A study in emerald green (game)
| A study in emerald green | |
|---|---|
| Game data | |
| author | Martin Wallace |
| graphic |
Anne Stokes (1st edition), Ian O'Toole (2nd edition) |
| publishing company |
 United States : Treefrog Games , Germany : Schwerkraft-Verlag (2nd edition), Poland : PHALANX (2nd edition), Spain : Ediciones MasQueOca (2nd edition), Italy : Asterion Press (2nd edition), Italy : Asterion Press (2nd Edition)
    |
| Publishing year | 2013, 2015 |
| Art | Card game |
| Teammates | 2 to 5 |
| Duration | 60 to 90 minutes |
| Age | from 13 |
A Study in Emerald (English original title: A Study in Emerald ) is a board game by the British game designer Martin Wallace . The first edition of the game was published in 2013 by the American publisher Treefrog Games , the revised 2nd edition was distributed internationally in 2015 and is available, among other things, in a German version from Schwerkraft-Verlag .
Theme and equipment
The game is a combination of a deck building game and a deduction game , which is thematically inspired by the short story A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman and thus the world of Sherlock Holmes with the Cthulhu myth by HP Lovecraft and the real story connects. It is set in the year 1882 in a fantastic world in which the ancient people rule planet earth largely unnoticed by humans.
In addition to instructions, the game material consists of:
- a game board with various card storage areas, city fields and several scoring bars,
- 5 sets in the player colors with each
- 1 victory point disc,
- 10 influence tokens,
- 10 agents,
- 10 starting cards,
- 6 secret identity cards,
- 66 playing cards
- 9 city maps,
- 9 royal cards
- 2 bar marker stones
- 15 stability markers,
- a stability cube, and
- six wooden zombie figures.
The graphic design of the first edition was done by Anne Stokes , the second edition was designed by Ian O'Toole .
Style of play
In A Study in Emerald Green , the players each play a secret role as a loyalist or a restorationist, which is assigned to them via secret identity cards. The Restorationists are trying to rid the world of the Ancient Ones, while the Loyalists are devoted to them and trying to identify and eliminate the Restorationists. The main mechanism is that of a typical deck building game: all players start with identical starting decks that contain only cards with relatively weak actions and properties; As the game progresses, they acquire more powerful cards to improve their deck. At the end of the game, which can be triggered by various events (see below), the players reveal their roles and adjust their victory points if necessary. All players of the faction of the player with the fewest victory points are deducted points, which gives the game a certain team aspect.
Game preparation
At the beginning of the game, the game board is placed in the middle of the table. The 9 city cards and the 9 royal cards are each placed face up on the corresponding city and card spaces. The remaining playing cards are shuffled and, depending on the number of players, distributed face down on the card fields. In a game with two or three players, 3 cards are placed on each card field, 4 cards for four players and 5 cards for five players. Finally the city and royal cards of the respective fields are shuffled with the playing cards and the topmost cards are revealed. If it is a royal card, it is placed in the slot for the card field and a new card is revealed each time. The stability cube and the zombie figures are placed next to the game board until they have to be used for specific actions or card effects.
The bar marker stones are placed on the “0” field of the restorationist and loyalist bar. Each player chooses a player color and takes the corresponding set of pieces and cards. Each player then has 10 agents, 10 influence markers, one victory point marker and 10 starting cards. Each player places his or her victory point marker on the “0” space on the victory point track. Then all players shuffle their starting deck of 10 cards and place it face down in front of them. The top five cards are taken up in hand.
The secret identity cards are shuffled and each player is given one of these, which he must look at and keep secret. Each player places three stability markers on their secret identity card. Then a starting player is determined and starting with this player, all players go clockwise in two rounds and place one of their agents on any city space.
Game flow
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Possible actions per round
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In the course of the game, the other players play clockwise and can perform two of nine possible actions per round, in which cards are usually played. With the exception of using cards, the actions can be carried out in any order and also twice in a row. As a rule, the cards are placed on their own discard pile, but individual cards are also taken out of the game after being played or given to their own secret identity. At the end of his turn, the player draws cards from his draw pile in order to have five cards in hand again.
- Place influence tokens
To perform this action, the active player uses one or more cards with the corresponding symbol. It allows the player to place their own influence markers on the field and thus claim cards or carry out other activities, such as carrying out or preventing attacks . Depending on the number of symbols on the cards played, he can take influence markers from his inventory and place them on a city space of his choice. The player may play a maximum of as many cards as he can use tokens.
- Claim card
If a player plays one or more cards with the corresponding symbol, he can claim one or more cards on display. This action may only be carried out at the beginning of the turn and only once. To claim a card, the player must also have the majority of influence and agent tokens on the corresponding city space. At least one of the markers must be an influence marker. If the player is successful, he takes the card and puts it on his discard pile so that it goes into the draw pile after the next shuffle. In addition, he takes all of his own influence markers from the field and places them in the “Nimbus”; all opposing influence markers are returned to the respective players. If the card shows an "insert agent" symbol, the player places his own agent marker on the corresponding city space. In addition, the map can show victory points, which are marked accordingly. If there is a stability symbol on the card, the player must roll the stability die and if it shows the corresponding insanity symbol, he loses a stability marker from his secret identity card.
