Rules Unveiled.....almost

Well Tim Ellington, Decipher game designer, released many more details today about the upcoming Fight Klub card game, read below:

We’ve talked about some of the cards, functions and design goals of Fight Klub, but how exactly does the game work? What are the components of the game, and how does it all come together?

In a nutshell, here’s how it plays out.

There are 6 types of cards in Fight Klub:

1) Character (Starts in play. Hero or Villain. Provides Energy and game functions)
2) Condition (Plays on table and provides game functions.)
3) Effect (Plays from hand to provide numeric boosts to skirmishes. Some provide game functions.)
4) Fight card (Plays on table. Most have three skirmishes that match up with opponent’s Fight card.)
5) Gear (Plays on table, can provide numeric boosts as well as game functions.)
6) Instants (Plays from hand and provides game functions.)

A deck consists of 40 cards:

1 Hero or Villain
12 Fight cards in a Fight stack
27 cards in your Draw deck.

You build your deck around your character and the Energy they generate (one or more of the three “colors” of Energy). You choose Fight cards that work in combination with Effects and other cards to win skirmishes and score damage against your opponent’s life. Your Draw deck consists of cards that help you create a synergistic balance between executing your gameplan and disrupting your opponent’s strategy.

A typical character may have 8 Life, 5 Hand and 1 Hold. It takes 8 damage to knock you out of the game, and you get to start each turn with 5 cards in hand and can keep (Hold) 1 card at the end of each turn before you Even up (Discard down to your Hold number, then Draw up to your Hand number).

At the start of the game (and at the start of each turn), your character generates Energy, marked by colored tokens. This Energy pool is used as a bank of resources to pay the cost of playing cards from your 27-card Draw deck. Fight cards, which are drawn from a separate Fight stack, have no cost to play.

A turn has three Phases: Setup, Fight and Cooldown.

The Setup Phase starts with each player getting their Energy allocation, and then each player gets two Setup actions. A Setup action can be used to play a Condition or Gear to the table, play an Instant card with the Setup keyword, or execute a Setup gameplay function from a card in play.The player with The Drop determines which player takes BOTH their Setup actions first. Then the other player plays their Setup actions. Then each player turns over three Fight cards, creating three random “fights.”

The Fight Phase begins when the player with The Drop decides which fight to resolve first. Once the fight is chosen, each player gets one Enhance action. An Enhance action can be used to play an Effect card on a player’s current Fight card, play an Instant card with the Enhance keyword, or execute an Enhance gameplay function from a card in play. The player with The Drop determines which player takes their Enhance action first.
The fight is then resolved by determining who wins the most skirmishes on the Fight card, or who has the winning condition if the fight is being resolved with Clash gametext. After the fight is resolved, and any rewards or bonuses are awarded, each player gets one Score action. The player with The Drop determines which player takes their Score action first. The player with The Drop then chooses the next fight, and the steps are repeated until all three fights are resolved.

After the final fight of the turn, there is a Cooldown Phase. Each player gets one Cooldown action. A Cooldown action can be used to play an Instant card with the Cooldown keyword, or execute a Cooldown gameplay function from a card in play. The player with The Drop determines which player takes their Cooldown action first.

Both players then Even up by discarding to their Hold number, and then drawing to their Hand number. The Drop is exchanged, signalling the end of the turn, and the next turn begins, with the player with The Drop determining action priority.

As you can see, the game is not mechanically complex, but the variations you can create with your choices of Fight cards and Effects, as well as the way you can manipulate the table with your other cards creates a play environment thats fast, fun and has tons of in-game decisions to keep you on your toes. :-)

So, an example might be:

A fight card with skirmish numbers of 3-4-5.

Your character provides a bonus for the center skirmish of, say 2. You play an Effect that gives you a 2-0-1 boost, and now your skirmish totals are 5-6-6. What can your opponent muster? Let’s say you win the center and right skirmishes, so you score the Fight card. The right skirmish had a reward tab of Add 1 Yellow Energy. So you get to score 1 damage to your opponent and Add 1 Yellow Energy for winning the reward tab.

