Game: Elementalis

Thread: ElementaliS Expansion Set Released!

rkalajian — 2008-09-10T01:17:03+00:00

The ElementaliS Expansion Set is now available at the Tremorworks website. The set includes all 3 ElementaliS expansions, plus a full color version of the latest rules. This is a expansion has been printed in a limited run of 100, with only a handful of the sets available from the website. Our distributor (Key 20) should be getting the sets within the next week and they should head into distribution shortly after that. The rules and cards are packaged in a resealable bag, which conveniently fits the box of the original game. The Expansion Set is priced at $9.95, or can be purchased from the Tremorworks website in a bundle with ElementaliS for $19.95.

Links:
http://tremorworks.com/2008/09/09/elementalis-expansion-set-...
http://tremorworks.com/store/board-games/
http://tremorworks.com/store/web-only-specials/

Thread: Re: A way to stop obnoxious declarers.

rkalajian — 2008-07-26T14:26:02+00:00

I would love to hear other players' opinions on this. The way I've been playing as of late is to just go around the table and if a player wants to cast, they do, then move on to the next.

It speeds up play a bit.

Thread: A way to stop obnoxious declarers.

referee — 2008-07-26T12:22:01+00:00

Maybe. I haven't had the chance of testing this, but I think it should work.

The change would be adding a cost to an unfulfilled declaration. What I have in mind (would have to check if it needs to be fine-tuned) is a rule like "If a player declares he's going to cast a spell, and then casts none, he must lose one mana of his choice to the flux". Tematically, one could say that the mage's been charging energy to cast a spell, and then that energy has to be released safely when no spell is cast, and some of the mana is spent with that.

What do you think?

Thread: Re: Printed Expansions

rkalajian — 2008-07-08T22:32:09+00:00

We're really pushing for September. I MAY have a few in time for Connecticon, and if there's any left over I'll post here for anyone who's interested.

Thread: Re: Printed Expansions

Sneezy96 — 2008-07-08T22:11:02+00:00

Hi Robert,

Any idea on a timeframe for this, yet???

Thread: Re: Printed Expansions

rkalajian — 2008-07-08T11:47:30+00:00

OK! Here's some news.

We're calling it the ElementaliS Expansion Pack. The cover looks like this:

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It will contain Creationists and Elitists, Chaotica and Cultists, and Guardians and Luminaries. It will also contain the ElementaliS 2.0 rules, which will most likely be the last rules update. The rules will be printed in full color, layed out much nicer than the previous printed rules, and will be sized to fit in the original box.

Actually, everything will fit in the original box.

Because of printing expenses, we'll be looking at $9.99 for the pack, which will come in shrinkwrap.

Of course, all the expansions will remain free to print and play.

Thread: Re: Printed Expansions

Sneezy96 — 2008-06-28T16:35:49+00:00

I am definately interested too!!!!

Thread: Re: Printed Expansions

rkalajian — 2008-05-16T01:25:32+00:00

Sean is finishing up the Moon Arcana cards now and then we'll be pricing out the package. We're hoping to keep the price low, and from what it sounds like, we may actually be able to do this.

More info soon.

Thread: Re: Printed Expansions

briand — 2008-05-11T19:03:27+00:00

I'm interested.

Thread: Re: Printed Expansions

Kisa — 2008-05-11T18:11:00+00:00

I would buy a copy.

Thread: Re: Printed Expansions

thniff — 2008-04-11T21:03:13+00:00

I'd be in.

Thread: Printed Expansions

rkalajian — 2008-04-11T20:36:44+00:00

Just tossing this out there?

How many of you would be interested in a printed version of the expansions?

Right now we'd be looking at a set of all three (the current two, plus the next one) expansions plus a updated, printed rule-book. Everything would fit into the ElementaliS box.

We're looking to keep the cost of around $5, but it's still too early to tell.

If there's enough interest we'll see what comes of it.

Thread: Re: Spells Questions

rkalajian — 2008-02-27T15:35:54+00:00

Mark,

Glad you're enjoying the game! Just as a quick note, spell clarifications are officially coming soon!

Let's go through these 1 by 1.

Mirror Pool - Effect only lasts for the current roll, not the whole turn.

