Board Game Designers Forum

I'm in the early stages of developing a game based on the popular SNES RPG Chrono Trigger. My original concept was for it to be an LCG game, but depending on how many non-card components end up being used, it may end up being more of a hybrid LCG/board game. In either case, it is looking like a coorperative game that may or may not have an individual winner. My goal is to include as many elements of the original RPG as possible (weapons, items, enemy types etc.) and to follow the original story line without becoming too complex or tedious. As with most console RPGs, Chrono Trigger has such a long story arc that playing through it in one sitting is impossible. This is where the LCG approach comes in. The game will be divided into 4 major sections (2 3 and 4 to be sold as separate expansions hypothetically):

1. The Millenial Fair - The End of Time
2. The Village of Magic - Magus' Castle
3. Forward to the Past - The Guru on Mt. Woe
4. What Lies Beyond - The Final Battle

These main sections will be further divided into levels, with each level culminating in one of the boss battles. The basic mechanic for moving things along and for forcing tough decision making will be to allow only a limited amount of actions to be performed before attempting the boss battle. So far these actions will include: fight a random battle (to gain EXP and G), heal (to regain HP and MP), shop (to buy and sell items), swap characters (if more than 3 are available), and possibly some actions that are specific to the level. I'm thinking of having the levels represented by small boards with boxes for: level specific artwork, any level specific rules, a list of shop items and prices for that level, the picture and stats of that level's boss, and a card track at the bottom for laying down action cards (if a level has a mini-boss, one of the spaces will be printed with that mini-boss instead of being blank).

Ideally, it should take maybe 30 minutes or so to complete a level. Once a level is complete, there is going to be some way of keeping track of character stats and items so that a group of players can leave and come back to the game later to attempt a new level. This way, the players decide how long they want to play by how many levels to complete in one sitting rather than the game lasting for an indeterminate number of hours.

Next up, the combat system (and a really great excuse to fire up CT on ZSNES)

Feel free to hit me up with any feedback or suggestions.

- Dan