But your opponent plays an Instant for his Score action, which awards him 2 of any energy if he loses the previous fight. Now he has 5 Yellow Energy tokens, to your 3, and the next Fight card has clash text which scores the fight for the player with the most Yellow Energy! But for your Enhance action in that fight you activate an Enhance function on one of your Conditions that forces your opponent to Burn 2 Energy… now what options does your opponent have? :-)

He can’t change the outcome, so you managed to tie that Fight card. This “raises the stakes” and the two tied cards are set aside, waiting for the outcome of the next fight, the final one of the turn. Which, because you had The Drop, you waited to do last because….

Tim
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Thanks Tim, looks like we are close to summing them up!

More on the turn sequence......

Well as of today the countdown clock has expired to apply to be a Founding Mentor and all that it includes. However you can still be a Mentor once the game is released. No release date has been set but I would imagine it would coincide with one of the Summer conventions so as to maximize the exposure to gamers. Game Designer, Tim Ellington shed some more light on the rules last Friday, see below:

"The turn sequence is always an interesting part of any game. Different games have different styles. Some are very rigid in structure, and some are more free-flowing. In Fight Klub, we want to keep the “rules” part simple while making the game as strategically deep as possible.

An old game design axiom is “it’s like chess… easy to learn, a lifetime to master.” Chess has relatively few rules. Each piece can do a limited number of movements, and you get one “action” per turn. With the exception of castling, there’s not a lot of “special rules” you have to know. Fight Klub isn’t exactly like chess, but the goal is the same. Make it easy to learn, but strategic to play and challenging to master.

In order to make the basic game “movements” as easy to understand as possible, we have created a turn sequence that tries to minimize confusion and timing issues that can plague some games.

There are three Phases in a turn. Setup, Fight and Cooldown. Eash phase has a few actions that can be taken, and it’s set up in the following steps.

The Setup Phase is easy as 1-2-3.

Do this once – First Setup action.
Do this twice – Play one Condition OR one Gear OR one Instant – Setup OR take one Setup action.
Do this three times – Flip a Fight card from the Fight stack.

Now you’re ready to fight :-)

Each of your three Fight cards constitutes a fight. The Fight Phase follows these steps:

1st Fight:
Enhance – Play one Effect OR one Instant-Enhance or take one Enhance action.
Fight – Skirmish resolutions and/or Fight card gametext.
Score – Play one Instant-Score OR take one Score action AND Score any winning Fight cards.

2nd Fight:
Enhance – Play one Effect OR one Instant-Enhance or take one Enhance action.
Fight – Skirmish resolutions and/or Fight card gametext.
Score – Play one Instant-Score OR take one Score action AND Score any winning Fight cards.

3rd Fight:
Enhance – Play one Effect OR one Instant-Enhance or take one Enhance action.
Fight – Skirmish resolutions and/or Fight card gametext.
Score – Play one Instant-Score OR take one Score action AND Score any winning Fight cards.

The Cooldown Phase contains end-of-the turn mechanics as follows:

Play one Instant-Cooldown OR take one Cooldown action.
Discard to Hold number, THEN Draw to Hand number.
Exchange The Drop.

Keep in mind, the player with The Drop determines which player takes their actions first in each phase of the turn. They also determine the order in which the Fight cards are resolved.

By having an easy-to-understand structure for the turns, we want the learning curve for Fight Klub to be quick and easy, so you can spend more time playing and learning the deeper strategies involved.

Tim"

Thanks Tim, and we look forward to more details forthcoming each and every Friday as the launch date gets closer.

More on the Fight cards

Today Tim lets us in on more about the fight cards and offers and opportunity for the founding members to input their ideas.(begin quote)

"Fight Cards

A strategic component in Fight Klub is the use of Fight cards and the Fight card stack. Heroes and Villains battle one another through a series of Fights to determine the winner of the game.

