While that is the case I am moving to Hanoi, Vietnam to help a company with their games. And won’t have much time to devote to Summoner Tactics .

I’m not sure if Summoner Tactics is slim and elegant enough to be a good board game. I do think it could transition into a great video game. I look forward to exploring that option later.

So go to the download section, check it out and let me know what you think.

-Bud

We’re also working on face lift of sorts. Since so many people are seeing the game now it’s time to throw out the borrowed images and work with something we actually own. These images are NOT designed for Summoner Tactics but are for another game in development I designed. I figured it would be ok to borrow them until we get closer to actually publishing Summoner Tactics.

Here is a sneak preview of some of the new artwork we’ll be using right up until our official launch.

So stay tuned and if your interested in being a behind the scenes playtester let us know at the BGG forum: http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/709111/summoner-tactics-free-print-and-play-pnp

Regular playtesting of Summoner Tactics

We love to get pics of people playing our games. Especially if it's their first time. Ahhhh it still has that new car smell.

SPECIAL RULES FOR DRAFTING:
You can use any Summoner in the set.
You can use any cards from any colors regardless of Summoner.
You can have more than 2 of the same card.

DIRECTIONS FOR DRAFTING:
2-8 Players sit in a circle.
Each player opens a deck and removes the Mercenaries and Summoners.
Shuffle the deck and then create 4 face down piles of 15 cards each. (Do not look at the contents while making these piles)

Pick up the first pile of 15 cards in front of you and look at it’s contents.
Select one card and add it to your personal deck building pool and pass the remaining 14 cards to the player on your left.
Pick up the pile of 14 cards coming from the player on your right and repeat the process.
Repeat this until all of pack 1 is gone.

The next pack will pass to the player on your Right.
Then the next pack will pass Left.
The last pack will pass Right.

You should now have 60 cards in front of you. Create a 45 card deck by removing 15 cards.
Your first opponent should the player sitting the farthest number of seats from you.

Enjoy!

“Attack Left” Usually a good 3 person format. Basically you goal to win is to defeat the person on your left, and he wants to defeat the person on his left. As soon as one Summoner is defeated the game is over. So while you want to defend yourself from the person your right, you don’t want him to be defeated.

Free for All: A good format for any number of players. One balance mechanic you can try, or try to avoid, when one player loses the game is over and whoever dealt the last hit wins. This can turn into a game of “pick on the loser” so maybe it’s best to avoid it. But be wary of games where 1on1 fights break out and someone quiet can build a massive army and clean you both out after your quarrel. But hey it’s multiplayer, expect some mayhem!

2 vs 2: We have done a number of games where each player takes their turn separately and teammates sit diagonally across so each teams turns are separated by opponents turns. This causes a lot of down time though, sitting and waiting for your next turn to come around. I suggest teammates taking their turns simultaneously. While this might be un-balanced if one team gets ahead of the other, or give to much weight to the team that goes first it does solve the problem of downtime. Just look for ways to solve the balance issues if they become a problem and share the solutions with us so we can tell others.

2 Player maps are 10×16. You may want a slightly larger map or you may enjoy tight quarters. So don’t be afraid to try things out and don’t judge things too prematurely. We have found that a 10×16 works fine with 3 players and could likely work with 4 as well.

Some bars are just better….. oh you mean a “do over”

A mulligan, in a game, happens when a player gets a second chance to perform a certain move or action.

In the case of Summoner Tactics every player gets a Mulligan at the start of the game after looking at their 10 cards. Players can  take any number of cards from their hand, put them on the bottom of their deck and re-draw the same amount. You only get to do this once, so you have to decide “Ok these 5 are going to the bottom” and then draw 5 to replace them. Not 1, then 1 more, then 1 more. Cheater face.

Like most card games shuffling gives you a random assortment of starting hands, typical, good, awesome, and oops what the hell is this.  A mulligan gives you a chance of fixing what you start with.

So what should I mulligan away? 

That is the biggest question of all. As you get to know your deck more and more you will get to know what wins and what doesn’t. Most decks however want 2 things: Lots of Champions and 1 or more Champions they can play in the first couple of turns.

So I should toss all my Spells and expensive stuff right?

Oh if only it we’re so simple grasshopper. Ok maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. I suspect you will want a bell curve of casting cost in your champions. In other words your playing the best champion you can each turn 1-4.

You may also want some utility Spells. Something that  moves champions around yours or theirs. Or gives a bonus to an attack. You may also want a spell or Summoner Attack to finish off a Champion when a roll doesn’t go your way. Look for a variety of cards aside from your first 4 champions so you can keep your options open. But too many spells not enough champions is likely not a good place to be.

