Skip to Content
 

Kingdom of ...

12 replies [Last post]
Thu, 03/06/2025 - 13:04
mrstirland
Offline
Joined: 02/05/2025

Hi there. I've just recently joined this group. I have a game I've been working on. It's still early in its development. I only have rough drafts of the board design and the possible graphics on the tokens. It'd need way better graphics if I decided to pursue it. I'd like some input on the rules I put together - whether you like the idea of the game and if the rules all make sense, or whatever else you feel incline to say.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1o3gaU8V3C1Mi2p-aukO7Nkcpm5qzCuXPJxjb...

Thanks in advance for your help,
Michael

Edit - It was originally Kingdom of Jutna game but I'm editing it to get rid of Jutna because of similarities to another game pointed out to me on this site.

Top
Thu, 03/06/2025 - 16:35
#1
larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008
I misread "Kingdom of Junta".

I misread "Kingdom of Junta". "Junta" is a banana republic board game.

Top
Thu, 03/06/2025 - 16:55
#2
mrstirland
Offline
Joined: 02/05/2025
That's pretty funny. I did

That's pretty funny. I did not know. I'll have to think of a different name. Something that has to do with Wizards, Knights and capturing the opponents Ruler. Thanks for letting me know about the other game.

Top
Thu, 03/06/2025 - 17:10
#3
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Don't mind me... I HATE rulebooks (even my own!)

Maybe it could be of benefit to EXPLAIN in an overall way what the THEME is about and what the GAME is about (Area Control, Worker Placement, Tile Laying, etc. etc.) and the predominant aspects of this game that YOU think make it unique. Have you done any World-Building also or not?! Presenting the IDEA of the game that doesn't require me to read a "rulebook" is also good.

As far as graphics go... Yes those tokens seem "basic" and would need to be dramatically improved upon. But that's something an Artist/Illustrator could do fairly easy. You have five (5) icons... I'm sure you could pay like $100 USD for all five (when it comes to art). Icons are less expensive than CARD ART which requires a subject and background, etc. etc.

Just make sure you have the artist make LARGER images... Like 5" x 5" @ 300 DPI with a transparent background (.PNG). That's a bit of a technical detail but it ensures that the icons you get are HIGH QUALITY and you can scale them down for your own purposes.

So let's just discuss the merits of your game (without the need for a rulebook dump) and see what and how you present your game.

Cheers!

Top
Thu, 03/06/2025 - 17:18
#4
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Here are some game name ideas for you...

mrstirland wrote:
...I'll have to think of a different name. Something that has to do with Wizards, Knights and capturing the opponents Ruler...

#1> "Kingdom of Sorenthia": A kingdom where sorcery and chivalry collide.

#2> "Kingdom of Drakmoor": A name evoking both dragons and shadowy conflicts.

#3> "Kingdom of Arcendor": A blend of "Arcane" and "Endor," evoking magic and nobility.

Those are my three (3) BEST titles. I'm sure you can find more. These are just samples and if you really like one of them... Feel free to use it!

Top
Mon, 03/10/2025 - 12:22
#5
mrstirland
Offline
Joined: 02/05/2025
Brief summary of the game

Sorry for the late reply. I've been caught up with things. Anyway, I thought I'd give a brief summary of the game.

Kingdom of ___ is a strategy game where players gain points by capturing their opponent’s units and being the first to figure out which of their opponent’s unit is their Ruler. Dice are rolled during attacks. Advantages gained from type of unit, hill spaces, elven armor and/or treasure cards can be added to the roll. Other features in the game include ranged attacks and portals.

I haven’t test played this too many times, but I’m hoping that there’s some strategy involved with trying to protect your Ruler while keeping the Ruler’s identity secret from your opponent. I’m also hoping there’s some strategy controlling hill spaces and obtaining elven armor to gain advantages to your rolls during attacks.

I guess I'll have to work on what the overall theme is and do some world building. Perhaps I need to think of a story behind the game.

