Alien Adventures

A board game derived from diplomacy, but shorter, more accessible, and less killing/the same actions every turn for everyone.

The idea is that aliens are trying to find a new home, and the earth seems a suitable place, but some things need to change first.

First of all, some humans are opposed to them and actively try to get rid of them. Secondly, for some aliens, humans (or animals, or cities) are taking up too much space and need to be changed, moved or removed. Thirdly, some of the land or materials aren’t good enough. And lastly, some alien races just want to bring peace, and happiness, and warmth.

Binding agreements (to a certain extent)
Everybody a different alien race, trying to do something different to humans and the earth
- Convert them? Abduct them? Kill them?
- OR, instead, give everybody a secret mission, which ultimately decides the type of alien people they want to be.
Everybody has different bases, they decide (among other things) the amount of units, types of units, and how strong your aliens are.
- Bases can be captured, recaptured, rebuilt, moved, strengthened, expanded, connected, etcetera
A hidden (traitor?) agenda
Inland territories, sea territories, coastal territories
- Make things such as mountains, rivers, highland/lowland, forests, etcetera also important
Aliens can move over land, over sea, under sea, underground, through the air, (teleporting even?)
People can becomes allies, remain neutral, or become opponents.
- You can support each other, or agree to not fight, or start a global war so other people can be (or need to be) involved.
Need to write down your orders beforehand, orders are revealed at the same time and executed one by one (so, order and number matters greatly?) (or not?)
Modifiable game board and playing field, to a certain extent.
Assassinating leaders, coup d’etats, important roles (UN; United Nations?) to be distributed among players

Preparation

At the start of the game, every player is given the following things:

A secret mission: The player wins if he is the first to fulfill his secret mission
A starting base location: This is where each alien race has created its base.
A starting technology: A set of three technology cards.
A hidden agenda: A set of three hidden agenda cards
A base army: One land unit, one sea unit, one air unit. These land and air units are placed at the base, the sea unit is saved so it can be put into play later.

Gameplay

Players take turns simultaneously. Everybody gets a before agreed upon amount of time (30 minutes should be enough) per turn to think, discuss, form alliances, etcetera.

At the start of this period, every player must openly put down the cards he wishes to play next turn – this is the “public agenda”.
- If a player has hidden agenda cards, he must play one of them face-down as well.
Then, every player writes down his actions on a piece of paper.
- These actions involve only your army and military strategies
Then, all the written commands are revealed and played out in the correct order.
- At any time during this period, as long as it’s his turn, a player may play his open and hidden agenda cards.

At what point do players draw cards or do other awesome special things?

Commands

Note that any (verbal) agreements made are non-binding – you can bluff, lie, cheat your friends all you want. Players can only have one binding agreement per turn; in this case, they both decide on a symbol and draw it in front of the order.

The available commands are:

Move (A->B): Land and sea units move one tile per turn. Air units move two tiles per turn.
- Starting and ending position must be valid.
- Units from other players can’t be moved.
Support (A+B->C): Any unit can support another unit.
- The supported unit’s movement must be correct, and your unit must be only one tile away.
- If you support a unit from another player, indicate his faction.
Transfer (A->B via C): Land units must be transferred over sea via boat.
- There must be a boat from this player on C, and C should be one tile away from both A and B.
- If you use a boat from another player, indicate his faction. The other player must indicate the transfer as well, at the exact same time, to show he complies.
Switch (A<->B): All units can be switched.
- Both positions must be valid and adjacent.
- If you switch with another player, indicate his faction. The other players must indicate the switch as well, at the exact same time, to show he complies.
Attack (A x B): Air units don’t necessarily need to attack when they occupy the same space as land units. But they can choose to do so.
- Both positions, and the opposing faction, must be valid.

If necessary, one must place the type of unit before the command (L, F or A). If you want, you can always add more information just to be sure the command is valid and interpreted correctly.

Command Resolution

Commands are resolved in the order they’ve been written, with everybody moving at the same time. The following restrictions hold:

There can only be one unit of any type on a tile.
Sea units can only stay on coastal and sea territories.
Every unit can only receive a single command per turn.

