I'm skimming through games on Kickstarter via Kicktraq, and found, one after another, 4 KINGDOMS, then Foundations. It hit me that I could partially merge these 2 games together, using Foundations cards to help a group of players draw their map sections and cards ala 4 Kingdoms. Do you have any thoughts about using Foundations as a group map-building game (e.g., 4 people taking turns drawing one Foundation card) and contributing to the group's world map? This could also solve an issue: if a card can't be played they can pass for the time being and play it during a later round when someone has created the needed pre-conditions.
I'd love additional optional mini-ruleset for playing Foundations as non-solo-- with 2 to 4 people. Just thinking out loud...
I finally finished my full deck game of Foundations last night, and I must say I'm very impressed. I don't normally play solo games, but this just kept drawing me back in! I now have copious notes and maps for an entire world created with, what felt like, minimum effort.
The prompts are interesting, offer enough guidance to kickstart the creative process but without being overly proscriptive or controlling. During the whole game there was only one 'flub' whereby I drew an Ice Age card, naturally considered what might cause such a thing and settled on meteor impact, then drew the 'meteor impact' card.
Some of the later Diamond prompts ended up feeling a little samey, and a little vague, not having quite the dramatic impact of redrawing continents, but that may also have been me rushing to the end, as my game had been going some weeks by that point!
overall, I cannot recommend this game highly enough!
I've had a fun time with this so far. Quick question, how do we approach situations when a card is drawn that makes changes to settlements but we haven't drawn a card to place any settlements yet?
For example, early on I drew Ace Spade -> 6 Spade -> 4 Spade -> 10 Spade
Also noted that the King and Queen of Hearts appear to be non-magical, while the Jack of Hearts is magical.
But here I come back four days later, after playing through the entire deck of cards. This is by far one of the best mapmaking games I have ever played! The prompts are engaging, the flavor text is colorful and inspiring, and the questions I'm left with after each prompt are thought-provoking and help drive the world's [hi]story along. I'd attach the image, but it's too large (hope this link works). I love how each suit seemed to follow a particular theme, but I almost wish it were more clearly spelled out.
I certainly have some feedback after playing, and I'll sum it up before I begin by saying that - ultimately - I'm left wanting just a little bit more!
Starting with Ace of Spades already drawn feels like I'm robbed of the experience of randomization and drawing. Why not begin the game with a single landmass, and use the Ace as a prompt to create another? Apart from this card and THE DIVIDE, there were scarce opportunities to create more landmasses, and in hindsight I wish I would have drawn my starting continent larger.
As for what I mean when I say more:
I would love a little more guidance for things. Maybe it is deliberate, but the entire Diamonds suit seems to just say "choose a settlement/culture" etc, whereas other, earlier suits say "select at random" most of the time. As for randomness, it can be unwieldy to achieve in the 'late stage' of a map; guidance here like "choose a warrior society" rather than "choose a random culture" where appropriate could be neat, but I suppose also determinative.
When creating new species or cultures, I found it helpful to create a small table of traits, values, etc. that I could choose from any time I was prompted to make something new. Including such an appendix would be a very beneficial, but not needed, tool.
I loved that each Royal card had two distinct, but related, prompts and I'm left wishing that every card followed this format. It would be especially beneficial with the Spades suit where several of those cards are shuffled back into the deck.
After being instructed to take action by a prompt, I felt most engaged by cards that then had me "Choose One" from a list of options. Would be amazing if every prompt was like this!
I was left wishing the remaining three suits could be shuffled into the deck a little more quickly. As it stands, only one card in each suit has this effect. I feel like 1 or 2 more max; maybe some cards would add only Evens/Odds, or some cards could remove the same instead!
I LOVED the tiered events for the FIRST PEOPLES and ICE AGE cards. I wish every suit had at least one tiered event!
I would love more "to-do" items. There were several prompts that told you to take note of something and then address it when circumstances change (cards shuffled into the deck, magic returning, etc.). I'd love to see more prompts do this. Maybe even as a "Suggested Follow Up" item. I found it to be engaging to be given future instructions, as it made the history feel more alive. Like certain species and cultures were actually progressing toward something.
More clarification: the text is really damn good, but could use a little tweaking and revision. In many places, the First Peoples are called out specifically by prompts, whereas "a species" or "a people" are called out by others. It seems like most cards call out First Peoples, and by following the prompt to the letter, I was seeing a lot more interaction and growth of the species that had been designated as "First Peoples" than with any other.
My single, solitary gripe: the Ten of Clubs doesn't ask any questions, and it gives you a to-do item that resolves immediately, which felt kind of pointless: "The next time cards are added to the deck these border settlements [that you create with this card] may join the nation if you wish." But then you are prompted by the end of the card to shuffle diamonds into the deck, and so the settlements you build might as well have been a part of the nation in the first place (if you choose).
All in all, a fantastic game. I've told all my friends and they want me to shut up about it. Can't wait to play again!
Thanks so much for this wonderful feedback! I have made a note of all of it, and will address it when I sit down for an upcoming dev day in a couple weeks. I think there are still a few changes and tweaks to be made to make it perfect and so I’ll definitely consider what you’ve shared.
I am having fun going through this! but it would be easier if the cards were sorted by suit instead of rank.
It also seems like some of the spades cards impact settlements that do not exist. In my specific case, the first card I drew after the Ace of Spades was the Ten of Spades, which was difficult to interpret without groups already living there. Perhaps some cards should have extra details for how to handle if there's no living beings, or perhaps they just get reshuffled if there's no civilizations?
Either way, now I have to redraw my map due to the Two of Spades!
