itch.io

Awesome!  Thanks for understanding!

Hi, quantumodo,

I am not genuinely advocating that this digital edition follow the rules in such a way as to make it so Colossus' hero ability and the Steady keyword effects do not actually work as intended.

That said, I've brought up the discussion in another forum and would like to quote someone else refuting the assertion that the Golden Rule clears up this rules conundrum:

You are quoting the Golden Rule and assuming that it has priority over "Cannot", but (on Hall of Heroes' post 1.5 pre 1.6 FAQ) it was ruled that "Cannot" should have priority over everything, even the Golden Rule.

200 – The rules state that “cannot is absolute”, but how “absolute” is it really? Specifically can the “golden rule” take precedence over something that cannot be done according to the rules reference? For example. The rules reference states: “Identity cards cannot be discarded from play” but the side scheme “Mutants at the Mall” (Project Wideawake scenario) states: “Flip this card and put Jubilee into play, discarding any other version of Jubilee from play.” This looks like a very clear golden rule scenario to me, the card text specifically mentions any other versions of “Jubilee” and that should include the identity card with that very same name. However in this situation the golden rule would need to take precedence over a rule that uses the “absolute” cannot. If I were to play this scenario with the Jubilee hero, would the existing rules prevent my identity card from being discarded, because “cannot” is absolute, or would I need to follow the golden rule and thus I would have no choice but to never defeat the “mutants at the mall” side scheme?

It’s still true that identity cards cannot be discarded; Mutants at the Mall does not create an exception to that rule. We try to design the game to have “cannot” overrule just about everything else, even The Golden Rule. The way you should resolve the second sentence of Mutants at the Mall when the Jubilee identity card is in play is to flip Mutants at the Mall, recognize that the Jubilee ally and Jubilee hero are both unique and cannot both be in play, and remove the Jubilee ally from the game (do not put her in the victory display).

Unpacking the zip file of the latest version, I was surprised to find my destination folder was missing the exe file.  I've since realized that my system is deleting the file quickly and quietly after the file is extracted.  If I'm quick enough to go into the destination folder after extracting the file, I can attempt to launch the exe but execution fails and I receive this message:

Operation did not complete successfully because the file contains a virus or potentially unwanted software.

This was not an issue for me with either v0.5.8.147 or v0.5.8.74

I'm on a Windows PC.  Anyone else having the same problem with the latest version?

Apologies if this has been fixed already; I got this to occur in either v0.5.8.147 or v0.5.8.74... I would have attempted to recreate the issue in the newest v0.5.8.199 but haven't tried that version yet.

Klaw has this ability:
 Forced Interrupt: When Klaw attacks, give him 1 additional boost card for this activation.

Grasping Tendrils reads:
Hero Interrupt (defense): When the villain initiates an attack against you, cancel that attack. If you paid for this card using only  resources, stun the villain.

The timing trigger is shared but Klaw's ability is forced so it resolves first and then the player has the opportunity to play Grasping Tendrils.  This timing worked correctly but Klaw's ability did not.

When I played the game, Klaw's ability dealt to Klaw an additional boost card, but that dealing of a card should not have happened.  It then allowed me to play Grasping Tendrils, and, with the activation canceled by Grasping Tendrils, the boost card stayed on Klaw and was eventually used as an additional boost card for some other activation.

My assertion is that the additional card should not have been dealt.

Rather, I assert that Klaw's ability is a modifier-type alteration effect, that doesn't explicitly or immediately deal a card but instead modifies the number of boost cards Klaw is meant to receive in the upcoming first step of the resolution of the attack activation.

Indeed, giving an "additional boost card" is specifically called out in the rules reference as an example of a modifier.

This rule may apply to more than just Klaw and to more than just Grasping Tendrils.

ALTERATION EFFECT (RRv1.6 p7)
...
This/That Activation/Attack/Thwart — Effects that refer to “this” or “that” activation, attack, or thwart denote a modifier to that activation, attack, or thwart. (Examples: “That attack gains overkill.” “Give the villain an additional boost card for this activation.”)
...
See also: Modifiers

MODIFIERS (RRv1.6 p27)
The game constantly checks and (if necessary) updates the count of any variable quantity that is being modified.
Any time a new modifier is applied or removed, the entire quantity is recalculated from the start, considering the unmodified base value and all active modifiers.
• The calculation of a value treats all modifiers as being applied simultaneously. However, while performing the calculation, all additive and subtractive modifiers are calculated before doubling and/or halving modifiers are calculated.
• If a value is “set” to a specific number, the set modifier overrides all non-set modifiers. If multiple set modifiers are in conflict, the most recently resolved set modifier takes precedence.
• After all active modifiers have been taken into account, if a value is below zero, it is treated as zero: a card cannot have “negative” icons, attributes, traits, cost, or keywords.
• Fractional values are rounded up after all modifiers have been applied.

A relevant rule is under Status Cards (RRv1.6 p38)
A character cannot have more than one status card of each type at a time.

My understanding is that, when a constant ability (like Colossus' hero form ability) or the Steady keyword ability breaks this rule, if the rule-breaking ability goes away then the game would have to respect the rule, above, and discard the excess status card.  That said,  Steady has been around for much longer than Colossus and I don't see an FAQ or rule confirming that the player is meant to remove excess status cards if a character loses the Steady keyword while already having two stunned or two confused status cards.