Commands are resolved using the following rules:

If a unit doesn’t receive a command, it’s assumed to “hold” – it does nothing special.
If a command is invalid, it simply fails and nothing happens
If there’s already a unit of the same type on the tile, and that unit is yours, you can’t move there.
If there’s already a unit of the same type from another player, you start a battle.

When a battle happens, players count the amount of armies on either sides. This means the moving unit, plus any valid support he may be getting (from himself or others).

If their numbers are equal, nothing happens and all armies stay where they are.
If the defender has more armies, he wins and the attackers are sent back to where they came from
If the attacker has more armies, he wins and the moving unit is moved into the territory. The losing army is removed from the board. (In some cases, the losing army can retreat?)

Game Board

The game board is divided into regions. These regions can either be sea, coastal or inland.

A river between regions means land units can’t cross
A mountain between regions means air units can’t cross
A reef between regions means sea units can’t cross
Land units in a forest are protected from air units
Air units flying over <some type of land> are protected from land units
Sea units can hide from everyone in caves? underneath cliffs?

Every tile has certain “resources” and “anomalies”. Players with the right equipment/command can pick them up (and/or drop them?). They can be used for their own good, or as trading material, or to achieve their mission.

Players can build constructions or terraform tiles, for the same reasons. Terraformed tiles and buildings give benefits to the player using them, but might also benefit other players, especially if they manage to take over the tile.

Human AI

Of course, the humans fight back. (Instead, can we let one or multiple players play the humans?!)

First of all, there’s the UN council. A group of 5 people, all big leaders of a different area, who can make big decisions and make large things happen. Over time, aliens may (secretly or not) take a seat there, and humans might claim it back.

Secondly, there’s people fighting in their region. Of course people don’t just accept the aliens taking over, and they will built walls, attack troops, start rebellions, and do other crazy stuff.

Buildings

Lala

Technology

Lala

Cards (Public & Hidden)

