Aether Captains - triad

a while back i placed an artscow order and did not have enough cards in it to fill the 54 card deck, i found 'weilong' and a few other things to add in but it made me think a bit about artscow pricing and the fact there aren't many filler games people can add to fill out an artscow deck.

last weekend i stumbled on this idea. make one 54 card deck with multiple games in it

Aether Captains: Triad will have 3 games, all using cards and the same additional components (5d6 and 24 eurocubes in each of 2 colors).

things i wanted to achieve with the games:

1. they use components people already have from building my other games, this way there is more incentive to craft them. as well, they share common components so one small box has everything you'll need for 3 games
2. games are compact (not quite take on a plane size but small enough to carry)
3. primarily designed as 2 player games
4. explore some mechanics i've not yet designed games for
5. see just how many games i can pack into one deck of 54 cards
6. rules are contained within the card deck as well
7. the cards should function as cards, the game board, and all player aids

and as it turns out i think it worked extremely well. i am playtesting it now and rules checking as i go but they are close to being solid

the 3 games are:


Intrigue: a 2 player game of influence/area control building on Jessey's idea of the Grand Council. this game is similar to Web of Power but different in a few main ways. i've only played this so far, one handed, but there seems to have some devious little bits of strategy built into it. in the game you play cards to place influence brokers on each of the city states of Arkady. there are 2 rounds of scoring. the game takes up 27 cards, including the 2 sided rule card. you'll need 24 eurocubes per player

Zeppelin Derby: a 2 player racing game. this is more a fast fluff game, with some push you luck dice action. the game takes up 14 cards including a rule card. you'll need 5d6 and 2 eurocubes to play

Celinian Trader: a 1 or 2 player pick up and deliver game, similar to Hansa. in this game you play traders flying the trade route around the Celinian Sea, buying and selling copper, glass, linen and coal at the various towns. i figured out how to represent 4 types of resources with only 1 color eurocube. you have cargo holds similar to those in Puerto Rico. there are also some random events to contend with which automatically move the game along into its different rounds and a trade marker where prices change round to round also; so strategy has to shift. you can additionally buy some ship upgrades with gold. winner has the most VP. my first foray into this type of game. the game takes up the remaining 13 cards in the deck, you'll need 5d6 and 15 eurocubes per player.

i am really happy with how the 2 maps came out that you build from cards. i've not really seen anyone do this yet, nor pack several games into one deck.

all in all the game should be very affordable for those wanting to go the artscow route.