Counter Spell - The base cost of the spell is what needs to be payed, unless you're a Harmonists, who always pays +1 for spells. Water Purists would pay the base cost as Counter Spell isn't really considered a Level 3 spell. This spell does not need to be declared.

Incinerate - You can target Mana in the pool or channel. This can be nasty and can be used to force a player into Opposition. As far as timing, follow this flow:

Roll
Spells
Score

Earth Link - It goes into your channel. Once a link is cast is lasts until the end of the round unless destroyed. You are not subject to Opposition or any other negative effects of another player's roll that you're linked to.

Breeze and Gust - Correct

Tornado - Another nasty spell. This can be cast on the Pool or Channel. This spell only effects one player.

Hope this helps!

-Robert

Thread: Spells Questions

Coyote13 — 2008-02-27T07:25:55+00:00

Robert,

My family is enjoying your game, but we could really use some clarification on how some (most) of the spells work. Some of these questions are also because I intend to introduce this game to my local gaming group, where there are people who will try to push the rules to their breaking point.

Water
Mirror Pool -- Does this effect last only for the duration of the current roll or until the end of the turn? If I cast it during the Power Roll will the new die still be around for the Chance Roll? If so, does it remain with the face side it had during the Power Roll or does it take the new face side of the physical die that was duplicated?

Counter Spell -- Is the referenced "cost" the base cost of the spell or is it equal to the actual Mana spent on the casting? In other words, if I am a Water Elementalist and a Fire Purist casts Incinerate on me does it cost me 3 or 2 Mana to Counter it? Also, is this cost reduced by being a Water Purist? Is there a minimum cost for a Water Purist to Counter a cost 1 spell? Also am I correct in assuming that this spell violates the spell timing rules in that it does not need to be declared and can be cast after another spell has been declared and paid for regardless of turn order?

Fire
Incinerate -- Can Incinerate only target Mana in a player's pool or can it also target the Channel? This also raises the question of spell timing after the Cosmic Roll: If I have to give Mana to another player as the result of the Cosmic Roll, does this happen immediately (before spells) or at the same time I collect Mana from the Channel (after spells)?

Earth
Earth Link -- Does the Mana I score from an Earth Link go into the Channel (where the active player could hand it out as part of a Cosmic Roll penalty) or does it go to a private Channel that only I can touch? Can I opt out of the link early? Am I subject to Elemental Opposition if my Channel ends up empty?

Air
Breeze and Gust -- Is it correct that these powers have no effect on a die that has been Charred, Burned, Petrified or Tremored?

Tornado -- As with Incinerate, can this only target Mana in a player's pool? Also, this spell does not specify: does it affect only one player or is it any combination of players?

Thank you for your time and thanks again for a really fun game.

Thread: Re: Does mage type change when Cosmic Roll causes a Arcana to shift?

rkalajian — 2008-02-21T22:28:40+00:00

Yes, currently Mage types change if Arcana shift.

I've actually thinking about removing the weird Arcana swapping, as some people don't seem to like it much.

What does your group think of it?

We'll see what happens in the next version of the rules

Thread: Does mage type change when Cosmic Roll causes a Arcana to shift?

Kisa — 2008-02-21T20:35:03+00:00

Does the type of mage a player is playing change from their starting type if Arcana cards change ownership during the Cosimic Roll phase? It would be rare for this to happen given the rolls required. However because the result of this occurance is not explicit in the rules I wanted to ask.

It seems like players mage types would alter to reflect whatever combination of Major Arcana and Minor Arcana cards they currently have in front of them. Thematically it could be seen as a shift deep in the flux that alters those with a strong connect to the Elements.

This interpretation would be consistant with how the power of a Chaos Elder God's choice of Major Arcana alters how they score.

Thank you,

Kisa

Thread: Quick Follow up to ElementaliS in Depth

rkalajian — 2008-02-14T21:01:10+00:00

Just some notes on the last two expansions I have planned for the game. You can read about them here at my blog.

Thread: Re: Video Tutorials

Sneezy96 — 2008-02-14T05:15:03+00:00

No problem. Thanks for responding...

Thread: Re: Duplicate Die?

thelivekennedy — 2008-02-13T18:21:13+00:00

This still opens up a lot of questions for me:
a)How long does the "duplicate" die last? Is it just until these results are scored or until the end of the round? If you duplicated after the Power roll, and then take a Chance Roll, are you rolling an extra die?
b)If I Petrify a die and then Mirror it, is the new die also petrified?