- Pick up influence tokens
To get influence markers back, a player can use one or more cards with the corresponding symbol and take a corresponding number of markers from the board and put them back in his supply. He can take tokens according to the number of symbols on the cards played from the nimbus or from city spaces, but may only play as many cards as he can take.
- Move agents
By using one or more cards with the corresponding symbol (railroad track) a player can move a corresponding number of agents from one space to any other space. There the agents can increase the influence of the player.
- Move marker
With the symbols for “move marker” a player can move the respective markers on the loyalist and / or the restorationist. He moves them forward according to the number of steps indicated on the cards and can increase the marker of a faction or both factions several times in one action. As soon as one of the markers reaches position “10”, the end of the game is triggered. After moving the markers, each player is credited with the difference in the position of the two markers as victory points or, if the difference decreases, this is also deducted.
- Carry out an assassination attempt
With the cards that have an assassination symbol, a player can carry out an assassination attempt on opposing agents or on face-up royal cards. To do this, he plays a card with an assassination symbol, which is removed from the game after the round, as well as any number of cards with bomb symbols. The player can carry out several assassinations in one action if he uses several assassination cards for it. A single card can both initiate an assassination attempt and be used as a bomb in a second assassination attempt.
In order to eliminate an opposing agent in a city, a player must firstly have the majority of agent and influence markers in the city and also play the minimum number of bombs indicated on the city space. If he wants to attack a royal card, he must also have the majority of agent and influence tokens in the city, but must also play the minimum number of bombs indicated on the card. If the assassination attempt was carried out on an opposing agent and the assassination card has an agent symbol and a victory point symbol in the card text, it is placed with the killed agent next to the secret identity card and the player receives the specified number of victory points. If this identification is not available, the killed agent is returned to the appropriate player. If the last agent of a player was taken off the field, he must reveal his secret identity. If the assassination attempt was made on a royal card, the player takes that card and places it next to his secret identity. Then he rolls the stability die and if it shows a madness symbol, he removes an agent from the corresponding city.
Finally, the player takes all of his own influence markers from the field and places them in the “Nimbus”, all opposing influence markers are returned to the respective players.
- Discard cards
As an action, a player can discard any number of cards in hand. These are replaced by new cards at the end of the turn, as the player refills the number of cards in his hand to five cards at the end of his turn.
- Card action
Individual cards can also be played as a separate action if they have the corresponding symbol. In this case the corresponding card is played and the action is carried out according to the card text. If it is a card with a “unique” designation, the card is removed from the game after it has been used; If it is a card that earned victory points when it was claimed or used, it is placed next to the secret identity card.
- Fit
Instead of taking an action, a player can also pass and thus let the action expire.
Depending on the progress of the game, it can happen that a player has to reveal his secret identity. This happens when
- the player's last agent is removed from the board, or
- the last stability marker is removed from the secret identity card.
If the player is a loyalist, he may immediately place as many agents on any city space until he has three agents there again; then the game continues. If it is a restorationist, the game ends immediately and the final scoring takes place.
During the course of the game, the players can get victory points in different ways and these can affect only loyalists or restorationists or be neutral. A player's victory points are adjusted when
- a player claims a card that earns victory points,
- the markers for loyalists or restorationists are moved, thereby changing the difference,
- a card is played that is worth victory points, or
- an assassination attempt is carried out with a card that earns victory points.
Playing
The end of the game can be initiated by three events:
- a player reaches the number of victory points specified for the number of players (20 to 28 points depending on the number of players).
- the marker of the loyalists or the restorationists reaches position “10” on the marker bar.
- one of the restorationists is forced to reveal his identity.
When the game is over, all players must reveal their identities. All players adjust their victory points according to their identities. They each receive the neutral victory points and the victory points of their faction. Only the faction receives faction-dependent points according to the difference between the two markers whose marker is higher. The loyalist players also lose all points from attacks in which other loyalists were killed.
After adjusting the victory points, it is determined which player has the lowest number of points and which faction he belongs to. All other players in this faction are deducted 5 victory points. If a player from both factions is in last place, it is assumed that the lowest player was a loyalist. The winner is the player with the highest score after this adjustment. In the event of a tie, it is assumed that a Restorationist has won.
History and reception
A study in emerald green was developed by Martin Wallace and was published in 2013 by the American publisher Treefrog Games under the original English title A Study in Emerald . The second edition, which was heavily revised in terms of graphics and content, appeared in 2015 and was distributed internationally by various publishers, in the German-language version, for example, by Schwerkraft-Verlag .
The game is thematically based on the short story A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman , in which the world of Sherlock Holmes is connected to the Cthulhu myth of HP Lovecraft and people and events from real history.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h A study in emerald green , game instructions for gravity, 2015.
- ↑ A Study in Emerald , versions at BoardGameGeek. Retrieved April 7, 2019 .
- ↑ A Study in Emerald, 2nd edition , versions at BoardGameGeek. Retrieved April 7, 2019 .
Web links
- A study in emerald green in the Luding games database
- A Study in Emerald in the game database BoardGameGeek (English)
- A Study in Emerald, 2nd edition in the board game database BoardGameGeek (English)
- A study in emerald green at Schwerkraft-Verlag