Hexanimals

[randomnovice]

Hi all,

This is the third reincarnation of a CCG idea I've been trying (see previous post Habitat Wars). I've added a hexagonal grid to the gameplay which changes things quite a bit.

Aim
The aim of the game is now to get any of your creatures across the board from your HOME to your opponent's HOME.

Turn
On your turn you can do as follows:
- Sacrifice one card per turn to increase your spending power. (Each card counts for one point, regardless of its tier.)
- Play creatures into battle, if your HOME space is clear.
- Play action cards to turn the tide of the battle.
- Use the special abilities of creatures, which recharge over time.

You can click on cards to zoom in on them and see the available actions, or use drag and drop.

Give it a try and let me know your thoughts!

[milon]

Your artwork is pretty nice, and the UI looks like it's been polished nicely. But I don't understand the game at all. I want to give it a fair try, but I need a Help page or a tutorial or something. The bullet list above isn't enough for me to get it. (That, and I'm rather busy and little time to spend figuring out a game. Sorry - that's just my life right now.) I wonder if that's why it's been downloaded 90+ times and hasn't had any comments yet.

Can you include an expanded help in-game?

[randomnovice]

Thanks milon, that's helpful feedback.

Here's a quick YouTube video that shows the basics of how to play:


I'll look to add an in-game tutorial at some point. For now, here's a bit more of a full explanation.

MAIN MENU
Campaign: Play against the AI, unlock cards by winning. Winning on difficulty Medium or Hard will unlock the next stage.
Pass and Play: Play against a human opponent, taking turns.
Deck: Make changes to your starting deck of cards. Load and save decks.
Settings: Change sound/volume, player colours and the size of the grid for pass and play games. Larger grids make for longer games.

Campaign Mode
Each AI opponent has an individual deck based upon their locality. The first challenge will be to defeat an opponent from "Home". Click the white circle to bring up difficulty choices: Easy, Medium or Hard. Harder opponents have better cards, making them more difficult to defeat but enabling the chance to unlock a better card for victory.

HOW TO PLAY
Aim of the gameTo invade one of your opponent's home hexes with one of your creatures (also known as allies).

YOUR TURN
You may perform these actions in any order:

1. Sacrifice one card per turn
You are Player 1. At the bottom of the screen is displayed your spending power and budget (initially 0/0). To increase these select a card to sacrifice. You can either drag and drop the card onto the bin icon, or click the card and select sacrifice. Each card increases your spending power and budget by 1, regardless of its cost. Each turn your spending power is restored to your budget i.e. after you have sacrificed one card you will begin each turn with a spending power of 1.

Clicking on any card from your hand gives you a close-up view. Hovering over special abilities tells you more about them.
Here we choose to sacrifice the card Calm Mammal:

2 Sacrifice Calm Mammal.png (3.88 MiB) Viewed 3937 times

2. Select cards to play
If you can afford its cost, you can play a card (the cost is displayed at the top left of each card). Either drag the card onto the hexboard or click the card and select Play to Combat/Play Action.

There are two main types of cards:
Allies: These cards are played to combat into one of your three home spaces (currently you have no choice of which, that's something that might change). Usually you must wait until next turn to move them (unless they have the special ability surprise attack).
Actions: These cards perform one action, such as changing the game from day to night, then are used up. You can't win the game with action cards but they can be very powerful for turning the tide of the battle.

Here we choose to play a spider:

5 Play to Combat.png (4.09 MiB) Viewed 3937 times

3. Move allies and attack
You can move your allies around the board. Most creatures move 1 space in any direction per turn, but some have special abilities that allow them to move more. To move an ally, either drag and drop it or select the card and choose move/attack then choose which space.

Remember, the aim is for one of your allies to reach the opponent's home. It doesn't matter which creature gets there... so plan your strategy accordingly. You'll also need to defend your home from attack.

Here are the options for the spider we played (note its special ability for a bonus at nighttime):

7 Spider Options.png (4.08 MiB) Viewed 3937 times

That's how to play!