Thread: New Expansion: Chaotica and Cultists

rkalajian — 2008-02-13T18:06:59+00:00

Just figured I'd drop a note here saying I've released the second free expansion to Elementalis.

Head on over to http://tremorworks.com/elementalis and snag it.

It adds Sun Arcana cards and two new Mage types. The Chaotica are strong buggers, while Cultists can reroll the sun die once per Power, Chance, and Cosmic roll.

Enjoy!

Thread: Re: Video Tutorials

rkalajian — 2008-02-12T11:13:03+00:00

Unfortunately, I never did.

Still been meaning to do some...even have some raw video on my Desktop.

I will do my best to get this out to the public.

Thread: Re: Video Tutorials

Sneezy96 — 2008-02-12T06:27:04+00:00

Hi,

I just ordered a copy of this game. Did you ever create the video tutorials??? If yes, can you provide a link to them???

Thank you!

Thread: A quick game with immense player interaction

KakarisMaelstrom — 2007-10-11T12:39:29+00:00

Summary

I'm always interested in games that average joe players can pick up quickly and have a good time with. Elementalis hits this mark perfectly and has virtually no downtime.

Please note that the reviewer was also a playtester and did do a major rewrite on the rules (which introduced spells and the different types of wizards) but had not thought about the game for over a year. Having just recently seen the final production copy, it is "all but" picking up the game brand new.

Component Quality

The components for the game are well-produced. The box is sturdy and has an insert which ensures that the components aren't flopping around in the box.

There are not nearly enough counters if the players are not casting spells aggressively.

One disappointment I had with the game was there are gigantic cards included which list the spells available to you. It would have been very nice if a basic summary of the spells were printed on the card. With that much space you may not be able to get the entire wording of the spell on there but something like "Mirror Pool" is as simple as "Duplicate the results of one die" and it is enough of a reminder that players won't need to reference the rulebook repeatedly. In addition, I kept fielding questions about "how much does X spell cost?" No matter how many times I said "the 1st spell costs 1, the 2nd spell costs 2" the question kept coming up.

Rules

Despite my concerns about the card, the rules are not that hard to understand. The hardest part to grasp is all the different types of wizards, since the players can select to be any one of three, along with choosing their elements.

After a read-through and a couple mock turns, it was very clear how to interpret the rolls. Figuring out how spells fit into the whole picture was a little tricky. We started out running them like the MTG "stack" first one who casts is at the bottom of the stack.... but after a second readthrough on the rules, heck, they even explained that. The active player always has priority.

The rules could have more graphic examples to explain things... but even with text alone, it was not hard to figure the game out. That always makes me happy.

Gameplay

The basic gameplay is:

1. One player picks up the dice. They roll and interpret results.
2. They can push to increase their results, at some additional risk.
3. And finally, they can push once more, although the final roll is incredibly risky with little chance for gain. (One might call it a desperation roll.)

Part of the fun is interpreting all of the symbols and figuring out what they mean to your wizard. For example, if I'm a fire/air elementalist, I take all my fire dice, group them up. All the air dice, group them up. Then I put my ether dice next to either the fire or air (depending on which I need more mana for). But then the bad part... water dice take away my fire dice (they extinguish). Then the earth dice block my air dice.

There's something basic and primal about the elements... and so even just sorting through the results is fun.

But if you're playing a big game and watching all the players roll dice repeatedly, you very quickly realize that the game has huge downtime. That's where spells come in.

Spells as a Part of Gameplay

Spells can be cast at any point. Thusly, the best players in Elementalis are going to have their eyes glued to the rolls. A fire player, for example, can "Char" away dice away a roll. He can cast each spell once during each player's phase. Every player will have 4 spells available to them and each plays absolutely uniquely. The spells really make things interesting.

The other really awesome thing about spells is they are very true to their elements and even work into the trump.... for example:

Earth is all about holding results into place. So, for example, you get a die with 2 Earth as a result in the first roll. So you "Petrify" it so you can get the same result in the second roll.

Fire, however, is a trump for Earth. They can "Char" away that die.

