Post by exazarius on Mar 13, 2014 20:56:40 GMT
Hi everyone. We prepared a short description on how the Obstacles work in the game. Three of them have their own effects and the other two are connected with the stretch goals of Villagers and Cattle. Villagers are almost reached so there will be no problem. We have prepared more effects just in case and we tested them in order to see how they affect the game.
Basic Function of the Obstacles: They limit the space you build.
What happened in this case. As you see in the example below all the Houses are connected and form 1 Block. The Purple Player started building in the Block next to the Blue Player but at the end he was stopped by the Blue Player who built his Houses in a clever way and surrounded the Purple player. Result: In this Block the Purple Player cannot start building again Houses so no Scoring Points or Aspects for him. Is against the rules to create another Family in the same Block. His Houses are "blocked"!
BUT if a Catastrophe was drawn saying that half of the Houses in this Block are destroyed and then somehow even one of his Houses was free again with an open side to build, then the Purple Player would be back again in this Block.
FROZEN LAKE: You cannot place any Villagers in Houses built against this Obstacle. The temperature is very low and people cannot live there. You can place Villagers though, to Houses which are not connected directly with the Obstacle like next to other Houses, see the example below. Is this effect important? Yes because the Villagers give you 1 Point and if your opponents try to block the space you build, then you lose more points. Is very important how you build!
Note: The way I built the Houses in the example below is not correct. I did it only to show you the effect of the Obstacle.
DESERT: You cannot place any Cattle in Pens built against this Obstacle. The temperature is too high and these animals cannot live like this. You can place the Cattle though, to Pens which are not connected directly with the Obstacle like next to other Houses, see the example below. The importance of this effect is equally the same like the Villagers before.
Note: Some people asked us why the Cattle design has not the form of a Cattle. Is on purpose like that. We borrowed this design from wall paintings from that era and similar toys the people were making back then. This is why we did this design with this form.
HILL: For each of your Houses built against this Obstacle you score 2 Points at the end of the game. However there is a price. All the Construction Cardboards always include 2 Houses as primary Elements. These 2 Houses count as 1 in the case of this Obstacle, meaning you build slower than the other players but you gain double points. So, which will be your decision?
HOLE: You can build your Houses, Pens etc ON that Obstacle freely. This Obstacle does not limit the space you build..to the contrary. Beware though! If the Catastrophe Earthquake is drawn and triggered, then you lose the ground under your feet and anything built on that Obstacle is automatically destroyed and REMOVED from the game!
VOLCANO: Around the Volcano can be built up to 13 Houses or Pens, it doesn't matter which one will be. BUT the player who will build the 13th tile causes the wrath of the Volcano and a huge eruption takes place. All the tiles which are built against Volcano are automatically destroyed but are NOT REMOVED from the game. Here is your chance to mess up the plans of the other players.
Check the example below. The Houses with the red X are not destroyed. Why? Because they are not built directly against the Obstacle.
There are few more things regarding the Obstacles like how many you use based on the numbers of the players. We will finalize these suggestions very soon.
Basic Function of the Obstacles: They limit the space you build.
What happened in this case. As you see in the example below all the Houses are connected and form 1 Block. The Purple Player started building in the Block next to the Blue Player but at the end he was stopped by the Blue Player who built his Houses in a clever way and surrounded the Purple player. Result: In this Block the Purple Player cannot start building again Houses so no Scoring Points or Aspects for him. Is against the rules to create another Family in the same Block. His Houses are "blocked"!
BUT if a Catastrophe was drawn saying that half of the Houses in this Block are destroyed and then somehow even one of his Houses was free again with an open side to build, then the Purple Player would be back again in this Block.
FROZEN LAKE: You cannot place any Villagers in Houses built against this Obstacle. The temperature is very low and people cannot live there. You can place Villagers though, to Houses which are not connected directly with the Obstacle like next to other Houses, see the example below. Is this effect important? Yes because the Villagers give you 1 Point and if your opponents try to block the space you build, then you lose more points. Is very important how you build!
Note: The way I built the Houses in the example below is not correct. I did it only to show you the effect of the Obstacle.
DESERT: You cannot place any Cattle in Pens built against this Obstacle. The temperature is too high and these animals cannot live like this. You can place the Cattle though, to Pens which are not connected directly with the Obstacle like next to other Houses, see the example below. The importance of this effect is equally the same like the Villagers before.
Note: Some people asked us why the Cattle design has not the form of a Cattle. Is on purpose like that. We borrowed this design from wall paintings from that era and similar toys the people were making back then. This is why we did this design with this form.
HILL: For each of your Houses built against this Obstacle you score 2 Points at the end of the game. However there is a price. All the Construction Cardboards always include 2 Houses as primary Elements. These 2 Houses count as 1 in the case of this Obstacle, meaning you build slower than the other players but you gain double points. So, which will be your decision?
HOLE: You can build your Houses, Pens etc ON that Obstacle freely. This Obstacle does not limit the space you build..to the contrary. Beware though! If the Catastrophe Earthquake is drawn and triggered, then you lose the ground under your feet and anything built on that Obstacle is automatically destroyed and REMOVED from the game!
VOLCANO: Around the Volcano can be built up to 13 Houses or Pens, it doesn't matter which one will be. BUT the player who will build the 13th tile causes the wrath of the Volcano and a huge eruption takes place. All the tiles which are built against Volcano are automatically destroyed but are NOT REMOVED from the game. Here is your chance to mess up the plans of the other players.
Check the example below. The Houses with the red X are not destroyed. Why? Because they are not built directly against the Obstacle.
There are few more things regarding the Obstacles like how many you use based on the numbers of the players. We will finalize these suggestions very soon.