Battle for Gallion's Reach Space Card Expansion Deck in Testing

First Expansion Being Tested

With the release of the game we have put together a fun and exciting expansion deck of brand new space hex cards! We  wanted to include this deck in the original game but cost issues prevented it. But now, for only $20, players can double their galaxy size or use these new cards in the old game! The new deck comes with many new planets, nebulae and asteroid fields as well as a large number of interesting anomalous and unusual space objects such as:

Space Brain - gives controlling players a technology boost
Hyperspace Zip Line - ships can move across the board in one move
Computer Planet - increases player's research abilities
Alien Starbase - controlling players get a free star base
Hyperlane - gives ships an extra hyper jump move
The Expanse - Only Raiders and Destroyers can fight
The Black Nebula - No missile combat allowed
Jump Node Alternator - controlling player can shut off adjacent jump nodes
Battle Asteroid - controlling players can have a strongpoint in an alien-built asteroid with powerful defenses.

It also comes with 20 additional House Flag markers for each faction and two special playing pieces for the Jump Node Alternator space hex card.

We hope that this expansion will greatly increase the replayability of the game and is the first of more expansions to come! We have more expansion ideas we are working on:

Ship Expansion: Fighters & Carriers, Minelayers, cloaked ships, Hyperspace Missiles and two additional Raiders, Destroyers and Cruisers squadrons for each faction giving each player six of each type.

Additional Players: Two more Great Houses and one Alien Race can join the fray with their own ship types. Also considering adding a forth optional race called the AI. It would be a non-player faction that spreads like a virus. It's appearance would force factions to work together to stop and would change the dynamic of any game where it appears.

Commanders & Admirals: Players can buy leaders to command their fleets and armies (replacing the Great Admiral and Greatest Warlord characters)

New Rules: Supply Lines, Minor Races, Star Clusters, Pirates, etc.

BATTLE FOR GALLION'S REACH ON SALE NOW!

With included printed full-color rule book and access to downloadable PDF rulebook:

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/battle-for-gallion-s-reach-with-printed-rule-book-

With only the downloadable full-color PDF manual and printer-friendly rule cook:

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/battle-for-gallion-s-reach-with-downloadable-pdf-rule-book-1

AUGUST 7th!

BATTLE FOR GALLION'S REACH GOES ON SALE AUGUST 7th!

A slight delay due to the printer means the game will go on sale August 7th! 

UPCOMING GAMES

As of now there are three new games in development. While this list could change if sufficient reason, such as having an intractable problem in early development come up, these are very likely the games that Power Play will be creating over the next year or two:

STAR REBELLION (currently in early play testing)
A strategic game for 2 players about a galactic rebellion. Heavily character-based.

BATTLEFLEET SATURN (currently in early play testing)
A tactical starship combat game for 2 players.

WILL OF THE PEOPLE (currently in early conceptual development)
A fast playing card game where 2 to 6 players (or possibly more) select Congressional candidates and get them elected in modern USA.

BATTLE for GALLION's REACH GOES ON SALE NEXT WEEK!

Yes!
After almost four years the first game published by Power Play Games goes on sale to the public! There are two versions available. One has a down-loadable and printer-friendly PDF rulebook, while the other comes with a full-color printed rulebook.

FULL COLOR RULEBOOK VERSION for $99.99

PDF PRINTER FRIENDLY & PDF FULL COLOR DOWNLOADABLE RULEBOOK VERSION for $88.99

Both versions will be available for purchase from The Game Crafter website by the end of next week (July 29th-30th)

The links to the purchasing website will be posted here!

PROGRESS REPORT

Much has happened since the last blog. As I posted last time, the good weather has kept me outside and working on landscaping our new home. However, we have indeed been finding some time to work on our projects and we are now moving rapidly to finish the Battle for Gallion's Reach game and the development of it's successor.

BATTLE FOR GALLION'S REACH

The rule book is DONE! All editing and re-writing have been completed. Instructional video are also ready. the request for the second proof copy of the game is being sent to the printer. The first was back in January. If this proof copy look good, the game will be going on sale immediately. So we are looking at 1-2 weeks until the game is on the market. It all depends on the printer's ability to get it done.