In most cases, Fight cards have a set of 3 skirmish numbers across the top of the card. Those numbers are compared against the skirmish numbers on the opponent’s Fight card, and whoever wins the most skirmishes wins that fight and scores their Fight card. There are many ways to enhance these numbers and there are many deck building strategies in constructing your Fight stack depending on the Hero or Villain you have chosen for your deck. This is important because Fight cards cause damage to the opponent, reducing the opponent’s Life. When you reduce your opponent’s Life to zero, you win the game. (And we do have a way to count damage in the game without dice or keeping score on paper.)

So, while there are many ways to manipulate the skirmish numbers on your Fight card to give you better fighting ability, what I want to talk about today is two types of Fight cards. We call them “global” Fight cards and “Signature” Fight cards. There’s a big difference between the two types. Global Fight cards can be used by any character (although only Heroes can use Hero Fight cards and only Villains can use Villain Fight cards). Which cards you choose to use will depend on which Hero or Villain you select and your deck strategy. Fight cards have a variety of choices in the mix of skirmish numbers, in which of the three slots the different skirmish types are located, and what type of bonuses they can provide. All of these come into play when selecting the Fight cards for your Fight stack. Obviously, with a large pool of Heroes and Villains there are many options in terms of how individual Heroes or Villains fight.

For example, a Hero strong in Spirit Energy might want to use different kinds of Fight cards than, say, a Hero strong in Physical Energy. Specific Heroes and Villains tend to fight with characteristics that match their identity. Thus, for them to fight effectively, the player has to build a deck that maximizes the characters unique “character.” As such, there are natural strategies for building decks around a character’s skill and the type(s) of Energy they generate in the game.

Signature Fight cards, however, are limited to one specific character. Only the Hero or Villain whose icon appears on the Fight card can use it. Each character gets a Signature Fight card. You don’t “have” to use your Hero’s or Villain’s signature card, but you will probably want to. Signature Fight cards give extra bonuses and usually provide twice the damage of a global Fight card. And in keeping with the player-friendly goals in Fight Klub, these strong Fight cards are not rare, they are uncommon, which means you can use up to 3 of them in your Fight stack (and you should get three copies for each of your Heroes and Villains with the purchase of a playset).

The cards in your Fight stack are a central mechanism for the game, and will really drive the card choices for the rest of your deck. (Oh yeah… there’s one other variation of Fight cards to talk about, but that’s the subject of another post.)

Okay, so now you know some Fight card basics. Here’s some “behind the curtain” information about Fight Klub, and a chance to participate in the game’s development :-)

Signature Fight cards will have an image of the Hero or Villain they represent, and a card title that fits that character (or some special ability for that character). But what about the global Fight cards? What kind of names should they get?

Well, before we go to press (hint: which won’t be too long), we thought it would be a good idea to see if FMs had suggestions on how these “global” Fight cards should be titled. It’s an opportunity for you to participate in the game development and see your naming system and suggestions incorporated on the very first cards of the game.

Think of most fights as having three types of characteristics for a Hero or Villain, which covers their mental ability, physical ability and spiritual ability. Fight cards contain an elegant and expansive matrix of skirmish numbers, reward tabs, damage markers and game text. But the global cards will be “available” to be used by many characters (albeit, in a manner where you want to build your deck to take advantage of a character’s unique personality). We want the titles of these global cards to emphasize their flexibility and the difference between the heavily character-oriented signature cards which carry titles from the films. We have placeholder titles on the global cards for development purposes, but we want a cool naming convention for these cards, and we’d like your input.

With several such cards in the universe from day one, and more coming in future expansions, we want a naming convention that won’t get repetitive (or boring) for the global fight cards. Titles are an important part of immersing players in the universe of Fight Klub. Since we don’t want global Fight cards to be linked to any particular character per se, we need a system that has a broad range but still captures the essence of Fight Klub and its large cast of potential combatants. Something that has the ability to expand as the game grows and we add more and more Fight cards to the playing universe.

