The Young Queen's Palimpsest

(Originally posted on BoardGameGeek as “Applied Phlebotium”. Became The Young Queen’s Palimpsest.)

Concept

Players are the scientists directing research for a civ in a fantasy (decktet-style) 4x game. The tech tree is dynamically generated through card play, favoring an arrangement where suits are connected. (In the image, wyrms cluster at the top while there’s a growing suns area at the bottom left.)

As usual, questions / comments / concerns are much appreciated.

Components

I’m using a decktet purely for prototyping purposes; eventually it’ll probably want a custom deck. Players will also need an equal number of scientists (cubes in my prototype) in their own color, and some way of keeping score (just a pencil and a pad of paper).

Setup

Shuffle the deck, deal five cards to each player, and flip one face-up to the middle of the table as the root of all knowledge. The game works well with just the basic deck; extended card details are given below.

Play

  • On your turn, you must play a card and draw a card. The card you play must touch at least one other card as well as the table (you can’t just cover cards up).
  • If any touched cards have at least as many scientists as the rank of the card you just played, score them. The player with the most scientists on that card scores its rank, and the player with the second-most scores half its rank, rounded down. Cards without rank cannot be scored nor trigger scoring. In the case of a tie, tied players all score half rank.
  • Finally, look at each touched card’s suits and count all the suits that match your played card. Place that many scientists on any card(s).

End

The game ends when: a player runs out of cubes // a player reaches 100 points // the deck runs out of cards.

Score all cards whose rank is still visible once more. The player with the most points wins.

Extended Deck

  • The Excuse has no suits and no rank; it cannot trigger scoring nor place scientists.
  • The Pawns have no rank, they cannot trigger scoring. Place scientists as usual.
  • The Courts have no rank, they cannot trigger scoring. Instead of placing scientists, remove scientists from touched cards equal to the number of matching symbols there. These scientists do not need to be your own.

Archive