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Legend of the Five Rings: Path of Enlightenment

So I start a lot of game designs. Finishing them? Not so much.

Imagine my surprise when I found myself looking at a completed (barring changes from play testing) game earlier today. Granted it is something of a love child of Tichu and Haggis covered in a layer of L5R icing. I'm hoping the results are something that can stand on it's own without being a knockoff.

At it's heart, it is a climbing game. Each player gets a hand of cards and tries to run out before everyone else by playing and taking conflicts (tricks). Each hand a player may vie for the Imperial Favor (bet they will go out first) before any cards are played, taking a risk of gaining or losing honor. After all but one player have run out of cards scoring occurs. Even numbered cards gain honor while cards in hand and certain special cards lose it. There is a wildcard for each element (suite) that can be any value 1 - 10 and four special cards that each affect conflicts in different ways. Also, on each deal, a varying number of card (depending on the number of players) are removed from the game to provide a little extra randomness.

That's really all there is. It's not a radical departure from any of the games it's derived from, but it takes and mixes them while (hopefully) adding one or two new twists. It also clocks in at 54 cards (or 6 sheets of paper for play testing) plus rules, so it's a pretty small job to make a copy.

I know this is a bit rambling, but I'm very happy I accomplished all the goals I set when I originally had the idea for this game. I paid homage to designs I already enjoy. I created something that fits the L5R theme. Most of all I don't feel like I simply copied something else (but time and play testing will tell that story).

I'll be begging for play testers by week's end and while i'm hopeful all will go well, I won't be shocked by problems I didn't foresee or criticism that I'm a hack. This is the first design I've completed and the first one I've been at all proud off and that's enough for now.

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gamejournal | by Dr. Radut