And while Fire can destroy dice.... Water is able to duplicate them. And since the active player's spells are cast first... fire's attempts to destroy my dice fail because I'm duplicating the die and protecting myself.

Another good example is Air... you can force a player to reroll their dice. This is great way to "evaporate" water's results... but when you try that same trick on Earth, they will "Petrify" the key dice... and they are unaffected by air's trickery.

I can't say enough good things about how the elemental trumps are in play in the spells, even without an awkward mechanic like "Air must pay 1 additional mana to play on Earth, because Earth trumps Air." This is the main reason I want to try Elementalis again and again.

Game Balance

I gotta admit that I have no idea whatsoever whether this game is "balanced" or not. But, because of the nature of the game, luck plays a major factor. The luck balances the game because a player will stop at roll 1 if they've produced a lot of tokens. The spells allow players to pull each other down when they get too good of results.

In the few plays we've had, I was unable to detect a strategy that simply said "This works so well, there is no reason to do anything else." That said, they are times where casting a spell seems pretty obvious. For example, as a Fire player, if I see someone get a 2 Earth result... I clearly want to cast "Char" to destroy that die. I pay one mana to deny my opponent 2.

But.... because there are multiple rolls, it's hard to say whether casting most spells is overall beneficial in the long run. To put that into perspective, Fire also includes a spell called "Burn" which removes one of the die from being rolled whatsoever, before any rolls are made. So you might burn one of their dice that has 2 positive elements away. But, there is only a 1 in 6 chance they would have produced that result. Is it worth it? You tell me. The effect is largely psychological because your opponent starts questioning whether taking the second roll is worth it at all.

I'd conclude that the game is "balanced enough" but your mileage may vary on this one.

Conclusion

Elementalis is a game that will hit our table regularly, largely because it take only a couple minutes to play an entire game. When gameplay is so fast, you only want to play it a couple times in a row, and any perceived flaws about gameplay or balance are quickly thrown out the window.

This game is light fare with immense player interaction. Its theme is about elements, which are universally interesting. Interpreting the dice rolls is a load of fun.

Other than some of my comments on the components, I would have to conclude "What's not to love?"

Thread: Re: Duplicate Die?

KakarisMaelstrom — 2007-10-09T12:24:45+00:00

It's post-roll. And so, in effect, you are duplicating the RESULT of the die. It is considered a die, though, so it can still be char'd away, forced to reroll, etc.

Thread: Looking for Playtesters

rkalajian — 2007-10-05T15:00:05+00:00

This call goes out to all those who already have a copy of Elementalis.

I'm looking for some playtesters to help with the next free expansion.

If you're interested, message me. I'll be gone for the next week, but when I get back I'll choose the testers and get you setup with an invite to 8apps, which I'll be using as the brainstorm environment.

-Robert

Thread: Re: Cosmic Roll Correction

rkalajian — 2007-09-21T12:52:24+00:00

The cosmic roll is meant to be a very risky and chaotic roll.

I usually only take mine if I'm in dire straights (or I'm teaching someone to play. I always feel I should take all my rolls when doing that).

Thread: Re: Cosmic Roll Correction

Chris Dorrell — 2007-09-19T20:43:09+00:00

OK so now I have:-

- a 1 in 6 chance of getting 3 Mana
- a 3 in 6 chance of losing 1 Mana (in a 4 player game)
- a 1 in 6 chance of losing ALL my Mana
- a 1 in 6 chance of doing the Ether stuff

I still can't see why I would go for the Cosmic Roll when there's only 1 chance in 6 that I'll benefit, unless I only have 1 Mana in the channel or possibly if there are less than 4 players.

If the Ether result were to be treated as the active player's Major Element ie. gain 3 Mana, then that would make the Cosmic Roll more attractive (and simpler). We might try that.

Chris

Thread: Re: Cosmic Roll - Why bother?

latindog — 2007-09-16T14:57:33+00:00

Thanks for the clarification!

Thread: Cosmic Roll Correction

rkalajian — 2007-09-16T14:28:08+00:00

A corrected Cosmic Roll. Changes will appear in the 1.3 rules when they come out.

The Cosmic Roll is a chaotic roll where the player only rolls the Sun die. The outcomes of this roll are as follows:

If the roll comes up as the active player's Major element then 3 Mana of this type are added to the Channel. The player's turn ends and all Mana from the Channel is added to the player's Mana Pool. The Round Marker passes to the player on the left.

