It was a long time in coming. So here's a summary of what's been changed. I'll also include details on a first take at a playtest with the revisions.
To summarize the various changes:
- The game is card-driven, instead of picking cubes from a bag.
- Players have a hand of 3 cards to choose from, and they must play one, discard one, and pass a third to their opponent (who will use that card as part of their hand for next round).
- The cards detail the arrangement of terrain tiles they Make on their turn, and the amount of Domain they gain with that terrain.
- Towers are implemented. They are placed on the map at the intersection of 3 tiles. The player earns points at the end of the game for tiles overlapped by their Towers.
- Sky Fire is actually used. They now "block" scoring opportunities by filling in areas with non-scoring tiles.
The game can end in a couple of ways:
- A player starts a round with a hand of cards that they can't play (this will likely be very rare)
- There are no more tiles remaining for 2 terrain.
First Thoughts:
- I wanted more interaction between players, and this version has that. Passing cards between players is a way to do this, as well as mesh with the theme (two powerful beings harnessing and expelling energy to craft a world).
- I wanted more map-building. This is kinda-sorta there. While playtesting I kept thinking of synergy bonuses and how to reintroduce them into the game without it becoming a cerebral point-salad. Meanwhile, I like this development because it leads to organic terrain layouts. My next playtest, I'll deliberately look to create locations that create scoring opportunities for Towers, instead of synergies. Maybe I'll be able to reintroduce those later.
- The name has to change now. There's no longer a map grid to fill, and so no corners! It was just a place-filler name anyway.
- Scoring is a tangible tug-of-war between the two players. Placing Towers is a way to ensure you will gain points at the game's end, or they can be used to prevent your opponent from scoring the same locations.
Attached is a screen shot that might not make much sense to you unless you see the rules or a how-to-play video. As of this writing, I have yet to post anything like that. Sorry! :)