Thanks for the input so far, the direction and the name suggestions.

Top
Mon, 03/10/2025 - 17:14
#6
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Some early thoughts...

mrstirland wrote:
...I haven’t test played this too many times, but I’m hoping that there’s some strategy involved with trying to protect your Ruler while keeping the Ruler’s identity secret from your opponent...

Sounds to me like an "interesting" game. As far as a game goes, well as you seem to indicate in your own "response", the implementation is rather complex and a bit uncertain.

Let me just share some of my thoughts and you will see what MY concerns are.

#1> Keep the King in your own territory safe from other units and even protect with 1 or 2 Knights to ensure he is never captured.

This gives you a 3 to 1 odds about WHO the real KING is... But it's a bit dumb-ed down as this is a global strategy employed all the time to protect the KING.

#2> Use your other units to attack your opponent's units. This gives you a method to strike at your opponent while keeping your KING safe.

I will read more about combat rules and how the units behave in combat. These are observations based on what the components are in the game.

#3> Establish lines of defense. Meaning that you can have waves of attacks based on combinations of 3 units per wave:

Front = (1 Archer, 1 Soldier, 1 Knight) x2 (for 3-Player Setup)
Middle = 1 Archer, 1 Soldier, 1 Wizard (for stronger attacks).
Back = 2 Knights and 1 King.

Again this is sort of a PLAY-STYLE. I'm just trying to help you with a bit of STREAMLINED play... And how some players MAY (or NOT) approach the game.

***

If I come up with more concerns or IDEAS, I'll post for sure. Right now this is all I have when it comes to "STRATEGIES" or "Methods-of-play". Gives you SOME idea about how to approach the game given you troops...

***

Last issue: Ranged Attacks.

If would stipulate that IF a "Ranger" is attacking from two (2) Spaces away, his personal advantage (+1) is removed. As this requires further precision and therefore a penalty of NOT having this bonus advantage in Ranged Attacks.

Again more to come... That's it for now.

Sincerely.

Top
Mon, 03/10/2025 - 21:55
#7
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
I had a design that was similar ... but

I decided not to pursue that game "concept". So let me share some of my "take-away" ideas from what I had been working on and what you could use (MAYBE?!)

#1: Two-sided Hexes

So the normal side shows whatever the terrain is (more on that later) and on the BACK-SIDE show CLOUDS. This is like "Fog-Of-War" (FOW) in wargames. And the idea is each piece can be VISIBLE or HIDDEN. When the CLOUDS are PRESENT, you cannot identify the given pieces on that HEX. And you need some kind of DISCOVERY method. How to do this? IDK... I'm just sharing IDEAS from a game "concept" that was not fully fleshed-out...

#2: No need to HIDE the "King"

With the two-sided Hexes... It is possible to establish FOW. Again the rules of FOW mean that a unit cannot be revealed when on the CLOUD side. But since ALL piece can be hidden and shown, there is no more need to MASK the "King".

Something of vital importance for you to consider.

#3: CLOUDS vs. Terrain (Split)

I was also thinking that the HEX TILES (Face-up) which show the terrain, could be DIVIDED into THREE (3) section each... Meaning that there are "3" POSITIONS on EACH HEX Tile.

Why do this? Well I would have some kind of rule that CLOCKWISE using (maybe?) an RPS-3 meaning that only two (2) positions can be controlled by the SAME player. And the THIRD is open to the opponents.

Again why is this of value (or of interest)?

It established some CONQUERING RULES which mean that:

A> If you place two (2) pieces on ANY HEX Tile that is Face-up, you can use one piece to PROTECT another.

B> It reduces the amount of pieces you need to protect a "King". So in essence all you need is ONLY ONE (1) other unit to protect a "King" using this DIFFERENT RPS-3 Clockwise game pattern/mechanic.

