I chose Pocket Imperium because it was the most fun to play. I am a fan of turn based strategy games in general, so this appealed to me immediately.
We needed to break down the game according to the six aspect of Chapter 10: Goal of the Game, Core Mechanic, Space of the Game, Objects,Attributes, and States, Operative Actions, and Resultant Actions. So, Here are my findings;
Goal:
Get the most points by controlling the most systems after each round.
Core Mechanic:
There are 3; Explore, Expand, and Exterminate. You get these three cards per round, and it is up to you to determine the order that you are going to do these three things per round (not every player will do all three things in the same order<orders of these cards are kept secret>). The order that you use them in determines the level of effect for each mechanic i.e. If it was your first choice to Expand then you get to add 3 ships to the board. Where as if Expand was the last thing you did in the round then you would only be able to add 1. Explore works by moving your fleets of ships, and Exterminate lets you invade 1,2 or 3 systems depending on the order that you preformed this action during the round
Space of the Game:
The space ...is space.. The board is made up of 9 "cards" that all have a hexagonal map over a graphic of stars, included is a huge star in the middle of the board with the number III( the biggest system on the map) on it. Each of the outlying 8 cards having 3 "systems on it, one level II system and 2 level I systems. Players move their ships around the map by way of the discrete, two dimensional map.
Objects, Attributes, and States:
The Object of this game is to earn points after each round by controlling more "systems of starts" than the other players. The "Objects" of this game are the Map (9 cards), the 9 action cards (3 each of Expand, Explore, and Exterminate, and the 15 each of a different colored space army.( a set of 15 ships for each player) The maps has the attribute of being randomized before each round with the center always being the level III system (you can randomize the other 8 cards of the map. Once the map is made for that round it is in a permanent state until the round ends. The cards have the attribute of being randomized by the player as well as the order of when they are going to be played a secret. The ships have attributes as well, They can be in motion from system to system. The states of ships are: invading, defending, motion, and still.Then there is a start token that has only one attribute and that is to denote what player goes first in the event that more than 1 player reveals the same action at the same time.
Operative Actions:
See: Core Mechanics
Resultant actions:
The outcomes of the 3 operative actions depend on what order what player did what action. If all three players first action is to expand then who goes first refers to whichever player is holding the "start player token" and clockwise from there. If all 3 players do the same action then the results are far more noticeable than if each player did a different action than the other.
I would like to have had a larger board to print i.e. the map consisting of 4 8.5 x 11 pages instead of just one. The space to be able to enjoy this game just was not there, but the overall strategy, secrecy respond/react of the game made me a fan over that small little detail. I liked this game enough to make a huge version of it measuring 3 ft by 2... much better at that scale. Overall I highly recommend this game.
my opponent lays exhausted after being soundly defeated.
(had to use crayons and pencil top erasers as ships...)
(also... I didn't really play my dog, my wife just did not want to be in the photo)
Thats not nice... ;)
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