Thanks for the feedback! A previous version was sorted by suit, not number - but the majority of the feedback then was actually the opposite of what you’ve said, so I guess it’s hard to please everyone! I am going to work on some minor changes related to things coming up too early, so hopefully in the future other players won’t have the same problem!
Different strokes for different folks, I suppose! Now I am thinking to have the whole thing formatted so you could print-and-play it into a deck and just be done with the cross-reference.
What is the point of splitting up the deck into suits? It looks like all cards from all suits are included in the card index. Which deck do you draw from when it says to "draw a card"? The prompts look super inspiring but I don't know how they connect with the setup phase... is a page missing?
You draw from a single deck made up initially of just spades. At some stage you will reach a prompt which tells you to add more cards to that deck. This is explained on page 4: “Shuffle the remaining spades into a small deck with the ace on top. This is the prompt deck. Set aside other cards, they will be included in the deck at a later stage.”
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I'm skimming through games on Kickstarter via Kicktraq, and found, one after another, 4 KINGDOMS, then Foundations. It hit me that I could partially merge these 2 games together, using Foundations cards to help a group of players draw their map sections and cards ala 4 Kingdoms. Do you have any thoughts about using Foundations as a group map-building game (e.g., 4 people taking turns drawing one Foundation card) and contributing to the group's world map? This could also solve an issue: if a card can't be played they can pass for the time being and play it during a later round when someone has created the needed pre-conditions.
I'd love additional optional mini-ruleset for playing Foundations as non-solo-- with 2 to 4 people. Just thinking out loud...
Jay
I finally finished my full deck game of Foundations last night, and I must say I'm very impressed. I don't normally play solo games, but this just kept drawing me back in! I now have copious notes and maps for an entire world created with, what felt like, minimum effort.
The prompts are interesting, offer enough guidance to kickstart the creative process but without being overly proscriptive or controlling. During the whole game there was only one 'flub' whereby I drew an Ice Age card, naturally considered what might cause such a thing and settled on meteor impact, then drew the 'meteor impact' card.
Some of the later Diamond prompts ended up feeling a little samey, and a little vague, not having quite the dramatic impact of redrawing continents, but that may also have been me rushing to the end, as my game had been going some weeks by that point!
overall, I cannot recommend this game highly enough!
I've had a fun time with this so far. Quick question, how do we approach situations when a card is drawn that makes changes to settlements but we haven't drawn a card to place any settlements yet?
For example, early on I drew Ace Spade -> 6 Spade -> 4 Spade -> 10 Spade
Is the Heart suit omitted on purpose from the Royals setup described in paragraph two, page 4?
Also noted that the King and Queen of Hearts appear to be non-magical, while the Jack of Hearts is magical.
But here I come back four days later, after playing through the entire deck of cards. This is by far one of the best mapmaking games I have ever played! The prompts are engaging, the flavor text is colorful and inspiring, and the questions I'm left with after each prompt are thought-provoking and help drive the world's [hi]story along. I'd attach the image, but it's too large (hope this link works). I love how each suit seemed to follow a particular theme, but I almost wish it were more clearly spelled out.
I certainly have some feedback after playing, and I'll sum it up before I begin by saying that - ultimately - I'm left wanting just a little bit more!
Starting with Ace of Spades already drawn feels like I'm robbed of the experience of randomization and drawing. Why not begin the game with a single landmass, and use the Ace as a prompt to create another? Apart from this card and THE DIVIDE, there were scarce opportunities to create more landmasses, and in hindsight I wish I would have drawn my starting continent larger.
As for what I mean when I say more:
My single, solitary gripe: the Ten of Clubs doesn't ask any questions, and it gives you a to-do item that resolves immediately, which felt kind of pointless: "The next time cards are added to the deck these border settlements [that you create with this card] may join the nation if you wish." But then you are prompted by the end of the card to shuffle diamonds into the deck, and so the settlements you build might as well have been a part of the nation in the first place (if you choose).
All in all, a fantastic game. I've told all my friends and they want me to shut up about it. Can't wait to play again!
Thanks so much for this wonderful feedback! I have made a note of all of it, and will address it when I sit down for an upcoming dev day in a couple weeks. I think there are still a few changes and tweaks to be made to make it perfect and so I’ll definitely consider what you’ve shared.
Your map looks amazing too - thanks for sharing!!
I am having fun going through this! but it would be easier if the cards were sorted by suit instead of rank.
It also seems like some of the spades cards impact settlements that do not exist. In my specific case, the first card I drew after the Ace of Spades was the Ten of Spades, which was difficult to interpret without groups already living there. Perhaps some cards should have extra details for how to handle if there's no living beings, or perhaps they just get reshuffled if there's no civilizations?
Either way, now I have to redraw my map due to the Two of Spades!
Thanks for the feedback! A previous version was sorted by suit, not number - but the majority of the feedback then was actually the opposite of what you’ve said, so I guess it’s hard to please everyone! I am going to work on some minor changes related to things coming up too early, so hopefully in the future other players won’t have the same problem!
Different strokes for different folks, I suppose! Now I am thinking to have the whole thing formatted so you could print-and-play it into a deck and just be done with the cross-reference.
Just wanted to say that I really love how you're drawing from these different disciplines. I'm looking forward to checking it out!
What is the point of splitting up the deck into suits? It looks like all cards from all suits are included in the card index. Which deck do you draw from when it says to "draw a card"? The prompts look super inspiring but I don't know how they connect with the setup phase... is a page missing?
You draw from a single deck made up initially of just spades. At some stage you will reach a prompt which tells you to add more cards to that deck. This is explained on page 4: “Shuffle the remaining spades into a small deck with the ace on top. This is the prompt deck. Set aside other cards, they will be included in the deck at a later stage.”
i see! thank you