Biomes 5.0 contains five core game mechanics: discovery, resources, quests and fragments, upgrading base camp, and the danger level and danger deck. Each of these mechanics relates to an aspect of the macro-loop or micro-loop as well as an aspect of the essential experience. For reference: the macro loop is explore, quest, and escape; the micro-loop is gather resources, build, and make progress on the macro-loop; and the essential experience is discovery, exploration, danger, and teamwork. In this blog we will look at each of these five core mechanics in turn and how each relates to the gameplay loops and the essential experience.
Discovery
Biomes 5.0 features discovery in two flavors: exploration and excavation. Exploration allows players to discover new tiles and grow the known biome. Excavation on any tile allows players to discover artifacts which are special cards with special abilities that give players advantages. Both mechanics satisfy the exploration portion of the macro-loop and excavation also satisfies the build portion of the micro-loop. Unsurprisingly, both mechanics also satisfy the discovery and exploration portions of the essential experience.
Resources
As discussed in the last blog, Biomes 5.0 introduces the new supporting mechanics of cards. In particular, card collecting and team deck building. Most of the cards collected are resource cards which come in three types: food, lumber, and metal. Players begin the game with a small amount of each resource and can grow the amount of each resource by building, or harvesting, additional resources from resource tiles. These mechanics of collecting resources and building on resource tiles satisfy the gather resources and building portions of the micro-loop respectively. As the resources are shared as players build a team deck the mechanic also satisfies the teamwork portion of the essential experience.
Quests and Fragments
Quests remain a central part of Biomes but have a different flavor in 5.0. Instead of being self-contained tasks as they were in 4.0 the quests of 5.0 each integrate with the other game mechanics in unique ways. For example, the fountain quest has players sacrificing excavated artifacts to gain a fragment thereby integrating that quest with the exploration and building portions of the macro and micro loops. Each completed quest rewards players with a fragment which players can use to upgrade their base. Questing directly satisfies the questing portion of the macro-loop but also contributes to all the other aspects of the macro and micro loops through the design of each quest. Quests also often require teamwork and thus satisfy the teamwork portion of the essential experience.
Upgrading Base Camp
Once players collect a fragment from a completed quest they can upgrade the base camp. The base can be upgraded three times and each upgrade costs 1 fragment and a large number of resources. After the third upgrade the exit is revealed and the players can attempt to escape. Additionally, each upgrade of the base gives players new advantages in the game such as having more resource draws or actions per turn. Upgrading the base camp satisfies the questing and escaping portions of the macro-loop by providing a relation between them. Upgrading the base also satisfies the teamwork portion of the essential experience as teammates usually need to coordinate in order to gather enough resources to perform the upgrade.
Danger Level and Deck
The danger deck and danger level are the new danger mechanics in Biomes 5.0. The danger deck features cards with special abilities, similar to artifacts, that make the game more challenging for players. The danger level is a gauge on the current danger in the biome and manifests as increases in the number of danger cards to be drawn, the cost to move around the biome, and the cost of other primary actions. The danger level critically provides a clear definition of when players lose the game which is when the danger level gets too high. These danger mechanics directly satisfy the danger portion of the essential experience. The danger deck also interacts with all facets of the macro and micro loops through the effects of the cards.
Wrap-up
Through these five core mechanics all of the aspects of the macro-loop, micro-loop, and essential experience are incorporated into Biomes 5.0. These mechanics also make up the majority of the rules of Biomes 5.0. This is significant because Biomes 4.0 had a significant weakness in that it had too many rules, many more than Biomes 5.0 has. In the next blog we will take a look at some of the playtests of Biomes 5.0, see how the macro and micro loops are performing, and discuss some of the lessons that have been learned through the playtests.