Got any ideas? Here’s your chance to have some influence in a design element that will be with the game forever. Let us know what you’re thinking.

Tim

(end quote from Tim Ellington)

I wonder what ideas will come forth.

New post about card rarity from the Game Designer, Tim Ellington....snip:

Card rarity has always had an impact on TCG gameplay.

No matter the number of cards in a set, the rarity (availability) of each card has implications on both collecting a set and building a deck. Buying enough cards to get one of everything doesn’t always mean you’ll have enough of all the cards you want to build various decks. In many cases, the power cards are rare and you have to buy (or trade) more cards than you needed for your “complete set” in order to get all the copies you want for deck-building.

If you played Star Trek CCG or Star Wars CCG, you know that there was no card limit, and some decks could be abusive with high numbers of the same card. If such a card was rare, it made it difficult for the average player to build competitive decks. Conversely, if you played The Lord of the Rings TCG you know that the 4-card limit in that game hindered some of the above problems, but still left the threshold for a “play-set” measurably higher than a “collection.”

Fight Klub wants to do better than that. Much better.

In the Fight Klub TCG there is a structure to deck limits called 1-3-3, meaning one copy of any rare, three copies of any uncommon, and three copies of any common.

While it’s true that limiting rares to one per deck may make drawing a particular rare card into your hand during a game more difficult, note that the number of cards in a Fight Klub draw deck is only 27, less than many other TCGs. (Deck structures will be covered in a future post.) And since you can have up to three copies of any uncommon or common card, Fight Klub does something no other TCG has ever done as far as we know: it makes a play-set almost the same purchase point as a “collection.” In other words, this ratio means that if you buy enough cards for a full collection of any expansion set (30 rares, 30 uncommons and 40 commons), you will have roughly the same amount of cards you need for a play-set from that expansion.

Each Kilo has 10 rares and an assortment of uncommons and commons, so that over the course of a 3-Kilo or 4-Kilo purchase, you should get pretty close to a full set. Random assortment of cards within Kilos means some duplication, but with some trading or splitting of a 4th Kilo with friends, you should be able to put together a complete set/full play-set. A play-set in the neighborhood of $100.00 is extremely player-friendly compared to other TCGs on the market.

How does limiting rares to a single copy of each card impact gameplay? Fight Klub is designed to harmonize rare gameplay with cards that minimize the need for multiple copies. Character cards, cards that would otherwise be marked “unique” for gameplay purposes, and strong gameplay functions that need a natural restriction are all targets for rare designation.

There are two other things to consider with the 1-3-3 deck structure: (1) Because there is a 1-rare limit, when you get multiple copies of a rare card it’s easier to trade because anyone else with two copies of another rare can only use one at a time in a deck, and (2) We have a plan to address the possibility of making certain “rare gameplay” more available in future expansion sets, if necessary. Players will without question be a part of determining which cards see their gameplay repeated.

Playing Fight Klub TCG should not be a “rich get richer” experience. We want all players to have reasonable access to full playsets and the breadth of gameplay and strategy offered in this exciting new product.

So what about people who want to break the rules by playing with more than one copy of a rare card? Well, this is the players’ game after all. Decipher will officially support the 1-3-3 rule and a 40-card deck for competitions, but we will also have a section on the web to support, “street rules,” where the playing community will determine from time-to-time everything from the number of copies of a card to the size of the deck limit.

Tim

....snip, thanks Tim!

"The Drop"

This new card (it's the red card on top) was explained today by Game Designer, Tim Ellington on the Fight Klub Forum page.

Here is part of that discussion:

Timing issues in a TCG are usually a point of frustration. In Decipher’s history of games and even across the game industry, it is a prevalent issue for designers/developers/players.
Here is how we are dealing with that issue in Fight Klub –

In Fight Klub, turns are played out over the course of the game with both players taking actions within a particular phase. This is true for each phase of every turn in the game. Fight Klub’s design has allowed us to dictate priority for a player on any given turn with an element that we call The Drop.