***

On the World-Building Aspect. I would TRY to "re-theme" the game a bit. Knights, Archers, Wizards and Kings are much TOO COMMON in "Medieval Fantasy" Games. Granted that Elves and Dwarves are also very common too. I would SEE if this "generic" theme could have more Unique Ideas.

I have one IDEA, you may like it or not... IDK. But since I'm just sharing IDEAS with you...

How about the NAME: "Dragon Kingdom" or "Kingdom of the Four Dragons"... Something in that vein... You could use the Number "4" in the Game's Logo/Title. Again some extra ideas...

And there are a maximum of FOUR (4) Dragons. Those are your Winning Tokens instead of Kings: Red Dragon (Fire), Black Dragon (Acid), Blue Dragon (Lightning) and Green Dragon (Poison).

To defeat an opponent, you must slay his Dragon. That's pretty kewl in my book... IDK if you will like this idea... BUT.

***

With the 3-Way Split Tiles, you could use LESS Hex Tiles and make them a bit LARGER (again just some ideas) and with this 3-Way Split, you can have DIFFERENT Terrain on each "Section" of a Hex Tile.

Like I said... I had been working towards "Archon: Circlet of the Heavens" (Archon) but I've decided to NOT pursue that game... It's because I am working on another game that will suit the "Tile Placement" category of games and I ENJOY working on DIFFERENT games with different MECHANICS. Since "Plains of Aria" (PoA) is in the prototype stage, I'd rather move forwards with THAT design over "Archon".

***

It doesn't matter that IF you have some kind of RPS-3 going with the units too:

Melee => Ranged => Flying => Melee

So respecting these CONSTRAINTS ... You could have:

Dragons : Flying
Archers : Ranged
Wizards : Ranged
Knights : Melee
Soldiers: Melee

Each RPS-3 Relation causes a +1 Dice Bonus. Similar to what you have...

***

Dragons can move in the CLOUDS. Meaning they can ESCAPE to safety when being threatened.

The only thing that with all these IDEAS is HOW the "Ranged" Units perform their "RANGED ATTACK". Not sure about that.

See ... ? Like I said these are IDEAS that I had for Archon. And probably like you... You've been investing a good part of your time WORKING on the game. These are all EMBRYONIC ideas... Nothing has been playtested, I'm just sharing with you some of my "NUGGETS" of GOOD ideas or things to TRY. Like I said I'm not pursuing Archon ... I've retired that design even though I had worked on it a bit... I was never happy with what I had.

But in terms of YOUR Game... Well some of these IDEAS may be of interest to you... And you may want to TRY them out.

If you need any clarifications or have questions, please feel free to ask away and I'll do my very best to answer them. Also since it seems (feels like it), you are looking for MORE to "refine" the game... Some of the interesting MECHANICS I propose add to the game's overall "complexity" but DON'T make the game harder to play... But just introduce some more STRATEGY.

Let me know what you think... If you LIKE some of these IDEAS... Or not. I'm just giving you some of my "Early Game Concept" Mechanics that I had working in Archon ... But never got around to making a prototype for that game. And since I have retired that design (Archon), I don't really need to hold on to some of the INTERESTING ideas/mechanics that I am proposing.

Anyhow I see that they MAY work in your favor...

Cheers!

Note #1: I was thinking that ONLY the "Dragons" can FLIP the Hex Tiles over from "Terrain" to CLOUDS ONLY IF there are no units positioned on that Hex Tile... So the FOW can SLOW the opponents down as you try to get reinforcements back to protect/defend your Dragon Lord.

And don't use the NAME "Dragon Lords" ... Been used a bit, there are several HITS in the BGG directory of games.

Note #2: An opposing Dragon can be used to CUT the support line from behind too... Given sufficient protection... There's some interesting Game Play/Strategies that can come from this mechanic too!

Best.

Top
Wed, 03/12/2025 - 10:12
#8
larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008
I reminds me of Stratego.

I reminds me of Stratego. Except that the flag is mobile.

