Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The name of the game

As some of you may already know, we are developing - and I must confess that it's going very well - a card game which we used to call Evolution.

While our game testers have been excited about how the game works and feels, there's a small hick-up on the road to publishing and that's the title of the game. Evolution makes people think of Darwin and species evolving in time, while the game is about the evolution of technology.

And here comes our cry for help - we need a cool title for a cool game. 



Artwork - Bridges
Artwork - Irrigation





















Choosing the name is a two-step process. First we'll gather ideas and feedback and we'll select the best 5-7 proposals. Then, we'll create a poll to make the final decision. We want to involve the gaming community in the creation process in our endeavor to deliver only the best products to the hobby market.

We are asking you to reply to this post, on Facebook or on Twitter and propose a new title which would suit this game better than Evolution. The person who proposes the winning idea will be handsomely rewarded.


About the game


Evolution is a card game for 2-5 players. Each player develops technologically one nation from antiquity to the first industrial revolution. The player with the most develop nation wins the game. 




The technologies are divided into three ages:
  • ancient (10000 BCE to 500 CE) - from the invention of the wheel or the development of agriculture
  • medieval (500 - 1450 CE) - from the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and beginning of the migrations 
  • renaissance or early modern (1450 - 1740 CE) - from the invention of the printing press and the formalization of science
They are also divided into three paths or areas:
  • culture - focuses on arts and the development of human behavior and values and contains technologies like Burial, Musical Instruments, Opera, Newspapers or Sociology
  • engineering - covers the most practical discoveries and advancements in human history, such as Masonry, Cast Iron, Paper, the Steam Engine or the Railroad
  • science - focuses on rather abstract developments of humanity, like Mathematics, Astronomy, Cartography, Thermodynamics or Biology
The game play is streamlined, each player take a set number of actions per turn with the ultimate goal in mind, researching technologies to develop his nation and win. The main actions a player may take are:
  • research a technology by paying a cost (resulting in discarding one or more cards) or having one or two prerequisite technologies. Each technlogy comes with a specific benefit, thus enhancing the game play or making a step towards victory
  • developing a technology in time which translates in setting a tech card aside and letting scientists develop it over 4-5 turns
  • draw cards from a common draw deck
Researching a specific technology brings one or more of the following advantages to that player:
  • direct victory points which count towards the total needed for victory 
  • one or two steps up on the three tracks (population, army and prestige) on which players are competing for dominance
  • game play enhancement like having more actions, drawing more cards, discounts for technologies, moving to the next age, etc
Each tech card is used both for development and for paying the cost of a technology. Each player will manage his hand of cards, drawing cards, spending them for research or setting them aside for long term development in a competitive card game which is still missing its most important feature - a title.

If you want to become part of the development process of an interesting table top came, please share your thoughts with us and we will be grateful.


Artwork - Alphabet
Artwork - Education




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15 comments:

  1. both good ideas... hoping for more :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Technovation

    or

    Breakthrough(s)?

    ReplyDelete
  3. When Time Begun or When Time Begins ?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Research and Development :)))

    ReplyDelete
  5. (Climbing) The Ladder of Time.

    ReplyDelete
  6. R&D sounds like a good title for a department about ... R&D :)
    which is pretty much what I've been doing for this game

    what about something very straightforward like... Technology?

    ReplyDelete
  7. How about a jussive form: "Thrive!"

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think that "Far - seer" would be a good name. More, it reminds something "mystic" and card images gave me that feeling =)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Legacy of Time (or, if you feel up to it: Legatum Temporis)

    ReplyDelete
  10. cool stuff!
    It's time to move to the second stage and choose the name from the awesome ideas we got... soon!

    ReplyDelete