This means that in a turn, you have priority if you have The Drop.
The game begins with a player being assigned The Drop randomly. From the second turn forward, The Drop alternates between the two players. Functionally, the last thing done each turn is the movement of The Drop to the opponent’s side of the table. It is not possible to predict the exact number of turns that any one game will have, but in general, both players will see an equal number of turns with this gameplay element in their favor.

The Drop is represented physically by a card. You have already seen this card on page 5 of this site. It is a red card with the Fight Klub logo. Every player that buys a copy of One will have this card as part of their 121 cards. It should be a part of every player’s collection, because all players are encouraged to start their purchases with One. One will always be available, so this card will never be unattainable. I don’t imagine that it will have any significant secondary market value, but one never knows…

Let’s assume that in a phase of a turn (any phase) there are a number of actions available for each player to take. The player with the Drop has the ability (on that turn) to decide which player takes their actions first. For each action sequence in a phase of a turn, the player with The Drop decides the order of resolution.

We hope this element of the game helps clear up a lot of historical timing issues, and makes Fight Klub a great game to play and an easier game to teach :-)

Tim

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Looks like this could add some strategy to the game! -Royce

Welcome to the MidSouth Fight Klub

Fight Klub TCG is a new card game from Decipher, the makers of many fine card games such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek and .hack//enemy!

The game will release on May 1, 2008 and have 200 cards avaialble right out of the gate. Expect 4 sets a year. See an excerpt from the initial annoucement on March 31, 2008 from their main website below:

You are on the cutting edge of a player revolution. This game presents you with an innovative way of empowering you and your other fellow gamers through an exciting new multi-license trading card game called Fight Klub™.

There are some wonderful gaming experiences in the world today. Magic: the Gathering. World of Warcraft. Guitar Hero. Team Fortress. Star Wars Miniatures. We have great respect for the players of all games. Most new product launches try to convert players from one game or platform to another. Playing Fight Klub™ does not require that players give up their primary game. Quite the contrary, Fight Klub™ is designed to be a wonderful addition to your gaming lifestyle:
a 15-minute break between tournament rounds or a series of fast games among friends. Your current gaming community is a great starting point for your journey, but there is so much more....

Direct communication. Direct participation. Direct-to-your-door service.

Fight Klub™ abandons the existing protocols of the trading card game industry. The old commerce model was primarily focused on retailers and distributors, and lacked direct contact with most players. Communication was messy. Game companies served multiple masters: distributors. retailers, store personnel, volunteers, and finally... players.

Fight Klub™ spawns a grassroots approach that’s revolutionary in trading card games. It's designed so everyone at every level can participate and be rewarded. We will be connected to every player and every player will be connected to us. The main Decipher website will be the single source of physical goods and will inspire communication between all participants in the game. Fight Klub™ offers gamers a unique opportunity to participate in its direction and development and in the growth of the community. It uses online tools and culture in a transformative way.



Players expand the Fight Klub™ community by "invitation only.” They suggest licenses, mentor their fellow players, vote on characters and special player-created cards to bring into the game, select promotional foil cards, control reprints for each expansion, and more. Players are empowered to drive the game's success.

Who would win in a fight between Rambo and The Godfather?

Fight Klub™ is a classic battle of good and evil. Each expansion set features four heroes and four villains. The game pulls these heroes and villains from a pool of thousands of classic movies and TV shows. We have archive licenses to use characters from multiple film libraries. We are also in negotiations with many rightsholders to continuously add new licenses. Fight Klub™ is never static. It's always evolving. Players suggest licenses and vote on which characters they want to bring into Fight Klub™. If we don't have a particular license, we will try to get it. The possibilities are endless.

Fight Klub™ games play very quickly... in about fifteen minutes. Fight. Rinse. Repeat. Any deck can play any deck:

* Good vs. Evil
* Evil vs. Evil
* Good vs. Good

Fight Klub™ was created by members of the same team of award-winning designers who brought you Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings. Kendrick Summers, Gold Leader from our Star Wars CCG days, is back to be Players' Advocate and a tireless warrior for your causes.

