Sunday, June 28, 2015

What a Twist!

Last time, I mentioned that Daikaiju Director is finally entering into it's beta version. With that comes some dramatic rules changes and interesting balance tweaks. The greatest of these being an overhaul to how Twist Cards work. As promised, here's the scoop on what's changing and what's staying the same.

Before, players played a single Twist Card at any point during the scene. They took effect immediately and were then discarded. It was simple an it worked, but it didn't always work right. Sometimes people forgot whether or not they had played a twist this scene. Sometimes they forgot what bonuses needed to be applied to combat. Sometimes they played Twist Cards at times that broke the game. These types of problems made the game less fun and they seemed to pop up every game.

Not anymore.

Here's how twists are going to work going forward:
1. You can still only play 1 twist a scene, but there are multiple types of twists that all function slightly differently.
2. You can only play Twist Cards on your turn, unless they are "Immediate Twists."
3. After you play a twist, it stays in play until the "Clean Up Phase" where it's discarded.

Clear as mud? Let's take a closer look at some actual Twist Cards!


This is what a normal Twist Card looks like. Cool redesign, right? The new card layout is jam packed with helpful information about every twist. Not only is there a name, card text, and some art like before, there's also a few new design changes that let you know more about the card. For example, the name of the Daikaiju this Twist Card belongs to is printed right below the card art.

Notice the twist symbol in the upper right-hand corner? That means that you can only play this card on your turn. That symbol is different depending on what type of Twist card you’re dealing with.


Unlike the previous card, this one has a lightning bolt symbol instead of a spiral. Veterans of the various playtests I’ve ran will recognize this card. It’s also the namesake of this post. This is what’s called an “Immediate Twist.” These are playable at any time, just like Twist Cards use to be in the alpha version of Daikaiju Director. Their effects take place immediately when they are played, hence the name.


This type of Twist Card is called a “Persistent Twist.” The symbol at the top is a roman numeral that indicates how many clean up phases it persists through, and it varies from card to card. This one happens to stick around for 3 turns.


This is an "Energy Twist." Each Daikaiju gets 1 in their twist deck. They're really powerful, but with a drawback. They have to to be played at the beginning of your turn, which can be a bit inconvenient. However, if you pay a certain amount of energy, then you can play them as if they are an Immediate Twist. That number is indicated both in the card text and next to the "e" symbol in the upper right.

That's enough about twists for now. If you have questions or comments please share them below in the comments section. 

Let's shift gears for a moment and talk about our growing social media presence. If you haven't already, follow us on Twitter @Daikaiju_Direct. Our official Facebook page went live yesterday. You can find that at https://www.facebook.com/DaikaijuDirector Tell your friends to like our page! We're trying to build a bigger fan base before we make a big announcement later this month.