Mothership CCG: A space-faring battle game

[gwago]

Here's a quick run-down of another game I've been thinking of for a bit. I figured I'd post it here to get some feedback and ideas since the game is still in its infancy.

The game involves battle between two (or more?) huge starships. Since you only have one ship, a lot of emphasis is given to ship micromanagement. It's heavily inspired by Star Trek's way of looking at internal ship management. I also flagrantly robbed the Star Trek CCG (1E)'s battle system, which uses a side-deck filled with Tactics cards for battle. 7th Sea was also a big help. Here's a rundown:

CARD TYPES:

CREW
Self-explanatory. They provide skills to man stations and other special abilities.

DECKS
Represent the different components of your ship. They have an energy requirement which needs to managed, allowing the player to "Transfer all power to XXX!!". These would ideally be separated into two rows: Outer Hull (more vulnerable) and Lower Decks (hidden behind the outer row).

ORDERS
A catch-all card type, divided into DIRECT ORDERS (have an effect and are discarded) and STANDING ORDERS (stick around the playing field).

TACTICS
Card type used only in battle, in a seperate side-deck. They have a "Damage" flip-side that attached to ships and used to indicate decreases in stats.

Gameplay is very bare-bones right now. Players play cards during the Build phase, then wage battle during the Combat phase. Players draw two cards from their Tactics decks when battle is initiated; the crew you have (most notably your captain) decides which cards you can play. Cards are flipped from the deck and attached to enemy ships to denote damage and add an element of randomness to battle (a little like the Destiny numbers in the Star Wars CCG). You can check out the rules I'm trying to ape here: http://www.trekcc.org/op/1e_rulebook.pdf. The battle rules for the Battle Bridge sidedeck are on page 9.

Other notes: I'd like anomalies to be a big part of gameplay, either occurring naturally or generated by players.

Anyway, that's pretty much what I've got. Hopefully you can see where I'm trying to go here. Please, any comments are appreciated!

[Trevor]

I think trying to have multiple decks will be more complicated than it's worth. I think it would work better if you had one card per ship, and you could play modification/crew cards to that one card.

[Cyrus]

I think trying to have multiple decks will be more complicated than it's worth. I think it would work better if you had one card per ship, and you could play modification/crew cards to that one card.

But since this game is based on only having one ship, that would essentially change the entire game.
What you're going for here seems to be like the tried-and-true 1v1 fighting games, but with ships. Actually seems pretty cool. Launching extra fighter ships could be something a mothership could do, and a cool thing to integrate into the game. I actually don't mind the multiple decks for different parts of the ship concept as much as the tactics deck concept, but I've just never been a fan of separate deck for combat mechanics personally.

Interested in seeing how this comes along!

[gwago]

I think trying to have multiple decks will be more complicated than it's worth. I think it would work better if you had one card per ship, and you could play modification/crew cards to that one card.

I agree that it's a bit more clunky and don't like the fact that it would require you to keep two decks seperate. But this way it also allows for a much more in depth combat system; having a three-card battle hand drawn at the start of every battle eliminates the risk of players not having any Tactics in their regular hand to wage war with, and also makes the damage system a little richer.

If anything, I think I'd dump the regular deck and have the game be a bit more Uno-style, where there are very little or no permanents and the game is played by drawing and playing Tactics. For now, however, I'd like to see if I can make this system work.

What you're going for here seems to be like the tried-and-true 1v1 fighting games, but with ships. Actually seems pretty cool. Launching extra fighter ships could be something a mothership could do, and a cool thing to integrate into the game. I actually don't mind the multiple decks for different parts of the ship concept as much as the tactics deck concept, but I've just never been a fan of separate deck for combat mechanics personally.

Interested in seeing how this comes along!

Yeah, fighters would definitely be a part of the game! I did realize it was a very 1vs1 type of game, but I have nothing to really compare it to. Could you name some of these tried-and-true 1vs1 games so I can check them out?

I tried breaking away from that formula, however, with the Decks (the card type, not the double-deck formula); one thing I forgot to mention is that you're targeting specific Decks when you attack, so functionally it would (hopefully) be a little more akin to the games we all know and love with multiple creatures and moving parts. Sort of.

Anyway, I would appreciate taking a look at these 1vs1 games, because I'm starting to feel a little constrained in what a player can do. Thanks for the feedback gents!

[gwago]

After further reflection on it I think you're right Trevor, the two deck system really creates a choppy and segmented style of play I'd like to avoid. What I'm thinking of doing is splitting the game up into two phases: the Outpost phase at the start of the game, where players take turns playing out their Decks and Crew cards and arranging them strategically. Once that's done, the real game begins, and players take turns taking shots at each other with Tactics.

I'd love to somehow combine the two, but I really want to keep the battle system streamlined and separate from the rest. Anyone have any suggestions on how to accomplish this? I'm not too worried about breaking the mold so to speak and thinking of this game in different terms, like a board game or something. I need some ideas!