Woot Woot

The Game Crafter Prototype is up! HERE

Also, here's a few pics of the cards:

Card Design

 So let's take a look at some of the prototype cards. The name of each card is in the upper left, its worth in the upper right. The number to the left of each symbol represents its total worth when played, and at the end of the game. The cost of each card is indicated along the side, same deal as the worth.

Note the + sign on Tradition there, and the coloration. Cards worth mixed values are all green, whereas cards worth only one type of resource match its color (Nourish produces Mana, the blue Influence).

All rules text is written above the card's level. Cards without rules text will someday feature some art. Remember that Level 2 cards are worth an additional point at the end of the game, and Level 3 cards are worth an additional 3 points. Not all Tier 3 cards are as expensive as Adulation there, but I wanted to post it because it's something of a show stopper in play. Card levels are based on their costs. Costs of 2-3 total are generally tier 1, 4-6 total costs are generally tier 2 and costs of 7-9 total influences are strictly tier 3.

The Rules

Trivinity is a game of gods, and their interactions with the mortal realm. It falls under the growing genre of deck building games, in that players start with a set number of resources and buy cards to add to their own deck.

The Basics

In Trivinity, these decks represent the domains of each player’s god, whereas the piles of cards players buy from, known as stacks, represent the mortal coil. There are three resources used to purchase cards from the stacks: Power, Mana, and Tribute. Power represents a god’s ability to create and destroy. Mana represents the blessings a god may grant to mortals and the world they live in. Tribute represents what a god takes back from that world, such as prayer, honor, and glory.

Setup

Players start with 4 of each resource in their deck for a total of 12 cards. Players start the game with a hand of 5 randomly drawn cards.  Each player chooses a module to add to the core game. The modules included in this prototype are Scoundrels, indicated by a mace, Heroes, indicated by a sword, The zodiac, stars, and Elements, lightning bolts. Every game is played with the core set, indicated by the plain lines.

Shuffle all the tier 1 cards (indicated by a single symbol on the cards face), all the tier 2 cards (indicated by crossed symbols), and the tier 3 cards (indicated by a triangle). Distribute those cards facedown across a 3x3 grid like in the image below. Flip the top card of each stack face up. Any cards that do not deal out evenly go to “Limbo”, or the cards not in play.

Tier 1	|	|	|
Tier 2	+	+	+
Tier 3	ᴧ	ᴧ	ᴧ

Gameplay

Turn order is determined at random. Each turn consists of three steps: Play cards, purchase cards, draw a new hand.

Play cards- The worth of a card is shown in its top-right corners. Whenever a card resolves, that worth goes towards a player’s resource pool, whether the card’s effect was successful or not. At the beginning of that players turn that resource pool goes to 0: Resources do not carry between turns.

A player may discard any card without resolving its effect. If a player discards their entire hand, they may gain any 1 tier 1 card without paying its actual cost. This means that even if the cards in a player’s hand are not worth enough resources to purchase from the stacks, they still have an option to play.

Purchase cards- A card’s cost is listed next to its tier, halfway down the card’s side. Players exchange resources from their pool to gain cards from the stacks. Gained cards go to that player’s discard.

Draw a new hand- At the end of a player’s turn they draw a new hand of 5 cards from their deck. If that deck is out of cards, they shuffle up their discard pile and it becomes their new deck.

  

The End Game

The game ends whenever there board has a line of 3 empty stacks, a-la tic tac toe.

The goal of each player is to amass the greatest total worth in two resources before the game ends. It is important to note that tier 2 cards are worth an extra point, and that tier 3 cards are worth an additional 3 points at the end of the game.

To tally their final score, each player totals the worth of each resource, adds the two greatest values, then adds 3 points for every tier 3 card, and 1 point for every tier 2 card. The player with the highest score wins.

Notes and Definitions:

If the top card of any stack is face down, flip it face up. It becomes the new top card.

At the end of the game, cards are only worth what is printed in their upper right corner.

Cards that say “Until your next turn” do not resolve until your next turn. That means they do not grant influence until that next turn.

Cycle- Take the top card of target stack and place it face up beneath the stack. Face up cards buried in this way may be looked at by any player at any time, but face down cards may not.

Strategy

Players should start by filling their deck with resource producing cards, and cards that will enable them to see more of the playing field in order to start buying the next tier up. After they are able to buy cards that fit their particular play style, they should start trying to buy top tier cards in their chosen resources. Other than that, experiment and cook up your own stratagems. Enjoy!

Decks included in the prototype

Core - Plain line

Heroes - Swords

Scoundrels - Maces

Zodiac - Lines of stars

Elements - Lightning bolts

World - Columns

Disasters - Blackened fissures

Divine Servants - Feathers

Introduction

Hello there ladies and gents,

Like many deck building games, Trivinity is fairly simple to learn, but difficult to master. It was developed over the last half year by myself and a few of my buddies during time off work, and has become something I would like to share with the rest of the world. Currently, it's in its beta form pending a few tweaks here and there to maintain balance within the 7 available modules. These modules insure that no two games are exactly alike, while offering players a chance to personalize their games (ranging anywhere from a half hour to two hours depending on the number of modules added).

Each player takes on the role of a young god of the ancient world. They interact with the world in order to ascend to true godhood. In the basic game, the world is represented by a 3x3 grid of card "stacks" in 3 graduated "tiers". Players take turns buying from, and manipulating the stacks until three in a row (think tic-tac-toe) are empty. Then score is tallied. The goal of each game is to accumulate the highest of two resources, with bonus points rewarded for each upper tier card in a player's deck.

There are three resources (dubbed "influences") available to each player:
Power (red)- represents a god's ability to create and destroy within the mortal realm.
Mana (blue)- represents a god's ability to enrich and strengthen the world, though not always to the benefit of its denizens.
Tribute (gold)- represents what a god takes directly from the mortal realm. Think prayers or sacrifices in a gods name.
Cards of mixed worth are colored green, for the prototype game.

At the end of the game, players tally up the total worth of their cards in two out of the three resources and add 1 point for each tier 2 card, and 3 points for every tier three card. If at any time a player does not like what their hand looks like, they may discard it to purchase from the bottom tier. Cards may be held between turns, with each player drawing up to five total in their hand.

The cards themselves are balanced, and some carry mixed worth but each resource brings with it a different approach to the game, but I'll go over that another time.