‘Limited denials’ mechanisms

[George Ellsworth]

I’m thinking about different options for a game I’m working on, where cards you play can have a better or worse version. Your opponent can choose for you to get the worse version, but this ability is limited, so you have to save denials for where they are more impactful.

The question is about how exactly to limit denials. One option is to have a small number of ‘denial tokens’, and when you use one, your opponent gets it. Another option is to get a denial token whenever you don’t deny a card.

Problems arise when the value difference between good and bad versions varies between cards. I want it to be best to have a mixture of good/bad deltas, and for decisions to be meaningful.

What other games have similar mechanisms?

[Roger Meloche]

You might be able to do this with a number of denial cards which can be played along with the action card. The player can be given a finite set of denial cards of various values. The denial prerequisites on the action cards could be variable as well. This way the player must decide to use more denials for a stronger action or save them for more, less powerful, actions. The card backs could be the same as the action cards so the opponents don’t know exactly how many a player has. This also open up possibilities for asymmetry. Players might get different numbers of denial cards bases on the specific character traits they choose at the beginning of the game.