My creative goal was/is always to capture the "perfect session".
Captivating story, characters, monsters, items, combat/conflict, progressing toward the endgame..
Almost 10 years ago I decided to do it, and embarked on that journey with little experience, but with immense passion and demonic focus.
With Machina Arcana I managed to capture one version of that perfect session, but in the process there were a lot of compromises.
One example is the captivating story, which in my opinion is awesome, but there's a disconnect between the story in the chapters, and the "story" that happens within the actual map tiles. I sacrificed that narrative aspect for the sake of replayability.
"To Eternity" chapters partially solved this - with the introduction of chapter tiles, and new chapter mechanics, the gameplay feels more connected to the story.
But, it was time to revisit that idea of the "perfect session" with more experience, and without the constraints of the old game.
Even though the new game is mechanically very different, it will take place in the same world. There's too much effort and worldbuilding put into it, to just start from scratch. The actual gameplay will not take place inside the Machina Arcana. There might be some visits to the old icy region in some scenarios, but most importantly the new plots are not exclusively bound to it (towns, streets, manors, ..other worlds..?).
I know that there are players who really enjoy the complexity of the old game, but the verdict has been made. The complexity will now be more focused on the player's decisions, rather than the intricate abilities of hundreds of cards, and on properly resolving their interactions.
Gameplay session needs to be shorter than the usual duration of the old game. Currently, I think that 90 minutes is the perfect length to aim for.
Componentwise - the new game needs to have an even smaller table presence, faster setup, and much faster cleanup.
I have been talking very broadly about the Signal (new game's working title), and didn't share any exact information about the main ideas behind it. There's a reason for it.
It has a lot of revolutionary aspects that I've never seen in a board game.
But there is a catch - it is extremely difficult to make it right.
In order to perform well, each scenario needs to be a work of multidisciplinary art on its own.
I can't do it alone. Thankfully, there's a couple of experts that I hope will resonate with the project, we will build it, and He will come.
I give myself, willingly.
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