[Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the artwork pictured here. This art is being used for prototype purposes only and will not be a part of the final game.]
So this is a photo of the game that's currently at the front of my queue. Being an early state prototype, it doesn't have a proper name yet; at the moment I'm just calling it "Sky Pirates". Dunno if I'm going to keep that or not; I assume it's being used somewhere else so I'll have to see if I can get away with using that name or not. A quick description for Sky Pirates is that it is a hidden information, area control card game that can be played with from two to five players and that plays in less than a half hour.
The theme of the game is that each player is a pirate lord, hungry for treasure. The setting is a steampunk world with cities in the sky; some are built on islands of floating rocks, others are complex contraptions that simply hover in the air, and a couple are built on high locations such as the tops of mountains or a giant pillar extending from the ground up to the clouds. Regardless of where they are, each location has loot that the players are trying to obtain.
In order to get loot, players must deploy their ships to go and get it. Ships consists of basically anything that can fly; blimps, airplanes, helicopters, and even personal flight packs all serve to get your underlings to the loot. Unfortunately for the players, there is only enough treasure at each location for two pirates. The players decide who gets the loot by calculating which players have the most firepower at each location. Each of the ships cards has a combat value that indicates how much it contributes to the fight. Cards are played into stacks, with the top card of each stack dictating the destination of all of the cards in that stack; each card has a location printed on it, and the location of the card on top overrides those of the cards underneath.
There is a catch, however. Cards are played into their stacks face-down! When an opponent plays a card, you don't know how powerful it is or where it's going. That is, until you 'scout' it. Each player gets a limited number of scout actions that can be used to flip up one of an opponent's cards. Worried about that huge stack that an opponent has in play? Scout the top card so you can figure out where it's headed? A couple more scouts will tell you if the cards in the stack are tiny or powerful. But be warned that the opponents are trying to do the same to your cards.
Some cards also have special abilities. However, there is a catch there too. To use a card's ability, you have to play it face-up instead! This can be powerful depending on the ability but it also means one less piece of hidden information for you to hide behind. And you don't want to reveal too much of your strategy. Additionally, some cards have special abilities that trigger at the end of the game... if they manage to stay face-down until the end of the game. So if those cards get flipped up, poof there goes their bonus.
Once the game ends, all of the cards are flipped up, and you total the combat power of each stack to determine who winds each location. Locations have loot point values printed on them, a large value for '1st place' (whomever has the most power), and a smaller value for '2nd place'. Add up the loot points and determine the winner!
So far, this game has received generally good responses when I've brought it to playtest sessions. There are definitely some glitches left to iron out, though. The way the cards have to be stacked to keep the 'top' card the same is confusing to players and will need to be reworked. The process of counting up combat values at the end of the game can get tedious and might need a player aid or something to make it easier. And players have a tendency to play the special abilities of as many cards as they can, leaving all of their information exposed and nothing for the scout effects to do. So there is definitely still work to be done, but I have received some good feedback and suggestions so at least I have a clear path forward.
I hope to work some more on this after Dice Tower, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. I don't think I'll get anything done on the game before then.
So this is a photo of the game that's currently at the front of my queue. Being an early state prototype, it doesn't have a proper name yet; at the moment I'm just calling it "Sky Pirates". Dunno if I'm going to keep that or not; I assume it's being used somewhere else so I'll have to see if I can get away with using that name or not. A quick description for Sky Pirates is that it is a hidden information, area control card game that can be played with from two to five players and that plays in less than a half hour.
The theme of the game is that each player is a pirate lord, hungry for treasure. The setting is a steampunk world with cities in the sky; some are built on islands of floating rocks, others are complex contraptions that simply hover in the air, and a couple are built on high locations such as the tops of mountains or a giant pillar extending from the ground up to the clouds. Regardless of where they are, each location has loot that the players are trying to obtain.
In order to get loot, players must deploy their ships to go and get it. Ships consists of basically anything that can fly; blimps, airplanes, helicopters, and even personal flight packs all serve to get your underlings to the loot. Unfortunately for the players, there is only enough treasure at each location for two pirates. The players decide who gets the loot by calculating which players have the most firepower at each location. Each of the ships cards has a combat value that indicates how much it contributes to the fight. Cards are played into stacks, with the top card of each stack dictating the destination of all of the cards in that stack; each card has a location printed on it, and the location of the card on top overrides those of the cards underneath.
There is a catch, however. Cards are played into their stacks face-down! When an opponent plays a card, you don't know how powerful it is or where it's going. That is, until you 'scout' it. Each player gets a limited number of scout actions that can be used to flip up one of an opponent's cards. Worried about that huge stack that an opponent has in play? Scout the top card so you can figure out where it's headed? A couple more scouts will tell you if the cards in the stack are tiny or powerful. But be warned that the opponents are trying to do the same to your cards.
Some cards also have special abilities. However, there is a catch there too. To use a card's ability, you have to play it face-up instead! This can be powerful depending on the ability but it also means one less piece of hidden information for you to hide behind. And you don't want to reveal too much of your strategy. Additionally, some cards have special abilities that trigger at the end of the game... if they manage to stay face-down until the end of the game. So if those cards get flipped up, poof there goes their bonus.
Once the game ends, all of the cards are flipped up, and you total the combat power of each stack to determine who winds each location. Locations have loot point values printed on them, a large value for '1st place' (whomever has the most power), and a smaller value for '2nd place'. Add up the loot points and determine the winner!
So far, this game has received generally good responses when I've brought it to playtest sessions. There are definitely some glitches left to iron out, though. The way the cards have to be stacked to keep the 'top' card the same is confusing to players and will need to be reworked. The process of counting up combat values at the end of the game can get tedious and might need a player aid or something to make it easier. And players have a tendency to play the special abilities of as many cards as they can, leaving all of their information exposed and nothing for the scout effects to do. So there is definitely still work to be done, but I have received some good feedback and suggestions so at least I have a clear path forward.
I hope to work some more on this after Dice Tower, which is coming up in a couple of weeks. I don't think I'll get anything done on the game before then.
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