Elements
Veni, vidi, vici
Fall 2018
Elements is a board game. It is suitable for 2 to 4 people to play. The main game mechanic is to occupy empty lands and to monetize player’s economy.The idea of four elements is from ancient Greek philosophy. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water are the elements which are believed the essences to human. The idea that these four elements makes up all matter is the cornerstone of philosophy, science, and medicine for two thousand years. Every visible thing is made up of some combination of earth, water, air, and fire. Elements represent resources. With the idea of elements, this board game is a fight for resources and wealth. The final winner will build his/her own homeland.
Each player has an explorer at the beginning of the game,
and the starting place is at the corner of the game board.
The movement is decided on the dice. Players need to
use their explorers to claim lands on the sides of roads.
After claiming the lands, players can get small amount of
money, or gain more money by building architecture with
additional value on the empty lands. Players also can buy
soldiers to defend their territory or to attack others’ territory.
There are two ways to win this game: gain 10 Obsidian
or occupy all others’ territory.
Game Director, Art Designer, Fabricator
Explorer
Resources
Dice
Superfarm
Territory
Military Camp
Market
Soldiers
3rd class
2nd class
1st class
Obsidian
Ruby
Pearl
Container for Chesses
Explorer, Dice, Resources
Each player get an explorer at the first round. Explorer can claim territory on the either side of the road. Each player only can obtain at most one explorer. If the explorer is dead, player can spend 10 Pearls to buy it.
8-side dice provides more possibilities for movements.
Resources are wheat and ore. The cubes for resources are black except the bottom side, so players will not know which kind of resource they get until they flip the cube. The places of resources are random which depend on the dice. Wheat is the requirement for building super farm. Ore is the necessity for building military camp.
Territory, Superfarm
Territory can be claimed by explorer. Empty territory can generate 1 Pearl each round. Each player can claim at most nine territories. Players can build on their own territory.
Superfarm is a special farm with additional value which must be built on an empty territory with wheat. Each super farm costs 1 Pearl and generates 2 Pearls each round.
Military Camp
Military camp is a special architecture without additional value which must be built on an empty territory with ore. Each military camp costs 10 Pearl. Player will get a free first class soldier when a military camp is built.
Market
Market is an architecture with additional value which can be built on an empty territory. Each market costs 1 Pearl and generate extra 3 Pearls each round.
Soldiers
Third class soldier is the lowest rank soldier in the game. It costs 2 Pearl. Attack：★
Second class soldier is the middle rank soldier in the game. It costs 5 Pearls. Attack：★ ★
First class soldier is the highest rank soldier in the game. It costs 10 Pearls and requires a military camp to buy it. Attack：★ ★ ★
The ranks can be distinguished by the number of right angles on the cubes.
Tokens
1 Obsidian = 2 Rubies = 10 Pearls
Playtest
It is very crucial to create good experience and joy for a game. I invite many people to playtest and record their experiences and opinions. Here are the playtest and feedback records.