I started work on Codename: Vacuum back in November 2011. I wanted to make a fairly quick sci-fi card game - something like Race for the Galaxy but with more direct interaction (don't talk to me about the conflict rules in the Rebel vs. Imperium and The Brink of War expansions - or you're dead to me).
The Wife and I talked about the popularity of deck-builders (we liked Thunderstone for the theme - Dominion not so much) and the speed of Race. And a sci-fi deck builder started talking shape in my head. I bought and tried a couple of the competition (Eminent Domain and Core Worlds, neither of which stayed in my collection for long).
At some point, to keep things simple and different, I decided to set it in our Solar System and then the crazy idea of a Steampunk sci-fi deck builder popped into my head. What if you were playing a sci-fi game set in our solar system over two hundred years where humanity expanded off Earth and filled the solar system with people. But not quite our solar system, the solar system of Jules Verne, HG Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. You start in 1898 with a world not unlike our own in 1900 - a world ruled by the British Empire, the German Empire, the Russians and the Qing Chinese. A world on the brink of World War One. Where 20,000 leagues under the Sea, The Lost World, Deepest Africa and the North and South poles are yet to be explored. A world where the discovery of cavorite allows man to leave the Earth at the turn of the 19th Century, not in its second half. Those intrepid explorers head off to a Moon that could be our dry, dusty moon, or HG Wells' inhabited one. Mars could be the frozen Red Planet, or Edgar Rice Burroughs one swarming with Martians. Is Venus a hellish hot-house? Or is it a balmy university world? Will the asteroid belt be full of untold wealth or ravening hordes of aliens hell-bent on the destruction of mankind?
The only way to find out is to go to those places and explore them. All the while you are trying to build a fleet to protect your population from each other and the ravening hordes. Build your wealth to support development and military, build your population and advance your knowledge.
The game has five different score tracks: military, exploration, population, trade and knowledge. In each game only two or three of those count towards your final score - the players choose which ones during the game. So you are trying to build points in your chosen tracks, ensure you are keeping an eye on your opponents so they don't crush you on their chosen tracks as well as fighting space battles and land wars against each other and the aliens as the game unfolds. Each time you play the locations will be different. In one game the Moon is like ours, in another full of vast mineral riches, next time it's swarming with aggressive aliens.
That's the premise. Early versions fulfilled a lot of that promise, but took a bit long. Hopefully this new version I'm working on will be a big step forward (once I've ironed out the inevitable kinks).
How does that sound?
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7 comments:
Sounds awesome! The details, of course, are a challenge. And creating cards for a deck builder is a lot of work. Bu you can sign me up as a early beta-tester, if you want.
PS I assume you have seen "Forgotten Futures" (http://www.forgottenfutures.com/)? Good source of inspiration; for example, some of the world books (http://www.forgottenfutures.com/game/ff11/index.htm).
Hiya Derek,
Thanks as ever for your continued support. I'll need to finish the cards (I've done most of them this week, there's a few left to do though) and then make a copy for an initial test - it'll probably need a few iterations before it's ready for sharing (and I'll need to write the rules!). But needless to say, when it's ready to share, I'll let you know...
Cheers,
Jack
OK, cool. Sounds like you have made lots of progress! Hopefully the rules for a deck builder are a little easier to write than for a full-blown boardgame. Does the game only use cards; or are other supporting bits required?
PS I wanted to say that I got to play a copy of Mission: Red Planet this weekend and was a little disappointed. Basically boiled down to - play a card; put guys on the map; most guys gets the stuff; most stuff wins. The artwork & so on is nice but the gameplay is not exciting.
Hiya Derek,
In its current form it has cards (325!), a board, player mats and some pieces. It might not be a 'pure' deck builder any more!
I've played (and enjoyed) Mission: Red Planet a few times, but your description is pretty accurate!
Cheers,
Jack
Perhaps I had a "hyped" expectation of MRP? I just thought there would be more depth to it. On the same day, I played "Lotus" which I had known nothing about. Turned out to be an elegant, super-streamlined version of "Smash Up", which played "just long enough" and was very engaging.
325?! I think you can rewrite the 2001 quote for that -- "My God, its full of cards!"
Hiya Derek,
Yes, you've got me there. I think Dominion had 500 though, so I think 325 is a fairly small number! I've not played Smash Up or Lotus, so I'll keep an eye out for both...
Cheers,
Jack
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