Game Development: Rules and Regulations

Calamity Cube, Ver 1.0

“To Adapt Is To Overcome.”

A game by Steven Russell

20-30 minutes, 2-4 players

Battle Goal: Gain the most victory points to win by the end of several rounds!

Coop Goal: Defeat Chaos in his own game, while surviving his treacherous powers!

Battle Story: Several mages of varying factions have come to this chamber of old to acquire power beyond anything anyone has ever seen – the Calamity Cube.

Coop Story: Having witnessed the rebirth of the Calamity Cube and its eldritch creator, Chaos, an order of paladins sends several of their finest to confront and seal away the malicious power.

A card game where players are to manipulate the Calamity Cube to their whims, in an effort to conquer and achieve victory.

Players will have to use the cards they are given to shift the Calamity Cube towards a satisfying direction to get the most out of each round, whether it’s to deal damage to Chaos, or to gain effects to crush others in the next round!

Game Components

Board or map illustration

Card illustration with callouts

Illustration of other pieces

Printing Instructions

Setting up the game

Players are to sit in a circle/square formation with the cube in the middle. Each player must be facing a face on the Cube. A shuffled stack of cards is then placed to the side of the Cube.

Players determine who goes first by rolling a dice. From there, the player with the highest number goes first.

Turn Order

First Phase

Second Phase

Third Phase

End of turn

Check for victory

First Phase

A player will roll a dice, in which case chooses one out of six cards to use for the Cube’s face effects for that round. The round is then started from there.

The cards each have different properties for each face of the Cube, which will be used for the round as the different color face attributes. Negative effects, positive effects, and victory points will be strewn across these varying colors, always changing each round.

Example

Second Phase

The player’s turn begins now. The player will roll a dice, and from there must pick up the amount of cards from the stack of shuffled cards that corresponds to the number rolled. Now the player must remove cards from their current hand to take in the new cards and keep a max hand of 6.

The player’s turn begins by rolling a dice and picking up the amount of cards they roll for. They must integrate these into their current hand, replacing existing ones to keep a hand max of 6 at all times, moving the discarded cards to the bottom of the shuffled stack of cards.

Example

Third Phase

Now the player must play a movement card if they have one, or skip their turn entirely.

Movement cards are cards with directions on them that rotate the Cube in the direction depicted. They can only play a max of one. Skipping the turn allows the player to move onto the next player instantly, and make no moves from there until it’s their turn again.

Example

End of turn

Battle Options: Players can play an event card on an opposing player at the end of their turn by choice, but cannot play another event card until after their next turn.

Coop Options: Players can play an event card to thwart Chaos’ movement of the Cube at the end of their turn by choice, but cannot play another event card until after their next turn.

At the end of each player’s turn, the player to the left goes next.

Check for Victory

Battle Conditions: The player with the most victory points wins the game at the end of all 4 rounds (1 round = 4 turns per player).

Coop Conditions: Upon dealing five negative effects to Chaos, the players win.

Glossary

The Calamity Cube / The Cube : The relic forged by an otherworldly being, said to contain dark powers that expand far beyond anything humans have ever seen.

Chaos :

        The creator of the Calamity Cube, and the composer of madness.

Movement Cards :

        These cards rotate the cube in a certain direction, whether it’s to rotate it once up, down, left, or right.

Event Cards :

        These trigger events, or ghosts from the Calamity Cube. Some ghostly images can help or hinder the player, based on what the effects the card displays.

Strategy tips and design notes

Since the cards are constantly changing, it’s best to plan ahead and put yourself in a position where there’s a good chance that if the cube gets moved, you’ll most likely end on a positive effect. Sometimes skipping your turn is    good! Maybe you need a better hand, you’re waiting for that one event card to show up, or perhaps you’re spectating, quietly calculating to make that one move. Be careful when trying to save cards for certain situations! If you’re not careful, you may roll a high number and have to discard it!