The image you see at the top of this page is a Kilo. It's equal to ten booster packs. (Boosters? Those old things?) A Kilo contains 121 cards, ten of which are rare cards. You purchase Kilos online at the Fight Klub™ website; they are then shipped worldwide directly to your door.

And Kilos have aggressive pricing. The normal price of a booster today is $3.99. In Fight Klub™ its equivalent is $2.99.

And that's not all. Each expansion set is designed to be collected for under $100 as opposed to the $250 to $300 for other trading card games. (Yes, there will be a play format called Kilo Draft.)

Beginning in Fall 2008, we will offer ground-breaking subscriptions with even greater savings. When you sign up for an annual subscription, three Kilos of each new expansion set (plus every promotional card for that year) will be sent to you automatically. You can choose to receive those three Kilos simultaneously upon release, or spread them out to receive one Kilo per month for the entire year.



The first expansion set is special. It's called, "One."

"One" is a complete expansion set in a single box. Unlike other games with starters made from cards also in booster packs, "One" contains all unique cards not found anywhere else. It is sold in a single Kilo of 121 cards for $29.95. There are no starters in Fight Klub™.

"One" arrives at your door ready to create two 40-card decks. The first deck is designed around heroes; the second deck around villains. The remaining 40 cards provide a healthy mix for customization right out of the box. Every player should enter Fight Klub™ with "One." Besides the low cost, it provides a shared, common experience for every player regardless of when they enter the game.

From set "Two" forward, Kilos are randomized. Each expansion consists of 100 unique cards (30 rare, 30 uncommon, 40 common). There are 10 rare cards in a Kilo, so three Kilos gets you 30 rare cards. You can trade for a complete set or buy more cards. It's up to you.

"One" and "Two" start shipping back-to-back, so there are 200 unique cards in the Fight Klub™ universe out-of-the-gate. Thereafter, a new expansion set will be released each quarter. Because each set features 4 heroes and 4 villains, you can pick and choose which sets you buy based on your favorites characters.

One of the biggest challenges of a new trading card game is to attract new players, bring them together, and grow a community. Because we can now know every Fight Klub™ player, we are customizing tools like Google maps to make it easy for anyone to find other players, Mentors, Founding Mentors, and Fight Klubs near them. This is possible because Fight Klub™ was conceived and designed to take advantage of internet tools in transformational ways.

All over the world, every player and Mentor will be empowered to form Klubs to support local players. Anywhere players choose to gather and play games can become a Fight Klub location – homes, student centers, recreation centers, offices, schools, and even retailer locations. Or you can introduce it to your existing gaming group and watch it spread.

In the first year of Fight Klub™, we are rewarding Mentors with 10% for life exclusively for the function of building the game's critical mass of players. Later in the development of the game, we will shift the focus to reward Mentors both for getting new players and for supporting players in local communities.

From day one, we will encourage camaraderie between Mentors. It benefits everyone when Mentors direct their new players to a nearby Fight Klub location.

The number 13 denotes revolution.

In Fight Klub™ there are thirteen gangs worldwide. These 13 gangs transcend territory and geography. Gang membership provides a form of both belonging and competition. One of the benefits of being a Founding Mentor is that you get to participate in naming these gangs and in the selection of a gang insignias. Then, each Founding Mentor will choose which gang they join.

After that, as new players come into Fight Klub™ they have a waiting period of thirty days before they can join a gang. Nobody can join a gang unless someone in that gang vouches for them. Choose carefully, because once you are in a gang, you are in that gang for life. As players make their fateful decisions about what gang to join, new and exciting rivalries are born. How will these rivalries play out? Players and Mentors alike will decide.

The award winning artists of Decipher will create new, unique insignias for each gang. These insignias will grace t-shirts and other promotional items that are offered exclusively to the members of a particular gang. You will only be able to get such items for the gang of which you are a member.