by gedin
Tzolk'in has a very similar board layout to a game I was working on last year called Gear World. Here are my notes from my design journal:
Gear World Notes
Map Board
• One large central gear interlocked with four smaller gears at the corners
• Placing a token on a building area or a farm, forest, mine, etc shows who owns it
• Smaller gears could have 13 teeth
oEach small gear would have its own “personality”
oThey would have 4 settlement locations
oWinner is first person to have at least one settlement on each of the four small gears
oEach settlement location would have a separate cost: cheapest to costliest.
oCost would be different resources for different gears: 16 combinations in total
oOwnership of each settlement would grant different benefits at certain times/phases in the game.
oThe other 8 spots could be mines, farms, etc. These could produce resources as well, but player would have to have an adjunct settlement first
oResource might only be received when ending on a mesh occurred between player’s owned teeth. Resources would accumulate on the gear until the mesh. Could end game without ever collecting the resources.
oA player could attack other player’s gear if they end on a mesh.
oA lake in the middle?
• Larger gear could have 24 teeth
o24 gears (8 Settlements and 16 Building sites)
o24 gaps (Farms, Forests, Mines, etc.)
o16 spots that share a gear with a building site
o28 spots on the spokes and around the center hub
oGrand total of 92 spots on the Main Gear
oA lake in the middle an between each spoke: 5 lakes in total
Player Boards
• 4 circular spots at top, one for each small gear
• When resources are accumulated, they are placed on the spot and cannot be used until the gears mesh.
• Can be stolen by another player when their gears mesh
• Zeppelin track for keeping track of number of zeppelins: 0 - 6
• Can move goods off small gears x the number of zeppelins
• Once per turn you can move goods from small gears to main gear (lower part of player board)
• Zeppelins cannot be used for attacks, only for moving goods between a player’s settlements)
Roles
• There would be different role cards that players could use each turn
• The engineer can add or subtract one gear from the turn’s movement.
• Crafter could produce one extra good of any type they are entitled to
• Builder would need one less good to produce/build something
• The General would add to the attack or defence of a player’s settlements during that turn
Phases
• Auction phase
oAuction off the role cards based on number of players
• Movement phase
oMove the main gear (Engineer gets to add or subtract one from the movement)
• Action phase
oEstablish a settlement on small gear you are meshed with
oAttack a settlement on a gear you are meshed with
oEstablish a mine or farm or ?
• Produce good
oHaving a crafter could get you an extra good
• Trade/move goods
oGoods need to be moved to a city/settlement to be utilized
oZeppelin allows the movement of good a number of spaces without being actually connected
Combat
• Possibility: Defence and Attack strength are equal to settlement’s control number. Default is 3
• Possibility: Can add Walls and Swords to Buildings and/or Settlements
• Could use dice to resolve combat or just compare numbers
• If a player looses in an attack, then their Control number drops and they lose goods to their opponent.
• If a player’s control number drops below 0, then they lose their settlement.
• Can only lose secondary settlements, not Main.
Movement track
• There would be a movement track on the board, from 0-6
• The movement track marker would begin the game on 3
• The gear moves the number of spaces on the track during the movement phase
• The Engineer could move the marker one spot to either side for changing the movement to 2 or 4
• The movement phase would be in-between other phases
Goods
• Some goods are produced/harvested directly
• Some goods are created by combining other goods together
• Range from plentiful to rare
• These goods would be used to build things and create settlements.
oForest – 1-2 Lumber
oOre Mine – 1-2 Ore
oField – 1-2 Wool
oClay – 1-2 Brick
• These properties would be on square chits like Portia Rico. Game would be different every time.
• During a particular action players could pick a face up tile from a pile, and the person with role linked to these tiles would either get first pick or an extra face down property. These could be placed in any spot linked to a settlement that can afford the expansion (Control Number), this includes the settlements on the small gears.
• Gem Mines – these are permanent.
oDiamond 1-2
oRuby 1-2
oEmerald 1-2
oSapphire 1-2
Buildings
• Convert basic goods into advanced/complex goods
• Construct tools with goods
• Buildings are represented by chits, just like properties
• Buildings have construction costs that need to be paid in order to be built
• The builder role would reduce the building cost by 1 good
• Foundry: 4 Ore = 1 Steel
• Textile Mill: 4 Wool = 1 Cloth
• Hanger: 4 Cloth + 1 Steel = 1 Zeppelin
• Amory:
o3 Steel = 1 Sword
o3 Bricks = 1 Wall
Gems
• Each small gear would focus on a different gem for building a settlement
• So there would be a demand for one particular gem if it could not be produce on that gear
• Gem Mines on Main Gear in same order around the gear: Diamond, Ruby, Emerald, Sapphire (4 of each, all worth 1 mine)
• Cost of settlements on small gears
oGem x 2
oGem x 4
oGem x 6
oGem x 8
• Diamond Gear
oRuby Mine 1
oRuby Mine 2
oSapphire Mine 1
oSapphire Mine 2
• Ruby Gear
oDiamond Mine 1
oDiamond Mine 2
oEmerald Mine 1
oEmerald Mine 2
• Emerald Gear
oSapphire Mine 1
oSapphire Mine 2
oRuby Mine 1
oRuby Mine 2
• Sapphire Gear
oEmerald Mine 1
oEmerald Mine 2
oDiamond Mine 1
oDiamond Mine 2
Settlements
• Default number of land spots a settlement can control is 3
• Double-sided square chits with numbers on each side are used to display the current control power of a settlement: 4-11
• A player’s settlements can combine their numbers if they are both linked to the same land spots: 3 + 7 = 11 spots
• Each farm, mine, etc. has a control value equal to the number of goods it produces: 1-2. I.E. 2 Ore Mine = 2 control
• Upgrading the amount of control comes at a cost, using gems to pay.
• As control goes up or down rotate/flip Control chit
• Control only land, not buildings or other settlements
• Only Buildings or Settlements can attack other Buildings or Settlements
• Contiguous spaces can share, move goods
• No limit to distance that zeppelins can move goods
• 2 goods per zeppelin, 6 is the limit
• Several action options, but limit to how many per turn
• 6 actions possible per turn, but can only perform 3 per turn (cannot perform same action twice)
• No zeppelins – don’t perform that action.
...and there you have it.
