An Alamaze Based Card Game

[Ry Vor]

I have ideas for an Alamaze based (loosely) card game. 

• Modular, for example, adding new kingdoms / great Houses / or characters or cities or new possessions later.
  
• Flexible number of players, but aiming chiefly at 3 - 6, and maybe within that 4-5.  So about like a good strategic board game (Axis & Allies, Risk, Diplomacy).
  
• No more than 12 pages of rules, though a supplement would be ok.  This has to be a potential market of more than 10,000 players or no one would publish.
  
• Playable in about 90 - 180 minutes - one setting and possibly two games for one night social gathering.
  
• Market both MTG and other collectible card game players and new-age board games mainly coming from Europe like Settlers of Catan.
  

I have a few notebooks on possibilities and think I'm zeroing in on something.  But I don't want to shut off any ideas at this point.  So I think I'd like to hear a discussion of ideas on how this might go and again it has to be learned and played in one night, have an audience of more than 10,000, have lots of replayability.  Designed for expansions. 

You go, then I go (YGIG), but this game will likely try to have something close to simultaneous resolution by phases, like Alamaze or way-back to Diplomacy if you like.  I also to not get too far adrift am thinking Medieval strategy with fantasy elements focused on characters with a heavy element of intrigue.  Think a bit Game of Thrones or Black Sails, Vikings or Britannia.

[Wookie Panz]

I have ideas for an Alamaze based (loosely) card game. 

• Modular, for example, adding new kingdoms / great Houses / or characters or cities or new possessions later.
  
• Flexible number of players, but aiming chiefly at 3 - 6, and maybe within that 4-5.  So about like a good strategic board game (Axis & Allies, Risk, Diplomacy).
  
• No more than 12 pages of rules, though a supplement would be ok.  This has to be a potential market of more than 10,000 players or no one would publish.
  
• Playable in about 90 - 180 minutes - one setting and possibly two games for one night social gathering.
  
• Market both MTG and other collectible card game players and new-age board games mainly coming from Europe like Settlers of Catan.
  

I have a few notebooks on possibilities and think I'm zeroing in on something.  But I don't want to shut off any ideas at this point.  So I think I'd like to hear a discussion of ideas on how this might go and again it has to be learned and played in one night, have an audience of more than 10,000, have lots of replayability.  Designed for expansions. 

You go, then I go (YGIG), but this game will likely try to have something close to simultaneous resolution by phases, like Alamaze or way-back to Diplomacy if you like.  I also to not get too far adrift am thinking Medieval strategy with fantasy elements focused on characters with a heavy element of intrigue.  Think a bit Game of Thrones or Black Sails, Vikings or Britannia.

The first thing that comes to mind to me is you will have to really simplify things to fit the time frame and make it quick to learn.  Obviously this means streamlining and certain things have to get reduced or eliminated.  Are we talking a table top face to face card game here, or something online and computer driven?  Or both?  What would play well and quickly? 
Current rules devote a whole page to E.S.O. so that is something that could go for now and come back with expansion.  Same with naval rules and maybe eliminate the PI and AT positions.  Maybe the dispersed positions could be an expansion too but with the conclusion of G.O.T. next year dragons could be a very big draw.
The nuts and bolts of any of these games is the magic and the military.  Most players will like one aspect or the other.  The divine, political, and covert aspects are all areas you need to consider for very big reductions if you want to get down to 12 pages of rules.
The spell list are quite large.  Would you be counting them within the 12 pages?   Spells could be by cards with the explanation on the card if you decide to continue to do spells.
Let's think about a time frame for turns and that gives you an idea of how much you can do in a turn.  If you need to get 20 turns in for a game and do it in say 120 minutes that gives you 11 minutes per turn.  So 5 players get 2 minutes each.  How much can you do in 2 minutes?  Or do you want more or less turns and time in the game?  
If this is a card game perhaps players get to take several new cards per turn.  They would begin the turn playing cards already in hand and take new cards at the end of their turn.  (this way they can be thinking about their next move with their new cards while the other players are moving and the game flows better).
Well,  there are a few thoughts to get the conversation started.

[Draugr]

I had thought about a card Alamaze in the past but lost my notes. Some ideas I remembered.

Each race would has there own card pack for land(24) and spells. They would add to some shared cards decks of attacks and political.

The starter set would have say Elf and Dwarf plus enough other common card decks

Basic setup would be a center grid of 4x4 land cards (an even split of the different races land cards). Then another 4x4 set in front of each player that connects to the center grid. 2-4 players would set-up this way and if more than 4 the center grid would be expanded. Each player would place a city on one of the center 4 tiles of there area. Then a hidden explore token would be placed on top of each land card. So everyone can see the terrain but would not know PC, unusual siting or nothing until moved over.