THE NEXT GAME

After much research., studying different game ideas and playtesting some of those ideas we have a winner for the next game from Power Play Games:

"Star Rebellion"

While working on Inherit the Stars game, I stumbled on an alternate idea that seemed to provide a better opportunity to create a fun game, still based on space conquest. I was looking at some of computer games from the 1990's and came across a great game from those days: "Rebellion" by LucasArts. It was a strategic game of the Star Wars universe. It came complete with ship building, space battles, ground battles and the famous characters from the original trilogy.

I was looking at ideas to improve the Inherit the Stars game idea when it dawned on me that this game needed to be translated into a table-top game. Obviously I wasn't able to use the Star Wars universe, so anything would have to have the flavor and basic appeal of that story but with different names, characters, and back story. As i seriously researched this idea, it became clear that this was very doable and seemed like a worthy follow-up to Gallion's Reach.

As of now we have a complete game ready for early play-testing. Below are some of the preliminary artwork:

The gamer will be for two players. There will be two options of play: a shorter game where the Imperial player must locate the rebel base and the rebels must capture the Imperial home world. The longer game involves those two requirements but also capture certain characters. the Imperial player must capture/kill the rebel leadership and the rebels must capture/kill the Emperor and his second-in-command.

The interesting aspect of the game is that to some degree both players make their moves in relative secrecy. More so for the rebels. For example, when ships and characters move from star system to star system, they enter hyperspace but the opponent is unable to determine where they are headed. 

Also, characters have abilities that allow them to take on specific missions. These missions such as sabotage, espionage, diplomacy, etc require skills that each character must have to increase the chance of success. Characters can also hunt one another.

The strategies for both sides are different. the Imperium will tend to use sheer force and military power to defeat the rebels, while the rebels must keep their main base secret and build up systems to support the rebellion. The game uses a very basic economy where players build facilities on planets starting with factories. factories equal points that are used to buy facilities and ships, troops, etc. Facilities are used to build these things. Each star system can shift it's loyalty from Imperial to rebellion and back. The Empire will use force to make planets join the Empire. The rebellion will tend to use diplomacy.

Preliminary early play-testing will start very soon.

PROGRESS REPORT

 I apologize for the long stretch without any posts but as the weather has turned nice here, we have been spending most of our time outdoors planting and landscaping and doing things that you can only do in spring weather. But, throughout, the games being designed are still in the works. progress may be slow but progress is still being made.


Battle for Gallion's Reach
Almost there!!! We are fine-tuning the rule book; making final adjustments and spell checking, grammar checking, etc. It's a laborious process but a critical one. The website needs to be fine-tuned and the web page, where the game will be sold from, also needs some adjustments. However, it looks like the game will FINALLY go on sale sometime in June or early July!


Inherit The Stars
This game is coming along smoothly but slowly. There has been some adjustments to the game map - streamlining the map, mainly. We are hoping for a casual play-test soon just to see if it's going in the right direction.


OTHER GAMES IN DEVELOPMENT

Starfleet Admirals
 This game was conceived a few  years ago as a Star Trek game but since I didn't feel like trying to obtain the license from Paramount it just collected "dust" in one of my files. But recently I stumbled up upon it as I was working on Inherit the Stars. I was considering a small ship combat module for the game, but as I worked on it I realized that it would just complicate things and so I shelved the idea. However, as I played it I realized that it might be worth resurrecting as an independent game - without Star Trek theme and references. I'll be blogging about this one more in-depth soon.


Battlefleet Saturn
 Another game idea relegated to the "digital dustbin". This one has a cool mechanic whereby the planets move in their orbits and so all strategy involves predicting where a planet will be so your ships can move there at  the right time to engage the enemy. The theme is a near future where the colonists spread out among the planets and their many moons are fighting for independence from Earth.
Unlike other space-oriented games this one is more about using celestial mechanics to plan your moves. For example, say you wanted to send a Task Force to Mars from Earth. Since Earth revolves around the sun in less time that does Mars and the two planets can be close or far away from one another depending on their revolutions, you must plan your advance based upon when Mars will be the closest to Earth. Imagine a chess game where the spaces are always moving, but in a predictable fashion.