If the roll comes up as another player's Major element then the active player moves 1 Mana from the Channel to that player's Mana Pool. The player's turn ends, adding all Mana from the Channel to their Mana Pool. The Round Marker passes to the player on the left.

If the roll comes up as no one's Major element then the active player's turn ends and they move all Mana from the Channel into their Mana Pool.

If the roll comes up as the Sun then all Mana in the Channel is returned to the flux. The turn ends and the Round Marker passes to the player on the left.

If the roll comes up Ether then a final roll must be made on the Sun die. If the die lands on an Element then 3 Mana of that type is moved from the Flux to that player's Mana Pool. If the die lands on Ether then players trade their Minor Arcana card to the player on the left. If the die lands on Sun then the players trade their Major Arcana card to the left. The player's turn ends and all Mana is moved from the Channel to the player's Mana Pool. The Round Marker passes to the player on the left.

Thread: Re: Cosmic Roll - Why bother?

rkalajian — 2007-09-16T14:26:57+00:00

Here's the text from the upcoming 1.3 rules (I'm still sorting through the mess created when the game shipped with the wrong rules)

The Cosmic Roll is a chaotic roll where the player only rolls the Sun die. The outcomes of this roll are as follows:

If the roll comes up as the active player's Major element then 3 Mana of this type are added to the Channel. The player's turn ends and all Mana from the Channel is added to the player's Mana Pool. The Round Marker passes to the player on the left.

If the roll comes up as another player's Major element then the active player moves 1 Mana from the Channel to that player's Mana Pool. The player's turn ends, adding all Mana from the Channel to their Mana Pool. The Round Marker passes to the player on the left.

If the roll comes up as no one's Major element then the active player's turn ends and they move all Mana from the Channel into their Mana Pool.

If the roll comes up as the Sun then all Mana in the Channel is returned to the flux. The turn ends and the Round Marker passes to the player on the left.

If the roll comes up Ether then a final roll must be made on the Sun die. If the die lands on an Element then 3 Mana of that type is moved from the Flux to that player's Mana Pool. If the die lands on Ether then players trade their Minor Arcana card to the player on the left. If the die lands on Sun then the players trade their Major Arcana card to the left. The player's turn ends and all Mana is moved from the Channel to the player's Mana Pool. The Round Marker passes to the player on the left.

So a roll of Sun will clear the channel, and other elements only get 1 Mana.

The 1.3 rules will be released with the next free expansion, hopefully coming out around the end of September/ beginning of October. All the rule sets will be updated, including Creationists and Elitists.

I'll be compiling everything for the beginning of the new year, and a release of the 2.0 rules.

Thread: Re: Cosmic Roll - Why bother?

Chris Dorrell — 2007-09-15T09:58:02+00:00

Well spotted! I hadn't referred to the original rules. Maybe the "3 Mana" is a typo in the newer version.

Certainly a possible gain of 3 versus a possible loss of 1 seems more balanced. Feedback from Robert (the designer) would be good but I think we'll try playing the Cosmic Roll as per the original rules.

Chris

Thread: Re: Cosmic Roll - Why bother?

latindog — 2007-09-15T05:18:23+00:00

The revised rules seem to have this problem. My copy has rules that state that you only lose one mana to your opponent rather than three in this situation. You will, however, lose all the mana in the channel in the case of a sun roll. The sun roll no longer seems to hurt you.

I would like to hear the rational behind the changes because it just seems to make no sense to take the Cosmic roll any longer unless you're trailing the leader on the final turn.

Thread: Cosmic Roll - Why bother?

Chris Dorrell — 2007-09-11T08:05:30+00:00

Hi,

Unless I'm completely misunderstanding the Cosmic Roll rules, I can't see why a player would risk rolling this phase of a turn.

Let's assume there are four players, each with a different element as their Major Arcana.

In the Cosmic Roll you just roll the Sun Dice which has the 4 Elements, Ether and the Sun making up its six sides.

If the roll comes up as the active player's Major Element he/she adds 3 Mana to the channel but if it comes up as another player's Major Element the player loses 3 Mana to that players Mana Pool!

