Game procedures and goal

Caveat: I am approaching topics quite randomly, depending on what I feel like posting on the day, so apologies if I jump out of sequence.

So I've gone into vague detail about some of the elements and features of the game, but you may be wondering "How do I play?" and "What is the goal of the game?". That is today's topic.

Playing Nine Worlds follows a common sequence not unlike many other card games.

Each player has a turn in which he will replenish his existing cards in play, draw one ore more cards, perform some actions, play cards and then conclude his turn. These procedures will be detailed in later articles, but here's a few concepts to begin with:

Upon game creation, a starting player is randomly determined, unless you are playing a special scenario that insists otherwise.

The starting player has Initiative. They may also referred to as the Active player, but there is an important difference. Another player will not become the active player until the previous player concludes his turn, but players can steal the initiative temporarily. Some cards and abilities can be used to gain initiative and thus perform another action. Upon resolving that action, the active player regains initiative.

When a player becomes the active player, or the game begins, that player performs his turn, in a number of phases:

1. Replenish

2. Gather

2. Action

4. Conclude

Note that Gather and Action are both marked sequence 2. They can be performed in any order, but Replenish is always first and Conclude is always last.

A summary of phases

Replenish

Replenish is the first phase of a turn. This phase refreshes all cards and elements a player control, before continuing with the turn to perform new actions.

Gather

The Gather phase allows a player to obtain new cards, new elements and other objects.

Action

The Action phase is used to play cards and abilities on existing cards in play.

Conclude

The final phase of a turn is Conclude. This phase cleans up any effects that only last for the duration.

These will all be discussed in much more detail in further posts.

What is the goal of the game?

Norse mythology, like many others, deals with cyclic destruction and resurrection. Armageddon, the battle of the end times.

In Nine Worlds, Ragnarok is the end of the world, followed its rebirth. At its most basic, this mirrors the end of the game, followed by the start of a new one. The goal of every player is to survive or circumvent Ragnarok. Only one player can win the game, so preventing the final battle is only worthwhile if you have a means to remove your opponents instead.

Nine Worlds is set in a more advanced culture than the typical Norse environment. Ragnarok is long overdue, surpressed by the Svartálfar, whom are a major antagonist to the players. These dark dwarves wield terrible magics and technology that is said to rival the gods and titans.