Thread by @colewehrle

Over the past several months, we've been hard at work at #arcsboardgame. The work has been so intense that I haven't had time to write up new design/developer diaries to keep everyone posted. Eventually, I'd like to start doing that again, but here's a 🧵in the meantime.

Arcs has been, by far, the most challenging project I've ever undertaken and I think that's probably true for the studio at large. The game presents steep demands to basically every aspect of how we make games here.

Today, I want to look at one small challenge in the game's campaign design and give you a sense of how the game tangles with it. Let's talk about templating!

By templating, I mean the process by which the game presents its design. Templating is at the intersection of a game's language-system, its mechanical design, and its graphic design.

To get a sense of how tricky this is for Arcs, it's worth stepping back and reminding everyone of the core challenge. Arcs has 24 plotlines in three different lengths. Every plotline is essentially a little Root-Legacy game which explains the emergent asymmetry of a position.

Despite the vast differences in each plotline, they all need to use the same template. In Root terms, this would mean that each plotline would basically need to have the same player board layout. If you've played Root, you know this is impossible. Why go through the trouble?

For instance, we could just have a different player board for each act of the story. It'll be a bunch of extra punchboard, but backers love content right?! But, even that would not do the trick because Arcs is not Root Legacy, it's Build-A-Root.

Each session, you will have a single plotline which informs your powers, what you can unlock, and your objectives (as well as certain elements of the larger game). If you decide to change horses midstream, you don't abandon the things you've a already unlocked. Things stack.

This is a very exciting conceit because it allows for a much more free-form campaign experience that is perfectly in keeping with the kinds of emergent, player-driven experiences we build at @LederGames. BUT it is a nightmare when it comes to templating content.

I could spend probably a few thousand words talking about the frenzied past few months, but I think it might be more fun to just show off some of the game's content so you can get a sense of how it all works. Let's start with an easy one.

(Obvious caveat, this game is still in development, needs tons of art, development, proofing, whatnot. Nothing here is final).

At the start of the game you get 2 fate cards. You select one and grab the associated content (we're thinking tuck boxes but I'll save the production/product discussion for another time).

Let's say you pick the Steward. You'll then get a box with a little brick of cards, tokens, and pieces that you might need. This brick is organized into layers for each act. The first card you'll see is the act 1 setup card. You'll follow it and stop when you get to the next act.

Essentially, the setup cards act as little chapter stops and guides to the content. After you resolve them, you put them in a part of the game box called the "scrap heap" this is stuff that is discarded until the end of the campaign just to get it out of the way.

This plotline has a few critical elements. First, you'll see it comes with an objective. For the Steward they need to make sure the empire stays in control of the far corners of the Reach. If they fail, they can make up the difference by paying VP (power).

If they complete this objective, they get to unlock Courtly Favors, which is a handy ability. Any cards that don't get unlocked are scrapped at the end of the game. Competition also means that they can advance their plot to the next act if they wish.

Lastly, they will automatically gain Fleet Influence at the start of the game. As long as they can pay for its upkeep in the intermissions, they can keep this card throughout the game, no matter what else happens.

Let's look at Act 2.

In Act two, the rules of the game start to shift for everyone. In this plotline, that means the rise of the First Regent. Basically, players unify their supplies of cubes are must play a tricky area majority game where the winner gets to control the tax mechanism.

Usually, this hastens the decline of the empire, and most players decide they'd rather be Outlaws. So, Act three provides the Steward with some room to pivot.

In addition to beefing up Imperial Ships and providing a way to establish remote power centers with Imperial Messengers and Imperial Support (basically letting you drop infrastructure on empty slots around the map), players also gain Imperial Seal.

This is a "Summit Power" means means that during the negotiation phase (Summits), you can bribe other outlaws to rejoin the fold.

And, you'll notice too that the third act has a End-Game Scoring trigger. This just provides a steady stream of points (it's checked at the end of each hand) for reasserting imperial authority across the Reach. All act 3 conditions have scoring that is structured like this.

But, what if you didn't want to play through this whole plotline? During the upkeep phase, an additional number of fate cards linked to the next set of plotlines (in the case of the first intermission, it's the B plotlines which are two acts) are revealed.

So, when it comes to your turn to resolve upkeep, you have a look at a public display of these fate cards (1 for each player) and have the option of activating it instead. If you do, you swap out your current plotline box for the one you chose.

Take Pathfinder for instance. The first act only has 2 cards, but they both dramatically alter how you will play the game. During setup, you'll have to forsake all of your cities and spaceports and you'll instead be worried about finding the location of a hidden gate on the map.

To do this, you'll have to change out your player board for a flagship board, which essentially puts you in "vagabond mode" for the rest of the campaign.

Critically, you could abandon this plotline as well. Maybe in the third act you opt to become a peacekeeper, committed to ending the war that has engulfed your people. Of course, you'll have to do this while still managing things from your flagship rather than your little empire.

And that's really what makes this thing so special. By the end of the campaign, you're not just the peacekeeper. You're the Steward who spurned the empire, tried to find another home, grew disillusioned, and came back to try to fix what they left behind.

I'll add that I more-or-less picked this path at random. There are 24 of this dang things and they combine in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways.

This game has been hard to work on for lots of reasons, but I can't think of any project I'd rather be working on. It's exactly the sort of thing we do well at @LederGames. It's too demanding for a small studio, but too risky for a big studio. I can't wait for you to see it.