STAVE has new Art and New Rules for Rev6!

 STAVE is nearly ready for its last round of rules testing and its final art! Still a WIP, but by the end of 2019 the art will be done and printed for test runs in January-February, with final proofs in March.  

After that, the game needs marketing and production then it's ready to offer for sale online, at conventions, and through stores.

While prototyping Morningstar's dynamic Wants & Needs system we've talked about making a small mobile version of the STAVE card game adapted to a video game format (not using cards, but a graphic interface where symbols are drawn with the finger on a geometric wheel to create combos and cast the staves at an AI or Human opponent.)

That would be a cool intermediate between a big project like New California and another big project like Morningstar. 

We'll have to talk about that as we get further along. But for now the first most important part of the card game's development is done. We found the fun, we found the hooks, we made it look neat, and it's unique and interesting. 

It can be played solo-4 players, 2v2 being the default mode, and it can be quick, over in under 5-8 minutes, or go long, with matches lasting half an hour if you're both playing defensive. 

Because of the combo system there is a unique mix of strategy and luck. You can learn the core of the game in 5 minutes, but really learning how to leverage, feint, and plan risk vs opportunity is where it can get tense, relying on short term draws to complete long term plans. 

You may hit early and often up front, or try to turtle and outlast the opponent. Or you can create a cunning grand plan and lay it out in your hand and your defensive traps.

The simplicity of it makes it both approachable and universal, and it doesn't rely on an endless wallet draining addon / expansion system to get the most out of play. It's a neat game packed in one small box that everyone can play regardless of whether they like Poker, Chess, or Pokemon and Magic the Gathering. To support that mentality, the style of the cards is adult while still appealing to kids. 

It's a middle ground game between big strategy and casual fun that can fit in both categories depending on who is playing and how. 

That can be frustrating, waiting on the right card to finally come up to complete your grand strategy, but that's more about patience and risk assessment. If you want to make the big play your tactic then you just have to wait your turn til your hand comes up, making small risk wagers in the meantime. That, combined with players who turtle well in an effort to prolong the game which requires a long chase, can result in games that last 15-35 minutes, when the last game where the alternate strategy was used was over in 3-8 minutes.  

But that's the power of the game as well. It depends on who you are playing with and their attitude. It's not all luck, there is strategy and risk/reward assessment, but luck and personality do play a role. You'll quickly find that how you play affects outcomes more than just dumb luck, as there is a way out of every bad hand, and a way to make mistakes in even the best hand. 

So far, people who have never played a card game before have learned to play it in 10 minutes and then beaten veteran testers, all because vets were trying strategies that worked in the past and the new player understood the rules and were rewarded with a lucky break simultaneously. But the opposite has also been true where vets adapting to the hand they have are unbeatable just because they knew the rules, unless a critical mistake was made. 

At first, the mechanics are simple. You may think a card is useless because it does no damage, until you realize how powerful it is combined with other cards. Are you willing to sacrifice that card for an immediate reward of passion (which you need to leverage your more immediate attack next draw), or will you hold onto it hoping for that devastating combo, or apply it to a defense and hope it comes in handy later if the opponent tries the same thing?

Those decisions can be stressful, not something every player wants to experience, but if you are very competitive, it's right up your alley, especially if you enjoy big risk and reward moves as part of an impressive display of understanding that almost feels like you've exploited the mechanics for an impossible move not intended by the game maker and not expected by the other player.

While none of these moves are given names, I've created a program which spit out every possible card combo and its results, then combined those into simulated play hand vs hand.

The test revealed a lot of moves that seem irrational and self-sabotaging can actually be rare but valid moves if all goes according to plan, a few moves that are just foolish and aren't a good plan in any case (obvious mistake outliers), and almost all other moves are valid along many different but similar vectors. The biggest and longest chains are the most impressive, while being rare, though they are also the majority of the possible moves. The lesser moves that are left are the more common and result in more "on your toes fencing matches" rather than the "grand single blows."

This means it's got the Chess paradigm, where moves you make can be learned and labelled before you every draw your first card, but it also has the Poker paradigm, where you have to get into your opponent's head to bluff and fake them out before unveiling your plan. 

This generates a lot of competition and a lot of thinking and discussion after a match, and a game where a rematch is almost required, because it'll be different next time you try something new. 

While the market is flooded with games, I think that combination of mechanics makes STAVE a hit. 

It still needs broader testing among many people without my hand holding to teach it, but it's so quick to learn, and the cards can basically teach themselves now, that I think with the right marketing and sales angle, it can get into the hands of a lot of people and still emerge on top as a new classic. 

It's not a flashy themed game like Munchkin or a party game like Pandemic or even a TCG like Magic -- it's more like Poker than those games -- but it's also not your grandad's card game either. If you liked the Magic and Pokemon mechanics and strategy but hated the aesthetics or the child / immature packing, then STAVE fill that niche perfectly while still being accessible to players of those games looking for that same level of cerebral complexity. 

If you want the deep strategy of a thinking game with an element of risk, you'll love this. 

You don't need a calculator to play. You won't need to reference a source manual either. Everything required to play is included. No extra pieces or extra tokens, it's all in the box.

It's not going to be expensive either, since it's all cards with two counting wheels, one per player. Easy to manufacture in mass very quickly without looking or feeling cheap. And because of that form factor it can travel with you anywhere. 

Making up new rules won't be as easy, but you can make up House Rules or Gentleman's Rules on the fly if you prefer shorter games. 

Every game is fair, even a beginner versus a veteran with asymmetrical knowledge, due to the game's blend of simple to learn mechanics and luck of the draw. 

Cheating is possible -- knowing your opponent's hand can help you plan your counter and strike in advance -- but cheating is also mitigated by the number of possible moves a player could make in a given hand in the next few turns being so variable. What looks like a grand strategy may just be a moment's hesitation -- they might play the short term attack next turn or totally discard it hoping for another approach. You'd still need to read their attitude and past behaviour to know what they are really planning to do. 

Counting cards is possible and part of the game. If you know for a fact how many elements or defenses are in the deck, you can count how many you've seen in play and use that to know what to expect. This is veteran behaviour though and will require study and the understanding of the plays available. Which isn't cheating.

After January, when the art on Rev 6 is done, I'll begin going to conventions and game stores in person to pitch the game and get a wider taste of how people react to it.

I may have to change things here and there, or redo the mix of Elements and Modifiers to Defenses and Projections again for Rev 7. (And Rev 8? 9? 21? 300?)

After that, publishers are next to talk to.  

I'd still like to sell it myself, because I have a good deal with a printer and Thomas and I are building a die-cutter for our counter cards ourselves. So at the final revision we could possibly print and market the game ourselves, going to conventions and selling them in person, and selling to retail and distributors both physical and online. 

But, we'll see if STAVE is ready for a big name publisher in March. I think it is absolutely, it's a very fun game with a great hook, but you never know what curve ball revisions a publisher might ask for before they're willing to buy it and sell it. Means of Production and all that being what they are, it's hard to both make games and sell them at the same time, and the people who sell things always believe their ideas are the best ideas (and it's hard to argue with the King.) 

We'll just have to wait and see in the meantime!
 

And if you've backed us for 50$ or more over time, you can get a copy anytime you ask for one! 

Or if you want to buy a copy now to support us on our journey, or would like to just come out and test, I live in Tucson and you can contact me on this page or through our email.