The Duel Masters version of Stratego that I own had special powers you could activate if you reveal the unit. This was an interesting twist. I have an idea of my own for a Stratego like game, combining ideas with lords of the rings confrontation.

Is it only the king that is hidden, or all units are hidden? One idea could be to hide the king under other units (you stack them). Maybe you could swap the stacking to move the king around in a different way.

With regular chess pieces, if I need to move the king above a wall of pawns, I hide under a knight and it can jump. If I want to travel large distance, I hide under a rook. You get the idea.

Top
Wed, 03/12/2025 - 18:03
#9
mrstirland
Offline
Joined: 02/05/2025
Thanks

@questccg - Having two-sided hex tiles is an interesting idea. I like the possibilities you mentioned and I think it opens up some other possibilities of things I could do with something like that. I agree with how generic wizards, knights and archers are. I didn't think about that until you mentioned it. I'll have to brainstorm some ideas on what else to do.

@larienna - I'll have to take a look at Stratego. As for the Ruler, I was planning on having a two-sided token, one side shows the unit as being a knight, and the other would be the true identity as the ruler. So the ruler is in disguise.

I'll come back and post more thoughts when I get more time.

Top
Thu, 03/13/2025 - 09:45
#10
larienna
larienna's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/28/2008
Stratego is very common, it's

Stratego is very common, it's an Hasbro game. There might be some digital version available with maybe clones of it since it's really main stream.

The version with special powers is not main stream.

Top
Thu, 03/13/2025 - 13:34
#11
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Not Stratego...

I looked into Stratego during one "design-iteration" of "Plains of Aria" (PoA) and TBH, it did NOT work.

Like I said, if the "King-piece" is the only piece that CAN FLIP TO FOW... That makes for an interesting dynamic and everyone will KNOW which token is the King. But if you adopt the 3-spaces per Hex philosophy (3 Parallelograms), well then there is a BLOCKING mechanic that allows the King to be protected by another piece.

You'll eventually learn that there is no real advantage to HIDE the King. Because players will recognize that you are protecting or grouping tokens and it will become apparent that one token is being moved less or is stationary most of the time, etc. etc.

But having TILES FLIP... That is different. It's a way to SLOW the opponent while the King can escape and allows for reinforcement to arrive quicker due to the slowed progress of the opponent.

Anyhow I'll wait for a reply with some feedback from the OP.

Best!

Top
Thu, 03/13/2025 - 23:43
#12
questccg
questccg's picture
Offline
Joined: 04/16/2011
Here's what I meant by the division of the Hex Tiles...

Please note that the colors in each segment can be different terrain in each space...

But the idea is that there is room for three (3) units/tokens. And as I stated, any given player can at MOST occupy two (2) of three positions.

Also notice that the arrow are for "reference" only (for you). Your tiles don't need them but there would be the need to EXPLAIN the "RPS-3" RULES somewhere in your rules if you adopt this "Tile Style".

The coloring is to provide HINTS as to the "Combat Rules". So Green can be Mountains or Forests or a Lake, etc. etc. There are no rules to that... Just that a Unit in the RED POSITION "Beats" a Unit in the GREEN POSITION. In your language this means that RED MAY ATTACK GREEN. But RED CANNOT DIRECTLY ATTACK BLUE... RED MUST FIRST CONQUER GREEN and then place another Unit in GREEN which can directly ATTACK BLUE. Or if your game uses Action Points, 1 Action to conquer GREEN and followed by 1 Action to move to GREEN and then 1 Action to ATTACK BLUE.

Again these are just IDEAS ... But they are VERY CLEVER and UNIQUE.

Let me know if you need more explanations or maybe how this MIGHT(?) work with your game... etc. etc.

Cheers!

Note #1: Please note that the "1 Action" to move within a HEX could be FREE. Anyone OUTSIDE the HEX would need to pay "1 Action" to move into an unoccupied position and therefore allow the opponent to place another Unit in the HEX. I hope that this example is clear enough...?

Top
Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut