Snapping tendons

Basic patterns:

  • Network growth is slow and beginning a spur commits the player for 2-3 turns as a failure to extend an incomplete link on a turn looses the spur
    • Network occurs on a penrose mesh
    • Growth spreads from central hub
  • Reaching previously untouched nodes rewards money when the spur is terminated at a colony (cf Through the Desert tokens)
  • Colonies (which are placed on nodes) cost both money and an entire turn to purchase, plus an action to place
    • Ergo colonies are purchased on spec and then placed as/when advantageous
  • Like networks, colonies are owned by the constructing player
  • Colonies can be upgraded/scaled by any connected player
    • The upgrader owns the big colony, the original builder the inner hub
    • Size of colony limited by number of connected colours
  • There are placement distance rules for different size colonies
  • Colonies may contain factories
  • Factories are either original producers (no inputs) or require input supplies before production.
    • Three base factory types (no inputs)
    • Three secondary factory types (requires two different-type base-type inputs)
    • One terminal-type factory (requires two different-type secondary-type inputs)
  • Factories cost money to buy and an action to place
  • A factory may not be built on a colony which contains a factory which accepts that product as either an input or an ouput
  • Factories come in 3 size scalings, each requiring a bigger host colony
  • Size 3 factories cause all size 1 factories to rust
  • Between network manipulation rounds players produce on their factories and feed their goods across the network to other factories etc in production chains
    • Money is paid for sold goods, network use etc.
    • Long term commitments (eg factory hosting on colonies are represented by promissory notes issued by factory owners (pay $X to bearer every round)
    • Promissory notes may be traded collapsed in standard logical reduction fashion
  • Factory goods have a small 18XX-esque market
    • Goods which can’t be consumed drive prices down
    • Goods which are fully consumed drive prices up
    • The ranges are fairly small(?)
  • Game is ended based on factory construction (N rounds with size 3 terminal factory) or bank breaking
    • End game score is cash
    • Promissory notes are worth cash at some exchange rate

Getting the costs/values right will be interesting.