So a 1 in 6 chance of winning 3 Mana and a 3 in 6 chance of losing 3 Mana you've worked hard to win.

The only time I can see this roll being worth the risk is if you have less than 3 Mana on the channel as you can only lose what's in the channel and no more - so maybe that's what the designer intends?

Any thoughts? - Are we playing correctly?

Chris

Thread: Re: Earth Link?

kimbo — 2007-09-07T03:31:58+00:00

Okay. I understand now.

Thanks.

Thread: Re: Duplicate Die?

kimbo — 2007-09-07T03:30:08+00:00

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what is meant by duplicate...

My first thought was that a duplicated die would be another die that could be rolled in future rolls. So I was wondering how that die would be represented.

Now I'm thinking that when the spell is cast a single die is duplicated and the duplicated die only lasts until scoring is complete then, poof! it disappears. Is that how it works?

Thanks for the prompt response to my questions.

Thread: Re: Changes in the v1.2 rules?

rkalajian — 2007-09-06T13:21:59+00:00

The update file has been submitted to BGG, awaiting approval.

Thread: Re: Earth Link?

rkalajian — 2007-09-06T00:51:51+00:00

You'd both score on the roll.

The player who rolls would score as normal, and you'd score like you'd normally score.

Their roll cannot put you into opposition though.

Thread: Re: Duplicate Die?

rkalajian — 2007-09-06T00:50:36+00:00

Basically you'd duplicate a roll, and it's treated as a new die.

If you were to duplicate a water roll, you'd get two water, but one could be destroyed as if it was it's own die.

Am I making any sense?

Thread: Re: Changes in the v1.2 rules?

rkalajian — 2007-09-06T00:49:40+00:00

No it's not! Must have been my mistake to remove that. I'll make sure to get an updated file up.

Thread: Earth Link?

kimbo — 2007-09-05T18:32:17+00:00

How this spell is used is not clear to me. From other Q & A it appears that only positive additional mana are gained, not negatives. I don't get this from the phrase "you may score like you'd normally score." To me, this means score the other players roll as if you had rolled it. That would include negatives as well as positives. "May" means, in this case, I choose to score the roll or not.

Another question. Does Earth Link effect the target players score? In other words, is my scoring his roll in addition to his scoring the roll or in place of, his scoring the roll?

Thanks for the clarification!

-- Kimbo

Thread: Changes in the v1.2 rules?

kimbo — 2007-09-05T18:09:14+00:00

In the version 1.2 rules, players no longer start with any mana? Is this correct?

Thread: Duplicate Die?

kimbo — 2007-09-05T17:58:47+00:00

The Spell Mirror Pool: "Duplicate a die. Treat the duplicate as if a new die were in play."

Huh? Maybe this is obvious, but I don't get it. To me, this means I should add another die to the table. But since I don't have any additional ElementaliS dice, the new die has to be a "virtual" die. How do I roll a virtual die? How do I keep track of a virtual die?

Maybe I'm just being dense. Can I get an example of how this works?

Thanks!

Thread: Elementalis in Depth: Part 3 - The Future

rkalajian — 2007-04-22T15:17:57+00:00

Last part of the In Depth series is up.

http://rck2bg.blogspot.com/2007/04/elementalis-in-depth-part...

Thread: Elementalis in Depth: Part 2 - The Design

rkalajian — 2007-04-18T12:55:30+00:00

So here's the second part of my Elementalis in Depth series.

I've made some changes to how I plan to finish this series, and here they are:

Part 1 is about what you get in the box.

Part 2 is about the design

Part 3 will be about Elementalis's future, including information on the GenCon expansion.

A follow up article will be about some things I'm working on and testing now that will follow up up Elementalis.

Here's the post:
http://rck2bg.blogspot.com/2007/04/elementalis-in-depth-part...

Thread: Re: Elementalis In Depth: Part 1 - The Stuff

rkalajian — 2007-04-18T12:11:41+00:00

The second part is coming real soon. It's still in draft, and VERY long. I'm trying to cut it down a bit now.

Thread: Re: Elementalis In Depth: Part 1 - The Stuff

steveoliverc — 2007-04-17T17:30:10+00:00

Please let us know when you post the other parts.

