In Serpent Stones, you are a Tlamatini (high priest) of an ancient Aztec warrior house and your sole mission is to protect your Temple Row and sacred Teotl Stones. With a hand of cards, you face off against your rival across a battlefield grid known as the Yaotitlan.
Eagle and Jaguar Warrior cards are played to the battlefield to form a chain that connects your Temple Stone to your rival’s in order to capture a sacred Teotl Stone. But the animal spirits may intervene in the form of Strike and Capture cards that can turn your own warriors against you, or even eliminate them altogether. Even the ancient Aztec gods themselves will guide the battle often to your despair. Capture three Teotl Stones and you will emerge victorious…
@Binderman- No, Summoner Wars is completely different. Serpent Stones is a quick abstract strategy card battle game playable by both casual and avid gamers, no points on cards to worry about or resources to manage during game play other than your hand. (It should also be pointed out I started development on Serpent Stones in 2005, and brought a very early prototype to a few shows including GenCon West, TGIFCon and Protospiel West.)
@Solotaire- YES, there are a number of reasons we didn’t use hexes:
– The original two-player board game “Itzcoatl” Serpent Stones was based on used obsidian arrowheads where the pieces could only face toward or away from a player.
– Serpent Stones is a light strategy game that an avid gamer can easily teach and play with his/her family who may not be as hardcore about hobby games. Hex games imply heavy strategy. (BTW we’ve found kids love the game.)
– I wanted Serpent Stones to have a ‘poker-type’ feel to it, as well as be portable.
@Ricardo Azimovas- The three primary elements “Card Chaining” (warrior cards), “Pattern Attacks” (nahualli cards) and “Sacrificing” (teotl cards) make Serpent Stones so much more than a simple “draw/play a card” game. I’d also like to mention Serpent Stones has been nominated for 2014 Mensa Select consideration.
If you would like more info, please feel free to drop me a line directly!
Robert Harrington
Dangermoose Entertainment
dangermoose@serpentstones.com
Binderman
No – not at all… and that the beauty. Love SW an this offers a different experience. So as I said in the review and DesignerGilr217 said – if your a huge fan of SW and Mage Wars, this will be like drinking watered down Cola. But it’s a great game that offers a intense fast paced experience.
Solotaire Um.. not sure I’ll ask the designer.
DesignerGilr217 – Yup Basic – and Elegant. I guess it comes down to your definition of boring. Again though, if you like deeper fare don’t expect it from Serpent Stones. Its not for everyone. But in my opinion the theme and the game play recreate the ancient Serpent Chain battles between rival Aztec houses very well.
Ricardo If I understand your question, the basic difference is few of the cards have special abilities. Card placement and hand management is key. The card interaction is very basic – but can create many game play outcomes.
Different game the theme. But what sets it apart from others in mechanics?
This was one of the more boring games I tested at ChiTAG this year. The theme didn’t really communicate with the game play which was pretty weak for someone who likes Mage wars and summoner wars. Basic path finding game
Just as a point of reference, with the way the board is set up, is there a reason they didnt use hexes?
Any similarities with Summoner Wars?