Progress Report

Battle for Gallion's Reach

 Editing the manual is proceeding well. We began creating two videos on playing the game and some still -shots for examples of set-up and game-play for the manual.

Inherit the Stars

Development is going well, even though the thrust of our efforts is now on finishing the Gallion's Reach manual. Inherit the Stars is definitely a moderately complex game of sci-fi empire Building. The interrelationships between various racial/empire traits is turning out to be one of the more enjoyable aspects.

Actual game play is dictated by cards representing specific "Operations" which have economic costs associated with them. The more "Wisdom" a race has, the more cards they can draw and play in a turn. 
 There are Operations such as WAR, RAID, MILITARY (building ships & troops), SABOTAGE, INTELLIGENCE, DIPLOMACY, TRADE, INTERNAL, COLONIZE allow players to take specific action sin support of the goals of the type of Operation played. For example, Playing the TRADE Operation allows a player to establish a Trade Hub. Playing a RAID operation allows a player to raid nearby enemy sectors for $$$ (RPs). Playing a SABOTAGE Operation gives a player the opportunity to blow stuff up. Playing an INTERNAL Operation allows the player to make adjustments to the civilizations levels such as reducing Xenophobia, reducing or increasing Domination, quelling Unrest and Revolts, etc. Playing a DIPLOMACY Operation allows players deal with neighbor civilizations, make deals, demands, establish treaties, etc. And of course playing the WAR Operation means going to war. Each operation has cost in RPs (Resource Points - the game's 'money'). 

Traits like "Domination", "Influence", and "Xenophobia" as well as "Tech Level" of a race play a big part in dealing with other races and economics and even managing your own colonies. Players can select to tax colonies but, based upon your "Domination" level, these colonies can go into Unrest or even outright Revolt. While revolts on most colonies is a serious annoyance and can prevent a colony from contributing it's production or research to an empire, a revolt on your Home world is most serious and can even spread causing all Operations to stop until the revolt can be quelled with the use of StarLegions and BattleFleets. If revolts aren't quelled they can become Independent Rebel worlds. The only way to get these back is to invade with a BattleFleet or a StarLegion. Rebel planets are also good pickings for enemy empires who can make them a part of their empire instead - especially those with low Domination, high Influence and low Xenophobia levels. Nothing can irk you more than an enemy planet deep inside your territory!

Another interesting aspect of play is the way races win the game. Each race acquires Victory Points by doing certain things in the game. 

TRADERS
The Human player, for example, gains more victory points for establishing peaceful Trade by building Trade Hubs within his empire and with other empires. Trade hubs help both races by supplying regular $$$ deposits into the races coffers each turn. But only the Humans get Victory Points for them. Humans also have a nasty mean streak as well, so they also can get some moderate victory points from military conquest too.  

THE WARRIORS
But some races, such as the Leshlact and Vargr gain large numbers of victory points from military conquest alone. 
The Leshlact are the true dangerous enemy of the galaxy. They can exist on green, ocean and desert planets alike without the technology needed to Terraform them and they can establish colonies quickly and fast because they breed quickly. These large and powerful insect-like carnivorous beings build specialized Swarm ships that can overwhelm anything less than the higher tech-level BattleFleets. But they are handicapped by having maximum Domination, maxed-out Xenophobia and low Wisdom and zero Influence (neither of which can be reduced or raised) and they actually lose victory points every turn they are at peace.
The Vargr are also warriors but far less Xenophobic against all races and irrational in their aggression than the Leshlact. They prefer humanoid-like races, like the Human, Drac, Androz and Ursa, and can even become allies with them. But they will almost always prefer war to anything else when it comes to dissimilar races like the Hurc, Kllor, etc, so whoever becomes allied with them will find themselves at war more often than not.

SPYS LIKE US
Others like the Androz gain more Victory Points for establishing spy networks and stealing technology and RPs ( the game's "money). They can be formidable warriors but prefer to win by sabotage, spying, and stealing. This makes them uneasy allies but they have very low Xenophobia and so they can work with any race - except perhaps the Leshlact.