Thread: Elementalis In Depth: Part 1 - The Stuff

rkalajian — 2007-04-10T16:23:46+00:00

Part 1 in a 4 part series where I talk about Elementalis in depth.

Part 1 is about what you get in the box.

Part 2 will be about gameplay

Part 3 will be about the design

Part 4 will be about Elementalis's future, including information on the GenCon expansion.

http://rck2bg.blogspot.com/2007/04/elementalis-in-depth-part...

Thread: ElementaliS: Purist's Show

rkalajian — 2007-03-21T17:46:27+00:00

A beginner's game of Elementalis where players only play as Purists. A good way to get the feel of the game without worrying about each player scoring differently.

The file should be posted to the game page soon. For now you can get it here: http://elementalis.tremorworks.com/downloads/ElementaliS_Pur...

Right now the rules are based off the ElementaliS v1.2 rules.

Thread: Rollin' fun

alphawolf74 — 2007-03-12T14:57:33+00:00

Hello,

I thought I would give you a quickie review of this game. First off, the game comes well packaged. The box is sturdy, and should last for several years. The dice look good, and the symbols, though not elaborate, are very pleasing, especially during gameplay. The counters are nice, but a little limited (I'll go more into this later).

I have played this game with both a single, and multiple opponents. Gameplay is simple. You choose the type of wizard you are going to be, as well as the elements that you will control. On your turn you roll the dice. Depending on the type of wizard you are, you score points based on the symbols that come up (both positive and negative points are possible). This score represents the amount and type of mana that goes into an area called the channel. I like that the initial dice roll is just the start. After this roll, if you have a positive score, you can go for a chance roll, and if successful, and brave, you can go for a further cosmic roll. The game blends a good combination fo luck and strategy (not skill, really). You are trying to have the most mana at the end of 6 turns, so your choices are dictated as much by the scores as the probabilities.

A single opponent game plays very differently from a multiple opponent game. With one opponent, there are fewer situations where you will feel the need to do all three rolls in a turn. With nultiple opponents I find that you do this far more often. I also will warn you that with multiple players it is very likely that you will run out of some of the counters. I feel there should have been about 50% more counters than received. To be honest, though, this could be because we were not casting spells as we could (Did I forget to mention that you can cast spells that affect dice results and mana flow?)

Overall I find that the game is a lot of fun. It is not a "heavy" game, and for that I am glad. It is a bit of simple fun that has nuances that I am sure haven't been discovered yet. I haven't even fully investigated the spell casting component of the game.

Pros: Quick, fun, portable
Cons: Too few counters (in my opinion), some people may not like the chance nature of the dice.

I will post more when I think of it.

Jason

Thread: Flux tapping

rkalajian — 2007-03-05T13:45:19+00:00

Just a quick little thing for people to test.

Currently, in testing some new expansion ideas I've had, I've been playing around with the idea of a Flux Tap (Maybe a better name later on?)

Basically a Flux Tap would allow a player, at the start of their turn, to take 1 Mana of their Major Arcana from the Flux and put it into their Mana Pool if they have absolutely no Mana in their pool at that time.

A Flux Tap must be declared, and the Mana taken, BEFORE they roll the dice. If not then they lose the opportunity to take advantage of the Tap.

So far I've rarely seen it happen, but it has on occasion. If anyone out there wants to test with their game and let me know how it goes, it may just end up in the expansion I have lined up for Gen-Con.

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rkalajian — 2007-01-29T13:09:09+00:00

Elementalis Press Kit Image

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SwedeLad — 2006-12-23T23:43:45+00:00

Back of the major elemenhtal magic cards, showing spells for each.

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SwedeLad — 2006-12-23T15:04:35+00:00

Front of the major elemental magic cards.

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SwedeLad — 2006-12-23T15:04:23+00:00

Unpunched mana counters.

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SwedeLad — 2006-12-23T15:04:15+00:00

Back of the box.

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SwedeLad — 2006-12-23T15:03:46+00:00

Box cover of Elementalis

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rkalajian — 2006-10-13T17:02:58+00:00

The Game....and the Designer.

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rkalajian — 2006-06-16T13:51:46+00:00

Everything layed out nice.

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rkalajian — 2006-06-16T13:14:49+00:00

All Components

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rkalajian — 2006-06-06T16:24:14+00:00

Elementalis Production Proof