Axlotl's making a new card game.

[Axlotl]

I'm making a card game, in case you haven't figured that out from the title. The rules are entirely my own design. It is NOT a CCG, its a standalone card game, with a pre-built deck, but could reasonably expand into a CCG. I will be bringing a site devoted to this game online shortly. I've been wanting to create a card game entirely of my own design for a while now, and after many attempts, I've finally built rules that, in preliminary testing, work great.

This is based on a previously existing property, and the rules are built to fit that property, as opposed to most of my other attempts, which where designed game-play first, and designed as CCGs, with deep strategy in mind. Those always had fatal flaws. This game, is a simpler game, made to play for fun with a group of friends.

I took a while, looking around and thinking and brainstorming about things I like, trying to get that spark of an idea to go off, and this is what I got.

I actually started this a while ago, then abandoned it do to a fatal flaw in the gameplay. But i had a moment of inspiration, and went back, and redid the original, removing maybe 75% of the rules and adding lots of new ones.

I'm basing this card game on the original Jurassic Park movie.

Of course, like any of my projects, it could suddenly and abruptly disappear entirely.

[Axlotl]

jpcg.110mb.com/

[mrdomino]

Looks very, very cool. I look forward to playing it.

[Cplwilks]

Very nice Axlotl, looks intriguing!

Very strange as I had a whole Dinosaur/Lost World Style Card Game I was designing several (about 10..) years ago.

Everyone likes Dinosaurs #cheesy#

[Axlotl]

Updated with an early version of a different card template, obviously inspired by AVP events.

[Axlotl]

Added a poll to the page to gather data on competing templates, votes are greatly appreciated.

[Axlotl]

The images are done, with the exception of quotes on 3/4 of the cards. I still want to playtest some more before releasing the game, however.

[Axlotl]

Here are examples of finished cards using the 3 templates in the game. In order, an Asset card, a Dinosaur card, and an Obstacle card. What do you guys think of the templates?

[mrdomino]

Very nice templates, and I'm loving the stills you've used so far. However, on Nedry I definitely feel he should be a double-edged sword. Something like adding 'on a roll of 6, you lose $1 and your opponent gains $1'. Also, what's with the chump change? And shouldn't assets and obstacles have some kind of costs? Maybe they work fine without it, idk, it just seems like it would make more sense that way.

[Axlotl]

I originally intended for assets to have a Revenue cost, but didn't add it during testing, and haven't added it now. Its something I'm still thinking about.

In this situation with Nedry, he's loyal to you, and cheating over competitors. Its like your Dodgson, the guy in the movie who paid him to steal embryos, he works for you, and he goes into other parks and steals DNA.

I could have gave the Revenue system more realistic numbers, like say 1 million $ instead of 1, but that gets more confusing in game terms. Its best to stick with the lowest common denominator for numbers, or else you end up like pokemon or yugioh. The $ symbol does not mean dollar. Its in-game shorthand for "Revenue", which is both the cost for cards and the win condition. I picked that term because its not specific, and i like the sound. 2 Revenue could be anything. 2 dollars or 2 million dollars.

[Axlotl]

jpcg.110mb.com/index.php?p=1_2 all card images online

[mrdomino]

Very cool. I await the rules. Also, a card back would be nice, as I plan on printing these out at some point. Very nice work. Once again, you inspire lesser men, Axl.

[mrdomino]

Have you finished the rules yet, by any chance? I made a card back. The border is a bit thinner than on the other side of the cards, but I thought it looked a bit better this way.

[Axlotl]

That is a pretty good card back. And no, I haven't got around to the rules, it slipped my mind a bit with all the halo ccg work recently. I'll work on a rough version to get online tonight maybe.

[Axlotl]

Hey, let me know how these instructions work for you, they're kind of an alpha version of the instructions for the site. Let me know of any spelling/grammar errors that bother you, or rules questions. I'm not posting them on the site yet, I'll let you take a crack at them first, if you want, so I can get an idea of any needed changes. Without further ado:

Game terms will be capitalized.

The goal of the game is to be the first person to get to 30 Revenue. Cards will have a $ sign as an abbreviation for Revenue. Revenue is a number representing park funds. Players will alternate turns until a player reaches 30 Revenue. Each player begins the game with 12 Revenue. In order to Clone Dinosaurs, Revenue must be spent.

The Deck is 70 cards, shared by all players. All players also share a discard pile. Each player begins the game with a hand of 5 cards. The play area in front of each player, where their cards are mostly played to, is called the Park. Each player has a Park. Some cards are played to other players Parks.

Jurassic Park has 3 card types: Dinosaur, Asset and Obstacle.