Each race would have a character card that list special abilities and starting attributes (akin to talisman). These character cards would allow space to organize orders, keep stores(food and gold), track armies, and perhaps agent/emmies

The Rule book would not need to be to large because much of the play would be discribed on the cards drawn from the various decks.

Instead of a straight influence each race would have a starting value for political, military, covert, and magic. This would effect how many of each action the race could take and could be increased as the game goes on.

To raise stats it is the next bonus x2. An example the Elf starts with a base 2 political. The Dwarf starts with a base political of 1 +1. They both get 2 political moves to start. The Elf could raise to a 3 by adding +1 for a cost of 2. The Dwarf would need to pay 4 to raise the current +1 to a +2

Using order cards players would plan out there moves placing the card in order in front of them. Order sequence would go military attack, political, military move, covert. Magic is mixed in and stated on card.

Standard movement would be 3. Plains 1, forest/swamp/desert 1.5, mountains 2. Water is a blocker except for flying. Races would get bonuses that effect this. Most kingdoms would take two turns to cross there zone/region

Political movement also 3 but not effected by terrain.

Anyway that is some stuff

[Draugr]

I am not sure about the collectible card type for Alamaze. Unless it involves race packs so every one gets the same thing but maybe some races are harder to get than others. But the idea your going to beat me because you spent more money and have a better card than I do not so much.
Many Apps do this but they also give you free stuff that allows you to build and get the same stuff if you wait and play long enough.

[Ry Vor]

So a bit more color but I can't lay out details or I lose the ability to copyright if it gets that far.  But interested in discussion.

A 90 minute time frame, which is still pretty long for a card game means it can't be very much like Alamaze in an epic, episodic sense.   Where a turn involves maybe five phases and five players and some thinking, not just winning tricks per say, it might be more like a ten round game.

Likely using mechanics like this:

• Position specific decks of House or Kingdom characters, possessions, actions, and specials.
  
• Mixed with larger generic decks - possibly two or three but again, less is probably more here.
  
• A round (turn) is likely five phases, similar to Alamaze for the middle part but with a preliminary phase and an end phase.
  
• The sequence a player goes in a phase may be important and influenced by characters, magic and House abilities.
  
• Number of players, victory conditions, game length can all be altered within the design to add variety and to player taste.
  
• A die or dice will be used for certain actions but uncommonly.  Markers for certain effects and coins for gold.
  
• Character-centric where characters control all the assets and whose loyalties can change.
  
• Characters will have about six characteristics, a specific talent, and zero to two affiliations to Houses or factions.
  
• Not likely a map, though there may be playing areas on the table, example - for the Capital and character fiefdoms.
  
• Each turn cards will enter play at turn beginning and position specific cards may during the player's phases.
  
• Various possibilities on bidding and trading.
  
• There will be magic of course that I hope will retain Alamaze qualities within a card game but also use the necessary resources of a card game such as library manipulation.
  

There will be much more, but again, my problem is usually eliminating things from too big a list rather than suffering from a lack of ideas.

The collectible card game reference more toward the kind of game play and unique position abilities, rather than the collectability itself.  The way Illuminati the card game works is unique and I like some of those methods.  So power structures will be a key part.  Your Lord of the House is at the top of a pyramid, but he can't control everything.  So he has a tier of characters he will control directly, but winning will involve that tier controlling a second tier, and those a third tier.  Each character can have retainers, possessions (a pirate ship, a company of mercenaries, a magic item, etc.) and an ambition.  Players will contest for neutral and controlled characters and possessions (towns, titles, items, more).  Event cards may shift strategy and may be random or played by a player.  The Houses will play differently hopefully somewhat like the kingdoms do in Alamaze.

So, that gives a little bit of outline to the form.

[Calidor]

Sadly I’d have nobody to play such a game with...thus my playing a PBM game.

[Strongwill]

Sadly I’d have nobody to play such a game with...thus my playing a PBM game.

Same here buddy

[Ry Vor]

Downer. 

The game might have more chance to be an online virtual card game at any rate.  When I took Alamaze back it was more with an eye to what typical business problems virtual eliminates.

Think of this game played online but in one setting and like cards and with a chat room.  There may be deals and backstabbing (but that never happens in Alamaze but was key to the game Diplomacy) and trade and its fast moving and you play a game in a night.  We could have formats just like Alamaze, and rankings.

Lots more I could say but I want to hear more from players, BTW thanks those that have contributed already.  If we don't seem to get much interest here, it may not be worth pursuing.  But I don't think Richard Garfield had hundreds saying do a card game either.