Mechanics 1 : Majority Control

In this game, any space may contain units from several factions. The faction with the most units present controls the space. In addition to a possible 9 players, there are 3 neutral factions in play. You might tolerate these neutral groups in your borders, and still have control. Beware though, they can be used against you (more on that in a future post).

This mechanic forms the backbone of the experience. Undermining another player's resources might not involve risking your assets in combat - maybe you can simply sponsor their political opposition. Conversely, you may deliberately plant neutrals friendly to your cause into your territory for additional defense. Another player may allow you to enter their controlled territories in order to collaborate.

In early prototypes, these changing situations could lead to complicated messes of tokens that were hard to read. After several iterations, the solution is these little (8mm) numerical dice:

This image is from before a ninth player was added (More on that later)

In addition to conserving space, this has led to board states being easily readable. Since each space is limited to 12 units total, this means each space will most likely not have more than 2 cubes at any given time. Another benefit is keeping the price down so that the game can be affordable. These are easier to acquire/manufacture as opposed to miniatures or meeples. Below you can see an example in play:

(Please excuse the varying fonts ;) These images are from an earlier Facebook post)