Snapping tendons

• 20 October 2008
• Category: Space Race

Basic patterns:

• Network growth is slow and beginning a spur commits the player for 2-3 turns as a failure to extend an incomplete link on a turn looses the spur
  • Network occurs on a penrose mesh
  • Growth spreads from central hub
• Reaching previously untouched nodes rewards money when the spur is terminated at a colony (cf Through the Desert tokens)
• Colonies (which are placed on nodes) cost both money and an entire turn to purchase, plus an action to place
  • Ergo colonies are purchased on spec and then placed as/when advantageous
• Like networks, colonies are owned by the constructing player
• Colonies can be upgraded/scaled by any connected player
  • The upgrader owns the big colony, the original builder the inner hub
  • Size of colony limited by number of connected colours
• There are placement distance rules for different size colonies
• Colonies may contain factories
• Factories are either original producers (no inputs) or require input supplies before production.
  • Three base factory types (no inputs)
  • Three secondary factory types (requires two different-type base-type inputs)
  • One terminal-type factory (requires two different-type secondary-type inputs)
• Factories cost money to buy and an action to place
• A factory may not be built on a colony which contains a factory which accepts that product as either an input or an ouput
• Factories come in 3 size scalings, each requiring a bigger host colony
• Size 3 factories cause all size 1 factories to rust
• Between network manipulation rounds players produce on their factories and feed their goods across the network to other factories etc in production chains
  • Money is paid for sold goods, network use etc.
  • Long term commitments (eg factory hosting on colonies are represented by promissory notes issued by factory owners (pay $X to bearer every round)
  • Promissory notes may be traded collapsed in standard logical reduction fashion
• Factory goods have a small 18XX-esque market
  • Goods which can’t be consumed drive prices down
  • Goods which are fully consumed drive prices up
  • The ranges are fairly small(?)
• Game is ended based on factory construction (N rounds with size 3 terminal factory) or bank breaking
  • End game score is cash
  • Promissory notes are worth cash at some exchange rate

Getting the costs/values right will be interesting.

• No Responses
• Leave a comment...
• Comment Feeds