CELL - Φ by Kerdelos
Cell phi is a multiplayer strategy game in which you have to multiply and organize your cells in order to capture the cells of your opponents.
######### Tutorial #########
## Stem Cells ##
You start with a stem cell. A stem cell can divide into other stem cells. Each time the energy is divided between the old and the new cell. A stem cell can also specialize into another type of cell : energy, attack or defense cell. The transformation takes one turn to complete. If it is an energy cell, then the energy production will begin one turn after the transformation completed. Only stem cells can divide or specialize so take great care ;D
## Energy ##
By default a cell loses one energy bar each turn. If it touches an energy cell, it will gain one and if it is one cell away from an energy cell, it will not lose any energy. But it will loses one bar for every attack cell of another player directly in contact (except if it is a defense cell ). Cells that are in the process of transforming do not loose nor gain energy.
## capture ##
If you can get four cells or more be in direct contact with an enemy cell then this cell becomes yours (except if it’s a defense cell ). You can also use attack cells to capture other ones. When an attack cell attacks, it turns back into a stem cell or die if it attacked a defense cell. If you attack a stem cell, you capture it. If you attack an energy, defense or attack cell, then the attacked cell turns back into a stem cell.
######### know issues ########
- There’s no winning condition ( When you opponent has no remaining cell or cannot do anything, you can safely assume that you’ve won ;D )
- There’s no easy way to quickly relaunch a game or quit the game ( sorry about that alt-F4 stuff =/ )
- Energy is not handled correctly if the cell is an attack one.
- When a cell you just captured is the fourth cell to be directly in contact with an enemy cell, the capture does not work.
######### Credits ############
Winnilis : game design
Valérian : music and sounds
Tyrannas : graphics
KerDelos : programming and game design
######### Tutorial #########
## Stem Cells ##
You start with a stem cell. A stem cell can divide into other stem cells. Each time the energy is divided between the old and the new cell. A stem cell can also specialize into another type of cell : energy, attack or defense cell. The transformation takes one turn to complete. If it is an energy cell, then the energy production will begin one turn after the transformation completed. Only stem cells can divide or specialize so take great care ;D
## Energy ##
By default a cell loses one energy bar each turn. If it touches an energy cell, it will gain one and if it is one cell away from an energy cell, it will not lose any energy. But it will loses one bar for every attack cell of another player directly in contact (except if it is a defense cell ). Cells that are in the process of transforming do not loose nor gain energy.
## capture ##
If you can get four cells or more be in direct contact with an enemy cell then this cell becomes yours (except if it’s a defense cell ). You can also use attack cells to capture other ones. When an attack cell attacks, it turns back into a stem cell or die if it attacked a defense cell. If you attack a stem cell, you capture it. If you attack an energy, defense or attack cell, then the attacked cell turns back into a stem cell.
######### know issues ########
- There’s no winning condition ( When you opponent has no remaining cell or cannot do anything, you can safely assume that you’ve won ;D )
- There’s no easy way to quickly relaunch a game or quit the game ( sorry about that alt-F4 stuff =/ )
- Energy is not handled correctly if the cell is an attack one.
- When a cell you just captured is the fourth cell to be directly in contact with an enemy cell, the capture does not work.
######### Credits ############
Winnilis : game design
Valérian : music and sounds
Tyrannas : graphics
KerDelos : programming and game design
Ratings
| Coolness | 57% | 3 |
| Overall(Jam) | 3.45 | 384 |
| Audio(Jam) | 3.45 | 276 |
| Fun(Jam) | 3.21 | 464 |
| Graphics(Jam) | 3.28 | 603 |
| Humor(Jam) | 2.12 | 770 |
| Innovation(Jam) | 3.55 | 221 |
| Mood(Jam) | 3.07 | 637 |
| Theme(Jam) | 3.45 | 712 |
I feel like like there would come no end to this game, but maybe that was because I was playing v.s. myself, haha ;)
Game idea seemed to be nice though :>
The game was prone to a lot of back-and-forth, I found, which could make it slow moving. I think it'd help if energy could be transferred between cells, to help players who have a clear number advantage win more quickly, rather than drawing out the game.
With the simple interface, this could be a really fun mobile board game for folks to play with friends. Thanks for putting this together!
An attack cell turning an opposing energy cell back into a stem cell seems possibly overpowered for the defender. Frees up the cell to become something else. Though I discovered later on that this just requires the attacker to get two attack cells in place, or to attack just once and risk that this helps the defender before a second attack can take place on a later turn.
I think there need to be more things that can be done with energy. Such as inner cells with extra energy can be assigned to give one unit of energy to a neighbor each turn, but only if the cell doesn't do anything else that turn. Or get energy involved in attack/defense mechanics. (Maybe that's what you were thinking when you said that energy isn't handled correctly for attack cells?)
My biggest UI gripe: Once an action has been assigned, it's impossible to tell what that action was, and my memory is crummy. Once the board gets full enough, it becomes hard to remember which cell is assigned to do what.
One closing thought (after playing it for a full hour), even once one player has a clear advantage, the losing player seems to be able to make it tedious for the winner to actually win. As far as I can tell thus far, there's no "tipping point" at which the obvious winner can steamroll the other side and quickly mop up. Being able to do so is typically a good quality to have in a competitive strategy game.
I would like a tutorial with more explanations on how it works.
I'll definitely try it with 4 players.
Great job!