I'm actually worried that "Planes of Aria" (PoA) is too layered and doesn't offer enough variation for the players. Let me do a QUICK AUDIT of the game's components and what is currently featured in the existing design:

1.0 Game Tiles

The game features a Tile Laying Mechanics which is similar to a Sandbox implementation in that player don't have to build upon the opponent's area of play ... But instead features two (2) distinct modes:

1.1 Sandbox Mode

In this mode players play in their own area of play and the opponent doesn't have any contact with his opponent(s).

1.2 Battle Fronts Mode

In this mode players build a common area of play but tile placement is rarely in conflict due to the nature of each player's section of the area of play. Meaning that even though you start building in common with each other at the start, more that likely by the end that each player has his own section of play.

A player may use Front Tokens to prevent an opponent from building in a specific direction. Each Turn for FREE, a player may play (add or move) a Front Token to one of his Game Tiles, preventing the opponent from building in the designated direction. For 1 Gold (Income), an additional Front may be played provided the player has sufficient income.

A player can have 0 to 3 Battle Fronts in play.

2.0 PoA Custom Dice

The custom D6 is used to control which tiles are in play for any given Round. Yes I said "Round" meaning the dice affects ALL players and therefore sometimes a player may pass his Tile Laying portion of his Turn in favor of +1 Gold (Income).

3.0 Kingdom Cards

The game features "Kingdom" Cards which have a Value from 1 to 3. Each Kingdom card may be drafted from a Pool of Cards on each turn. A player must PAY the cost of the "Card" (again 1 to 3 Gold) in order to collect that card. Cards are played in the Card Pool Face-down and therefore it is not known which ABILITY is being acquired only that it is of a specific Value.

Players may opt to SKIP the Buying Phase of a Round and therefore SAVE on Gold which can be used for upgrading Building which will be described in the NEXT section.

A player may have from 0 to 5 Kingdom Cards in-play and from 0 to 5 Kingdom Cards in his HAND. Before a Card is used (and REVEALED) it is possible to SWAP out a Kingdom Card for more Value from the player's hand.

Each Kingdom Card has a unique Ability and there are a total of 11 distinct Abilities available to players. The Deck Size of the "Kingdom" Cards is 54 cards.

4.0 Buildings

There are currently three (3) types of buildings: Cities, Temples and Capitols.

4.1 Cities

Cities can be from 1 to 3 Levels. A city of Level 3 can become a Capitol (more on that further). Each City allows a "Temple" to by built which is a multiple of two (2x) for the connected Temple. Each connected Temple must be on the same type of Game Tile and rules of placement require that a Temple be built three (3) Game Tiles away.

So a Level 2 City allows for a Temple of (2x) 2 = up to Level 4 Temple.

A player can have from 0 to 5 Cities.

4.2 Temples

Temples can be from 1 to 6 Levels. Depending on their connected City, which can be from 1 to 3 Levels ... The permissible Temple Level is a multiplier of two (2x) of the connected City.

So a Level 6 Temple must be connected to a Level 3 City (2x) 3 = up to Level 6.

A player can have from 0 to 5 Temples.

4.3 Capitols

Capitols can be from 1 to 6 Levels however each player may only build ONE (1) Capitol. To build a Capitol you must have a City at Level 3 and therefore declare that you are going to build a Capitol for 3 Gold (Income). By doing so a player places the joining Capitol Token to the City in question and it becomes a Capitol of Level 3 and earns ONE (1) Knight Token (more on these later).

Each Capitol may be upgraded from Level 3 to 6 and for each additional Level, the player earns an additional Knight (for a maximum of 4 Knights at Level 6).

A player can have from 0 to 1 Capitol.

5.0 Knights

Knights are used for scoring purposes only. The number of Knights goes from 0 to 4 depending on if a Capitol has been built and whether it has been upgraded to a higher Level.

The purpose of the Knights is to allow for allocation of more Victory Points (VPs) at the end of a match.

For example: A Knight NEXT to a City at the end of the Game earns +2 VPs.

A player can have from 0 to 4 Knights.

Right now that's what is in PoA in the current design iteration. It's all cool and all... It's a medium EURO Game meaning there is little DIRECT conflict with the exception of the "Kingdom" Cards which can cause players to affect the Temples and Cities of an opponent.

The duration of the game is about 30 Minutes per player. Therefore it is a "medium" EURO because it can take 2-Hours when playing 4-Players.

There are also currently 15 different methods by which players can SCORE "Victory Points" (VPs) which are computed at the end of the game. But be mindful that a strategic player will determine what they should focus on and react to an opponent's own strategy. Everything is visible except the "Kingdom" Cards and so there is a bit of secrecy in the game as well.

The game has LAYERS: first Game Tiles, then Cities, followed by Temples and lastly Ending with Capitols and Knights. My problem ATM is deciding on whether this is SUFFICIENT or not(!?) Some of my "thoughts" are:

A: The Layers have a natural progression...

But are also a bit "static", meaning you can't do things in another way. Is this a logical method for a game??? Of course, you can FOCUS on what you think is more important to you (which buildings and so forth) and you must manage your Gold (Income) on each turn making decisions on what you will do each and every turn maximizing the use of Gold (Income) to advance in the game.

B: The Knights took a long time to figure out

Initially I was thinking that Knights should engage in COMBAT. Of course this is not very EURO-ish and so I finally concluded that they should AFFECT the END of the game and play a vital role in scoring.

Four (4) Knights at maximum is another LIMIT. Using Knights for the better of the players is easier to do in a 2-Player Match vs. a 4-Player Match. This is simply because there are more players and a total of 15 VP scoring methods available to the players.

C: Another Layer (Maybe)???

I'm thinking some Tactical in relation to the Knights. See right now, a player chooses to Deploy a Knight (given the power of his Capitol: 3 to 6 Levels). But there is no way to REACT or COUNTER a player's decision to place a Knight at any given position. I think it could be wise to COUNTER or CONTEST a placement given some kind of "mechanic" for thwarting an opponent's action.

I was thinking about (Maybe!?) a "Dragon" token which is common to all PLAYERS causes ONE (1) Knight to be "invalidated"... Meaning that the Knight is considered "Busy" defending a City, Temple or Capitol.

Again this is EMBRYONIC... And will require more thought. But one thing is for certain, I would like some kind of SHARED "Dragon" to impact the game. Again maybe!? I will continue to ponder this as it AFFECTS directly END of Game scoring... Maybe something along the lines of the "Robber" in Settlers of Catan...

Like I said more thought is required to make this work "correctly".

BTW if anyone reads this Blog Entry, please feel free to comment, add feedback and/or ask questions in the event that the content is not sufficiently clear enough or you have an idea that may work for an extra layer or method of affecting the game in some way or fashion.

Cheers all!