Dinosaur cards have a green background and have 5 attributes: Rarity, Fame, Security, Ferocity, and Health. Dinosaur cards stay in play once Cloned. Dinosaurs have a text box which has a constant effect on the game, and lists the diet (Carnivore or Herbivore).
Rarity is the cost to Clone the Dinosaur. (6 Rarity means it costs 6 Revenue to Clone the Dinosaur.)
Fame is how much Revenue the Dinosaur generates for you on each turn. (3 Fame means that each turn, if the Dinosaur does not Break Out, you will gain 3 Revenue.)
Security is the chance a Dinosaur has of Breaking Out. (When a Security Check is made, a six-sided die is rolled, if the roll is not higher than the Dinosaur’s Security, it Breaks Out.)
Ferocity is how much damage the Dinosaur will cause if it Breaks Out. (When a Dinosaur Breaks Out, you lose Revenue equal to that Dinosaur’s Ferocity.)
Health is the condition of the Dinosaur. Dinosaurs can be injured by violent action or poisoned food. If a Dinosaur takes damage equal to its Health, it is discarded.

Asset cards have a red background and remain in play indefinitely unless otherwise specified. There are 3 kinds of Assets. Action Assets will have the word ACTION: at the start of their text. These Assets are activated during the Action Phase. Reaction Assets will have card text beginning with the word REACTION. The usage of these cards is determined by their text, they are usually done as soon as the situation applies. The third kind of Asset is a Static Asset. These have no capitalized word at the start of their text; their card text is always in effect.

The final card type is Obstacle, which has a yellow and black background. You get to play one Obstacle during the Obstacle phase, after which it is usually discarded. Some Obstacle’s card text begins with the word Permanent. These Obstacles remain in play until their text specifies otherwise. Some Obstacles have the word Repairable in their text. These obstacles can be discarded by certain, specific, card effects.

How to play the game.
Shuffle the deck of 70 cards and place it in the middle of the play area. Randomly select which gets the first turn. Each player then draws a hand of 5 cards from the deck. Each player gets 12 Revenue. You may track this with dice or a pad of paper.

Turn Order:
Draw Phase: The active player (player which is taking their turn) draws 2 cards.

Asset Phase: The active player plays any one Asset card from their hand. It takes effect immediately.

Action Phase: The active player gets to use 1 ACTION ability on a card in play in their Park. (ACTIONs are mostly found on Asset cards. Some Obstacles have ACTIONs that the active player can use to cancel them.

Obstacle Phase: The active player can play an Obstacle against any opponent. Its effect resolves immediately.

Tour Phase: The Park is open for business and has guests. To begin with, roll a Security Check (six-sided die roll compared to Security, a number lower than or equal to the Security rating causes a Break Out) for each Dinosaur in your Park. If any Break Out, they cause damage around the Park, causing you to lose Revenue equal to their Ferocity. If the Security Check is a success, you gain Revenue equal to their Fame. Repeat for each Dinosaur in your Park, one at a time, until each Dinosaur has done this once. If necessary, you may turn Dinosaur cards 90 degrees to signify that they have done their Security Check for the turn.

Clone Phase: The active player can play any Dinosaur cards in their hand by paying Revenue equal to their Rarity. You may play (Clone) more than one Dinosaur card at this time.

End Phase: All End of Turn effects resolve in the active player’s choice of order.

The deck contents are as follows:
Brachiosaurus x2
Compsognathus x2
Dilophosaurus x2
Gallimimus x2
Parasaurolophus x2
Stegosaurus x2
Triceratops x1
Tyrannosaurus x1
Velociraptor x1
Alan Grant x1
Amber x2
Dennis Nedry x1
Donald Gennaro x1
Electrified Fences x2
Ellie Sattler x1
Emergency Repairs x1
Goat x2
Ian Malcolm x1
John Hammond x1
Lex and Tim Murphy x1
Ray Arnold x1
Reinforced Fences x2
Robert Muldoon x1
Tranq Gun x2
DNA Theft x3
Fences are Failing x2
Hurricane x1
Jammed Gun x1
No Endorsement x3
No-Show x3
Prion Disease x3
Rampage x2
Sabotage x3
Shocking Loss x1
Sick Dinosaur x1
Stampede x1
Testing the Fences x1
Vehicle Breakdown x2
Venomous Spit x1
West Indian Lilac x3
When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth x2
When you Gotta Go… x2

Rules Clarifications:

At any time during your turn, you may voluntarily choose to discard any Dinosaur or Asset in your park, as long as you are not playing or resolving a card at the same time.

Fences are Failing “turns off” Electrified Fences and Reinforced Fences. That is, those cards will no longer reduce Security Ratings, but they do remain in play. If Fences are Failing is later discarded, the previously inactive fences text applies again.

Testing the Fences works the same way. If an Electrified Fences is in play, the Testing the Fences does not add to the Security rating, but as soon as the effect of the Electrified Fences ends, do to the card being deactivated by Fences are Failing or the Electrified Fence being removed, the card takes effect once more.

You do not look at the opponents hand when discarding cards from No Endorsement.

No-Show doesn’t make a Dinosaur’s Fame 0, it just makes it so even though it has a Fame value higher than 0, is still does not add to your Revenue.