Arid
Arid is a medium-weight 4X game for 2-6 players ages 12 and up that plays in about 30 minutes per player. This game was born when Chris, Kim and Matthew were sitting in a game store getting stood up for a playtest session of Clockwork Maze. Matthew said, "Well, let's just make a new game while we wait!" We ended up with three pages of notes for a game in which players must develop ways to make water in the desert.
What happened next was "Arid!"
the story
A brutish alien race, the Aridites, have made their way by stealing great technological advances, including interstellar travel. But they gained these technologies by force, without developing the wisdom to use them carefully, and destroyed their home planet’s ecosystem in the process.
In short, the Aridites have turned their planet into a DESERT, and what they need now is WATER.
Up to their old tricks again, the Aridites have now come to Earth and abducted YOU, some of the planet’s greatest scientists, and brought you back to their ruined world. The aliens have commanded that you work with the limited resources available on their scorched planet and turn them into breakthrough technologies to return their world to a lush paradise. Knowing how competitive humans are, the Aridites have made this trial into a contest. You must find a combination of breakthroughs that’s better than those of your opponents, and whoever creates the best water-replenishing solution will be allowed to live!
how to win
how to plAy
Your Scientist must discover and harvest resources, craft tools and take control of terrain features.
Combine all these to develop Breakthroughs that generate clean water.
Whoever’s Breakthroughs can fill their underground cistern first wins.
Set up a hidden map of hex tiles that's different every game. You start the game as a Scientist with only your robot minion, and a set of goals in the form of Milestones. Complete each Milestone to gain inspiration for another water-generating Breakthrough.
On your turn:
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Explore - Each unit can reveal a new tile. Will the next area contain opportunities, hazards, or both?
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Travel - Move any or all units through revealed areas. Entering a new tile, and draw an Event card. Some provide loot, but most will present a Hazard to be confronted. Do your tools and minions make you strong enough to defeat it?
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Gather - Each unit on a resource-generating tile collects resources.
Between your turns:
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Convert - Use your Kinetic Transformer to change resources you have to resources you need at varying rates of efficiency.
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Craft - use resources to make tools and breakthroughs
