The rules are coming on at a great pace. The breakthrough was reading about the ‘Time of Crisis’ game (on the P500 list for GMT). It described how the player could draw certain cards to do certain actions. Although this game is on a completely different scale the door which had seemed closed to me – how to power the game – was unlocked.
It also allowed me to consider how using combinations of actions cards could produce enhanced effects. Now I have ‘immediate actions’ – created through the play of a single card, and ‘enhanced actions’ created by a combination of cards being played. Planning is now rewarded!
One of the criticism of card driven/card powered games is that you don’t have the right cards at the right time. Whilst the game includes event cards which are randomly drawn during the start of each turn (one card per player), you don’t suffer from the ‘why do I need a fire card to fire’ syndrome. If you want to do combat and you didn’t choose a combat action card for your turn – it’s your own fault! Want to move and didn’t choose a move action card – the buck rests with you.
Read the rules yourself! Bear in mind that these are rules under construction and subject to constant revisions. There are also some examples of the event cards. One of which, per turn, can be used to double as an action card!
Jim F - Game Designer 