A completed region means every space in that section has either an initial or an ‘x’ on it.

For each completed region check to see if both players control at least one square in the region. If all the squares in the region are controlled by the same player that player controls the region. If both players own at least one square each player adds up the number of squares they own in the region + their military strength. Each shield a player has crossed out on their player board increases their military strength by 1.

You control the region if you have the highest score after adding your military strength to the number of spaces you own in that region.

The moment you control a region you may spend one grain, allowing you to place an x in the row at the bottom right of your resource sheet. The row contains a star in each box of the row meaning whenever you gain control of a region and pay 1 grain you gain 1 victory point.

Once both players completing the CONTROL phase, start a new turn, except this time your opponent will divide one section of the kingdom into two sections and you get to choose first.

GAME END
The game ends when all regions of the kingdom are filled up with either initials or x’s.

Both players gain 1 point for every star they have crossed off on their resource board.
The player who has the most horses in either their fortresses or their cities gains an additional 3 points.

The player with the most points is the winner.