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One Page Imperium's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Mechanics & Clarity | #4 | 3.889 | 3.889 |
| Concept & Originality | #7 | 3.833 | 3.833 |
| Overall | #7 | 3.648 | 3.648 |
| Adherence to the Theme | #10 | 3.222 | 3.222 |
Ranked from 18 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
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Comments
Really great job!
One wrinkle that I think could add a lot of strategy and complexity to the game is limit the Upgrades so any given player cannot have upgrades that total more than their total tech level. As I read it currently, the total tech level only limits when they can buy the upgrade. The way (as far as I understand) it works now, the players will tend to homogenize as they trade upgrades but don't lose them.
Although that removes the incentive to trade a bit, as you can no longer trade a player for an upgrade you can't develop yourself. hmm....
Greatly impressed by the direction of the game, taking a genera known for it's complexity and putting it into one page is bold and it seemed to pay off. What was your inspiration to go in this direction? Did you have a game in mind when making the rules?
Twilight Imperium was definitely an inspiration along with other 4X games like Eclipse. Although TI is technically grand strategy rather than 4X. Most notably, TI lacks an exploration element, which I wanted to make a key component of this game.
TI seemed a perfect starting point because it's a game with many layers of complexity based around the simple idea of territorial expansion and player interaction. I was curious how much we could "Subtract" from the game without losing the core essence of it.
Initially, there was a plan to have differently themed factions but that ended up being reduced to just the faction traits. Everything in the game is streamlined as much as possible although I will admit that the balance is probably not quite right yet. After the jam we will probably update an improved version of the game.
-Can't PK Meraxis Prime, 2/10.
Seriously though this is an impressive bit of work. I didn't believe you could get that full of a 4x on a page. Fits the theme pretty well too. For example I don't think you could meaningfully reduce the number of units without sacrificing depth, but it would have been easy to add extra units that don't really add anything given the existing depth.
This seems nice! it's a poket 4x. I wonder how long the games last.
Two questions:
1) why didn't you just use squares instead of inches? Seems to me the game could be played in a relatively small area.
2) when does the game end?
I can verify that people that looked at my draft actually objected to the initial use of squares, which is why mine uses inches as well. Probably in the same boat here.
I didn't want the game to require a "board" because I wanted it to be playable with whatever tokens / miniatures one hand on hand. Even a tape measure isn't really needed because during gameplay all lengths fall within the 12" or less of a standard ruler.
Game length is actually surprisingly short because as written, the game ends if a players reaches 10 VP while controlling the center planet (first column of first page spells out win condition). Because VP is handed out at the end of each round, games can end pretty quickly especially at the 2 player count. In future versions the max goal of VP will probably be adjusted based on player count. For now, feel free to use whatever VP goal makes the most sense to you based on the pace your games are going.
nice, everything makes sense.
I missed the end game condition anyways
Nice games rules, with few modification you can use those for OPR FTL campaign like rules where combat is the resolved with FTL rules.
Quick clarifications for combat involving more than 2 players in proximity
- For each roll, the attacking player chooses an enemy player to target. Any hits rolled are toward that enemy's units only.
- After combat, if the defending system owner has no units left in orbit, you claim the system (whether or not there are still other enemy units in orbit from other players).
Note that all other players are considered enemy players. Alliances are never official and thus ending a move in proximity of an enemy ship or system always forces a combat regardless of any prior agreements.
Our entry to the Design by Subtraction jam, this game was inspired by the idea that 4X is a genre typically known for its many layers of complexity.
Our goal was to cut the typical 4X gameplay down to its bare fundamentals: EXploit, EXpand, EXplore, and EXterminate. In addition, the game includes Negotiation, a strong Theme, and Technological advancement, which are regarded as key elements of the hidden 5th and most important X: The EXperience.
Enjoy!