There will be a lot of options to your Mulligans. Pay close attention to the Access Cost (the !!! in the casting cost). Plan out your first few turns. Ask yourself what will you likely put down as a resource? How about next turn, and turn 3, then turn 4? You can only plan ahead so far, but you should be planning at least your first 4 turns. Maybe you want 1 more Red or 1 more Blue card so you don’t have lay something good down as a resource. Overall your mulligan should be used to give a good solid start. Don’t get greedy and try to get the best possible starting hand your deck can muster. Just make sure that when turn 5 rolls around, your still in the game to win!

Good luck and be careful, once that card goes to the bottom you will probably not see it again this game.

team@summonertactics.com

So Summoner Tactics has an interesting Resource mechanic. Any card can be a resource. And whatever color that card is, grants Access Points to cards of that color.

You might ask some questions like why are there no designated resource cards like game “X”?

Why don’t you have to spend the color resource for the color of the card you are playing?

Why can any card be used as a resource?

My main goal was to make resources matter, without getting in the way of the game. For years I have played collectible card games where resource math was a huge part of building your deck. How many do I need? Whats the right amount to get a good opening draw? How much is too much? And no matter how detailed you got, no matter how much testing you did you could still get “screwed”. Not enough resources. Too many resources. Resources of the wrong color. In fact I played so much that I just took it all for granted. It was just the nature of the beast and a part of the game.

Then I started playing other CCGs and they had their own version of resources such as: No colors, but lands have one time effects such as damage or drawing. Colors matter but you only have to own a certain type. And you can play anything as a resource but it only counts as “colorless”.

These are big improvements from the humble beginnings of resource management. I thought wow this is great, no more getting “screwed”. Well……. not quite. It turns you the resources still mattered, a lot! Not getting the right resources meant you might miss out on important effects like drawing cards. Or colors kept you from playing key cards. What’s worse was that you could still get “color screwed”. Now my definition might be different then yours when I say “color screwed” I don’t mean you drew zero of a particular color. Which is a bad. But worse you could draw a hand that is full of important cards of that color. And you drew resources, you can play some cards but you just can’t play most of your hand.

That can be so frustrating!

It makes it feel like your not even playing the game. Losing can be frustrating. But it’s far far worse to not even be able to play the game. To just spend turn after turn hoping the next card is the color you need so you can play all the awesome cards in your hand.

That is why Summoner Tactics is so different. If you drew 7 Red cards you aren’t left frustrated because you can’t draw red resources. You have 7 Red resources in your hand! You just have to decide which ones will bite the dust, and which will get played.

Another frustrating thing that can occur is the opposite, getting resource flooded. Wow talk about bad luck or design. Not only can you end up with not enough resources, you could end up with too many! Or maybe it’s a good amount, but what bad time to draw them!

Again that is where Summoner Tactics shines. 

Every card you draw will be useful. It might not be what you really hope for. The key to your terrible upside down predicament. But at least it is something! Drawing a resource when your at the end of your rope, when the next few plays will determine everything, is like wandering the desert thirsty for water, reaching for the canteen and coming back with only the vapor trails of a mirage.

And finally we let you exhaust any color resource to play a card, because it’s easier to keep track of. And you can play all the cards of that color as long as you own enough resources to gain access to them. Want to play 4 red cards this turn but only have 2 red resources? No problem as long as the Access Points are 2 red, you are good to go.

We can also reward players for being devoted to a particular color. Access Points are pretty lenient right now with most being only 1 or 2. But stick around we plan to have cards that reward you for devoting yourself to a particular color by requiring 3+ Access points but being well worth it with extra power for it’s cost.

Part one can be found at http://www.summonertactics.com/?p=100

Now that we have covered the rules of Deck Building let me give you some basic advice.

Tip #1: Choose an idea, tactic, style or even theme to focus on and then look for synergy.

Tip #2: Focus on your strengths not your weaknesses. For example say your playing goblins who tend to be aggressive early. A good strategy is to focus on destroying only key champions and doing as much damage to the Summoner as possible. Define your strategy or goal and put 100% into it.

Tip #3: Find your hidden combos. No matter how good it looks on paper there are probably some tricks you didn’t even notice. Combinations and synergies that reveal themselves while playing. Keep an eye out for those, and while in a game think about the cards you wish we’re the in deck right now and consider including those in your next match.

Tip #4: Test, test and test some more. If we’re doing our job right no one deck will be the best all the time vs all others. So figure out what your good and bad match-ups are as well as your Strengths and Weaknesses.

Tip #5: Shore up your weaknesses only after you have tested a lot and know your bad match-ups. Now look for ways to cover some glaring weaknesses or make those particular matches better or at least winnable. But don’t try to cover those bases so much that you risk losing track of your main goal and end up with a pile of mush instead of a deck with occasional bad match-ups.

Tip #6: Always have fun. If it’s not a fun deck to play, does winning really matter?