Puzzle Species

Twin of Teamturns. This is the more complicated version (but also cuter in its visual style?)

It has cards with two creatures shaped like a puzzle piece, and you literally combine them by slotting the puzzle pieces into each other side-by-side. (As in, cards would have an “open end” at left/right/top/down, and very rarely on two opposite sides to prevent too-big-combos.)

Inspired by Sea, Salt and Paper.

Setup

Deal everyone X cards. Pick anyone to be start player.

Objective

The game ends when a player’s Puzzle Pile contains 10 cards, or the deck runs out. (Whichever happens first.)

All players count their score from the cards inside their Puzzle Pile. Highest wins.

Gameplay

On your turn, you play a combination of 2 cards. Their puzzle pieces must fit inside each other.

If you can’t do this, or don’t want to, draw 2 more cards and end your turn.

After playing a combo,

Place it in front of you. (It can be attacked by other players later.)
Then attack another player with it. If you have more STRENGTH than the HEALTH of another player’s combo, it disappears. You score 1 of its cards (place it on top of your Puzzle Pile, faceup)—the other one is discarded.

Scoring

When scoring, combinations matter too! As such, never (accidentally) change the order of your Puzzle Pile, and newly gained cards are always placed on top.

Divide your Puzzle Pile into pairs of 2. (Top 2 cards, next 2 cards, etcetera.)
Every pair scores the total number of CUTENESS icons it has.
(Any single cards or impossible pairs score nothing.)

Cards

Every card has a puzzle piece (color + shape open at some side). That puzzle piece has eyes and a cute smile, as if they’re a cute species.

Some cards go well together, others don’t. Some cards are always bad, so you just try to minimize their effect when combining with a good one.

It also has stats.

HEALTH = used for defense, making it harder for others to remove your cards.
STRENGTH = used for attack, removing other player’s cards + getting them for your own puzzle pile.
CUTENESS = used for scoring cards gained.
MISCELLANEOUS (like ENERGY) = used for special effects and anything else

By default, you simply combine the stats of both cards to get the total stats of that combo.

@TODO: Can we do a more core/general rule for this? Something like “A stat only counts if it’s present on all buddies.”?

But some cards have a special effect/action that talks about modifying the stats of their buddies. (Buddies = all puzzle pieces to which they’re connected.)

Examples:

“My HEALTH (icon) is equal to the highest ENERGY (icon) of my buddies”
“Add my buddy’s CUTENESS to my HEALTH”
“If my buddy has HEALTH < 2, I double it.”

@NOTE: Most of these stats are 0 by default, in which case they’re simply not shown (to keep cards simple and clean).

Expansion: Puzzle Giants

This adds puzzle pieces with multiple openings. It has some massive changes to the core gameplay.

On your turn, you may play as many cards as you want, but at least 1.
You can keep as many “open combos” in front of you as you want. (And, as such, add the cards you played to any of your open combos or start a new one.)

There are three important twists.

When attacking, you can also attack unfinished combos. (@TODO: BUT WITH SOME EXTRA DIFFICULTY?)
You can only finish a single combo in one turn (and thus only attack once, with that one combo).
Any unfinished combo at the end of the game, however, scores its value as negative points.

(Which would make it risky going for bigger combos, despite scoring the most. Because “I multiply health of all buddies” is obviously most effective if you have loads of buddies.)

Expansion: Puzzle Dancers

This expansion adds special actions and effects.

Over time we can also change how many you play

Maybe a certain move can now force players to play 3 cards on their turn, or temporarily only play one.
Some cards, once placed before you, can aid other attacks you do later, but only in the right combo of course.

Some creatures also …

Can’t be paired with specific things / must be paired with them.
- For example, “Must be paired with a Red buddy”
Or have weirder effects/actions, perhaps on placement.
- For example, “Can’t be played on your first turn.”
- For example, “Once played, discard a card.”