PARANOID 'PEACENIKS'
The Kllor prefer peace and gain more victory points for establishing Alliances and having Peaceful relations but with such a high level of Xenophobia, this can be difficult to achieve. 

TRUE BELIEVERS
The Hurc like to spread their Religion, so they will establish Missions in neighboring empires and try to turn your planets into followers of their Faith. They get significant Victory Points for this. Because the Hurc are only one of the two water-enjoying species in the game, they can share sectors with species that prefer green or desert worlds. While this reduces chances for conflict it can also help them spread their religion easier and get those Victory Points to win the game.

CULTURE WARRIORS
The Drac prefer to spread their culture in any way they can. They gain big time victory points for establishing Cultural Centers in neighboring sectors. What starts out as a means to peaceful relations ends up becoming a way to turn your planets into their planets as your people gravitate to their dominant culture. They're cultural dominance can become a plague if not kept in check. Insidious.

THE URSA
The Ursa are a mixed bag. They are good at war and also enjoy trade, so they will gain points for both - sort of like Humans but they are just better at it.

Each race has it's unique strong and weak traits and players must learn to find the best means to take advantage of these traits to win the game while navigating the galaxy filled with dangerous enemies, random events that can cause havoc and the ever-menacing Machines!

THE MACHINES OF DESTRUCTION
The Machines are a largely autonomous race in the game left over from the "Old Ones" who once tried to destroy them (but obviously failed). Bad things (and some good) can be found by races who go exploring the stars looking for places to colonize and one of these things are the Machines. They are nano-sized robots that turn planets into grey goo and, if left unchecked, can wipe out an entire civilization quickly. So players need to be upgrading their technology as they explore since stumbling upon a Machine world can unleash this plague and can be difficult to stop without a decent technological knowledge. 

 SNOOPING AROUND THE GALAXY
Another "discovery" that can create trouble is Plague which is "discovered' as fleets go snooping about the galaxy and when unleashed, can spread from fleet to fleet and from sector to sector very quickly thus rendering a civilization extinct. So it behooves a player to develop a technology capable of curing this alien disease quickly!

Also, from time to time there will be exploding stars like Nova and Supernova that can sterilize most planets instantly. Only the higher tech levels can protect your planets from this natural disaster.

Exploring the galaxy can bring you benefits as well, such as Treasure worlds that will give you $$$ and Ancient Knowledge that will increase your Tech Level. And there are Old Ones "Hyperstellar Ziplines" or Star Gates they left lying around, that your Fleets can use to zip around the galaxy from one end to the other in one turn. The downside is that so can your enemies!

STARSHIPS & STARLEGIONS
Fleets come in three main flavors (with a few races having specialized Fleets like the Leshlact, Hurc and Kllor) and can be built depending on the Tech Level attained. These are StarFleets - the basic ship type you start the sandbox game with and send out to explore the stars; BattleFleets, which are the mainline combat ships of the game and OmegaStars which are moon-sized battleships. Other ships include Fighter squadrons, BattleStations, the Vargr have Fortress Planets which prevent enemies from taking control of a sector without a StarLegion available to do the dirty work. The Hurc have Disruptors which help them escape destruction quickly. The Leshlact have Swarmships which can overwhelm many opponents and the Kllor have Chameleon Fields which prevent an enemy from identifying what sort of ship they are facing down until it's too late. 
Finally all races can build StarLegions which represent automated space-faring robotic ground combat units capable of storming planets.

It's clear that some adjustments need to be made to the game map so that starting sectors are closer to other players. The reason being that in testing, it takes too many turns before players engage one another.
 
Inherit the Stars seems to have a great deal to offer players who enjoy strategy games that involve exploration, conflict and non-conflict, empire management, etc. Once Gallions' Reach is out the door, this game will come together quickly!

Here is some preliminary art:

Operations Cards

Race Charts

Game Map

Various Determination Charts used in the Game

Sample of Some Game Playing Pieces