Humorously, there's also the lovely rule "Cannot" (RRv1.6 p11)
The word “cannot” is absolute and cannot be countermanded by other abilities or effects.
• If two abilities or rules conflict, the ability or rule with “cannot” takes precedence.

The clarification bullet point under "Cannot" was added with v1.6
So, arguably, Colossus' ability and the rules governing the Steady keyword actually don't allow a second copy of a status card to be placed.

Oh, I really thought the Ace was one of the bases.  Okay.

∞♠

It just occurred to me that the 8♠ is an impossible base to defeat, since the player can never have exactly 8 empowered champions.   That 8♠ will appear in 62.5% of games using the random base variant, making those games somewhat harder as the player will have one less base to target.  Neat!

I wonder if the last sentence in the section on Moving A Champion should be adjusted for increased clarity?   It is a pleasantly brief "If the deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile and remove the top card before drawing." 

I understand "shuffle the discard pile" is short for "shuffle the discard pile to create a newly-randomized face-down movement deck".   I understand "remove the top card" is short for "remove the top card from the game, face down, without looking at it".

Thank you for reading my comment.  I'm surprised, and impressed, to see you adjust the rules to address something I said.

I like that the updated rule makes it clear how you've envisioned the player setting up the base.

However, being specific about that part of setup lends more weight to the misinterpretation that gave me pause as I was learning the game: the thought that the pyramid structure of the base has some mechanical relevance.

For example, with this thinking, I might be expecting to see a rule saying I need to destroy a bottom-row base before destroying a middle-row base before finally having cleared a path to the ace himself in the top row.

The narrative introduction to the game and the gameplay goal are two sections of the rulebook that contribute to my misinterpretation as they set up the Ace of Spades as a specific character and the target of the player's efforts.   I notice that, with the variant in which some bases can be randomized, the Ace of Spades is again treated specially, not included in the randomization and so always in play.

My understanding of the game is that the A♠ is mechanically no different from any other base and so the player merely needs to attack and destroy any three bases, and do so in any order, to win the game.  I could win by defeating just the 7♠, the 6♠, and the 4♠.  

That said, this thinking could lead to some interesting, but probably very difficult, variations.  It would be much harder to clear three bases in time if needing to clear a bottom-row base first, a middle-row base second, and the Ace third.  Harder, still, if doing a further variation following paths between bases such that clearing the left-most bottom-row base only clears a path to the left-most middle-row base. Arranging the bases into different shapes beyond the pyramid shape while playing with some kind of pathing rules and the objective of defeating the Ace could open up other variations that could have all nine spades in play at once.

Nice game!  Rules were easy to understand after figuring out that the ordering of spade cards within the opposing base was mechanically irrelevant (the pyramid shape with the ace on top is just for looks and has no impact on the game compared to, say, laying the selected spades out in a randomized row).  I appreciate how theming contributes to understanding the rules (rallied and empowered) and I like how clearing opposing bases improves movement cards to compensate for losing out on movement options as the player cycles through the movement deck.  I found it quick to set up a custom table for the game on playingcards.io and appreciated having the movement deck on your baseofspades.com website.   I managed to win my first time playing, having gotten down to a three-card movement deck and having needed just the first card from that deck.  

Would you mind elaborating on the Dice Squared rule for doubles?
"Doubles are wild: you may merge them into any one action above."

The rules for Elementalist give more information:
"You must perform 2 actions every round — if you merge doubles, you must perform the action shown on the third action die."

If Dice Squared follows Elementalist in this case, I suppose a roll of:
⚁⚁⚃ (2,2,4) would allow me to choose
⚁⚁ (2,2) [short diagonal] then [short diagonal], or
⚁⚃ (2,4) [short diagonal] then [short straight], or
⚃⚁ (4,2) [short straight] then [short diagonal], or
[⚁⚁]⚃ (wild,4) [any of the six actions] then [short straight], or
⚃[⚁⚁] (4, wild) [short straight] then [any of the six actions].

Congratulations!

Played on Chrome.  It took me longer than it should have to realize that I can click and drag on the stars; my first interactions were just clicking and noticing the sounds being made.  I soon discovered that the itch.io page overlay (with links to view the creator's other works, follow the creator, etc.) interfered with my ability to move stars in the upper-right corner, but I was able to get around that by scrolling the page a bit.

I don't know how many levels there are or how many I cleared but I got stuck and gave up.  The level I quit on featured three lenses that all overlap to make seven partitions and the level has seven stars: four rotate clockwise, three counter-clockwise; there are five colors amongst the seven stars, split as two pairs and three singles; there are similarly five shapes, split as two pairs and three singles.

Neat little puzzle game!  I enjoyed the process of figuring out the game's mechanics and goals, taking notes as I experimented.  Very pleasant aesthetics.

Fun game with fantastic artwork and music!  To any new fans of the game: I highly recommend full completion of the game for the completion bonuses, then also check out the song remixes on Mittsies pages (YouTube or Bandcamp) and the four-panel webcomics on Łukasz' twitter (@vanripperart).