Twin of _Teamturns_. This is the **more complicated** version (but also cuter in its visual style?) It has cards with two creatures **shaped like a puzzle piece**, and you literally combine them by slotting the puzzle pieces into each other side-by-side. (As in, cards would have an "open end" at left/right/top/down, and very rarely on _two_ opposite sides to prevent too-big-combos.) _Inspired by Sea, Salt and Paper._ ## Setup Deal everyone X cards. Pick anyone to be start player. ## Objective The game ends when a player's _Puzzle Pile_ contains 10 cards, or the deck runs out. (Whichever happens first.) All players count their score from the cards inside their _Puzzle Pile_. Highest wins. ## Gameplay On your turn, you play a combination of **2 cards**. Their puzzle pieces must _fit_ inside each other. If you can't do this, or don't want to, draw 2 more cards and end your turn. After playing a combo, * Place it in front of you. (It can be attacked by other players later.) * Then **attack another player** with it. If you have more STRENGTH than the HEALTH of another player's combo, it disappears. You score 1 of its cards (place it on top of your Puzzle Pile, faceup)---the other one is discarded. ## Scoring When scoring, combinations matter too! As such, never (accidentally) change the order of your _Puzzle Pile_, and newly gained cards are always placed on top. * Divide your Puzzle Pile into pairs of 2. (Top 2 cards, next 2 cards, etcetera.) * Every pair scores the total number of CUTENESS icons it has. * (Any single cards or impossible pairs score nothing.) ## Cards Every card has a puzzle piece (color + shape open at some side). That puzzle piece has eyes and a cute smile, as if they're a cute species. Some cards go well together, others don't. Some cards are always bad, so you just try to minimize their effect when combining with a good one. It also has **stats**. * HEALTH = used for defense, making it harder for others to remove your cards. * STRENGTH = used for attack, removing other player's cards + getting them for your own puzzle pile. * CUTENESS = used for _scoring_ cards gained. * MISCELLANEOUS (like ENERGY) = used for _special effects_ and anything else By default, you simply _combine_ the stats of both cards to get the total stats of that combo. > **@TODO: Can we do a more core/general rule for this?** Something like "A stat only counts if it's present on all buddies."? But some cards have a special **effect/action** that talks about modifying the _stats of their buddies_. (Buddies = all puzzle pieces to which they're connected.) Examples: * "My HEALTH (icon) is equal to the highest ENERGY (icon) of my buddies" * "Add my buddy's CUTENESS to my HEALTH" * "If my buddy has HEALTH < 2, I double it." @NOTE: Most of these stats are 0 by default, in which case they're simply _not shown_ (to keep cards simple and clean). ## Expansion: Puzzle Giants This adds puzzle pieces with multiple openings. It has some massive changes to the core gameplay. * On your turn, you may play as many cards as you want, but at least 1. * You can keep as many "open combos" in front of you as you want. (And, as such, add the cards you played to any of your open combos or start a new one.) There are three important twists. * When attacking, you can also attack unfinished combos. (@TODO: BUT WITH SOME EXTRA DIFFICULTY?) * You can only **finish a single combo** in one turn (and thus only attack once, with that one combo). * Any **unfinished combo** at the end of the game, however, scores its value as _negative points_. (Which would make it risky going for bigger combos, despite scoring the most. Because "_I multiply health of all buddies_" is obviously most effective if you have _loads of buddies_.) ## Expansion: Puzzle Dancers This expansion adds special actions and effects. Over time we can also **change how many you play** * Maybe a certain move can now force players to play _3 cards_ on their turn, or temporarily only play one. * Some cards, once placed before you, can _aid_ other attacks you do later, but only in the right combo of course. Some creatures also ... * Can't be paired with specific things / must be paired with them. * For example, "Must be paired with a Red buddy" * Or have weirder effects/actions, perhaps on placement. * For example, "Can't be played on your first turn." * For example, "Once played, discard a card."