Lala

A board game derived from **diplomacy**, but shorter, more accessible, and less killing/the same actions every turn for everyone. The idea is that aliens are trying to find a new home, and the earth seems a suitable place, but some things need to change first. First of all, some humans are opposed to them and actively try to get rid of them. Secondly, for some aliens, humans (or animals, or cities) are taking up too much space and need to be changed, moved or removed. Thirdly, some of the land or materials aren't good enough. And lastly, some alien races just want to bring peace, and happiness, and warmth. - Binding agreements (to a certain extent) - Everybody a different alien race, trying to do something different to humans and the earth - Convert them? Abduct them? Kill them? - OR, instead, give everybody a *secret mission*, which ultimately decides the type of alien people they want to be. - Everybody has different bases, they decide (among other things) the amount of units, types of units, and how strong your aliens are. - Bases can be captured, recaptured, rebuilt, moved, strengthened, expanded, connected, etcetera - A hidden (traitor?) agenda - Inland territories, sea territories, coastal territories - Make things such as mountains, rivers, highland/lowland, forests, etcetera also important - Aliens can move over land, over sea, under sea, underground, through the air, (teleporting even?) - People can becomes allies, remain neutral, or become opponents. - You can support each other, or agree to not fight, or start a global war so other people can be (or need to be) involved. - Need to write down your orders beforehand, orders are revealed at the same time and executed one by one (so, order and number matters greatly?) (or not?) - Modifiable game board and playing field, to a certain extent. - Assassinating leaders, coup d'etats, important roles (UN; United Nations?) to be distributed among players ## Preparation At the start of the game, every player is given the following things: - A **secret mission**: The player wins if he is the first to fulfill his secret mission - A **starting base location:** This is where each alien race has created its base. - A **starting technology:** A set of three technology cards. - A **hidden agenda:** A set of three hidden agenda cards - A **base army**: One land unit, one sea unit, one air unit. These land and air units are placed at the base, the sea unit is saved so it can be put into play later. ## Gameplay Players take turns simultaneously. Everybody gets a before agreed upon amount of time (30 minutes should be enough) per turn to think, discuss, form alliances, etcetera. - At the start of this period, every player must openly put down the cards he wishes to play next turn -- this is the "public agenda". - If a player has hidden agenda cards, he must play one of them face-down as well. - Then, every player writes down his actions on a piece of paper. - These actions involve only your army and military strategies - Then, all the written commands are revealed and played out in the correct order. - At any time during this period, as long as it's his turn, a player may play his open and hidden agenda cards. ***At what point do players draw cards or do other awesome special things?*** ## Commands Note that any (verbal) agreements made are non-binding -- you can bluff, lie, cheat your friends all you want. Players can only have one binding agreement per turn; in this case, they both decide on a symbol and draw it in front of the order. The available commands are: - **Move (A-\>B):** Land and sea units move one tile per turn. Air units move two tiles per turn. - Starting and ending position must be valid. - Units from other players can't be moved. - **Support (A+B-\>C):** Any unit can support another unit. - The supported unit's movement must be correct, and your unit must be only one tile away. - If you support a unit from another player, indicate his faction. - **Transfer (A-\>B via C):** Land units must be transferred over sea via boat. - There must be a boat from this player on C, and C should be one tile away from both A and B. - If you use a boat from another player, indicate his faction. The other player must indicate the transfer as well, at the exact same time, to show he complies. - **Switch (A\<-\>B):** All units can be switched. - Both positions must be valid and adjacent. - If you switch with another player, indicate his faction. The other players must indicate the switch as well, at the exact same time, to show he complies. - **Attack (A x B):** Air units don't necessarily need to attack when they occupy the same space as land units. But they can choose to do so. - Both positions, and the opposing faction, must be valid. If necessary, one must place the type of unit before the command (**L, F** or **A**). If you want, you can always add more information just to be sure the command is valid and interpreted correctly. ## Command Resolution Commands are resolved in the order they've been written, with everybody moving at the same time. The following restrictions hold: - There can only be one unit of any type on a tile. - Sea units can only stay on coastal and sea territories. - Every unit can only receive a single command per turn. Commands are resolved using the following rules: - If a unit doesn't receive a command, it's assumed to "hold" -- it does nothing special. - If a command is invalid, it simply fails and nothing happens - If there's already a unit of the same type on the tile, and that unit is yours, you can't move there. - If there's already a unit of the same type from another player, you start a battle. When a battle happens, players count the amount of armies on either sides. This means the moving unit, plus any valid support he may be getting (from himself or others). - If their numbers are equal, nothing happens and all armies stay where they are. - If the defender has more armies, he wins and the attackers are sent back to where they came from - If the attacker has more armies, he wins and the moving unit is moved into the territory. The losing army is removed from the board. (***In some cases, the losing army can retreat?***) ## Game Board The game board is divided into regions. These regions can either be sea, coastal or inland. - A river between regions means land units can't cross - A mountain between regions means air units can't cross - A reef between regions means sea units can't cross - Land units in a forest are protected from air units - Air units flying over \<some type of land> are protected from land units - Sea units can hide from everyone in caves? underneath cliffs? Every tile has certain "resources" and "anomalies". Players with the right equipment/command can pick them up (***and/or drop them?***). They can be used for their own good, or as trading material, or to achieve their mission. Players can build constructions or terraform tiles, for the same reasons. Terraformed tiles and buildings give benefits to the player using them, but might also benefit other players, especially if they manage to take over the tile. ## Human AI Of course, the humans fight back. (_Instead, can we let one or multiple players play the humans?!_) First of all, there's the **UN council**. A group of 5 people, all big leaders of a different area, who can make big decisions and make large things happen. Over time, aliens may (secretly or not) take a seat there, and humans might claim it back. Secondly, there's **people fighting in their region**. Of course people don't just accept the aliens taking over, and they will built walls, attack troops, start rebellions, and do other crazy stuff. ## Buildings Lala ## Technology Lala ## Cards (Public & Hidden) Lala