Paper Prototype Rules

1. Title: Heartstrings
   
   
2. 2-3 players
   Ages 6+
   Expected play time: 30 minutes
   
   
3. Heartstrings is a random encounter simulator in which the objective of the game is to deplete your opponents health by way of dice-simulated combat.
   The randomized element and uncertainty of combat will keep players on their toes and manipulation of pieces placed onto the game board allows for various strategies to maximize health and minimize damage taken.
   
   
4. Players will take turns randomly occupying the various rooms on the board. As players invade rooms already inhabited by an opponent, a battle for the room will occur. The objective of the game is NOT to control any specific rooms or to control a majority of rooms, but rather to defeat your opponent by chipping away at their health.
   
   
5. The game board consists of 12 numbered rooms. The rooms are independent of one another. Size, positioning, and order are irrelevant.
   Rooms 4 and 8 have Defender Buffs of +1 and +2 respectively, and rooms 3, 6, and 9 carry an Attacker Buff of +1, +2, and +3.
   Rooms 1 and 12 carry a Heart Bead Bonus.
   More details will be provided below.
   
   The players are given:
   12 player tokens (green or blue) used to occupy the rooms on the board,
   a 6-sided die for combat called the Combat Die (BD),
   a Heartstring (red pipe-cleaner),
   and 12 heart beads (black beads) to represent the health on the Heartstring.
   
   There is one 12-sided die called the Room-Selector (RS) that the players share, and 10 extra heart beads (the Bead Pool).
   
   
6. When beginning the game, each player must place 12 heart beads onto their Heartstring. No pieces are placed on the board until the first turn.
   
   
7. Player order is decided by rolling the highest number on any one of the provided die (every player must use the same die).
   A players turn consists of:
   Room Selection/Combat
   Token Sacrifice (if applicable)
   
   
8. On a player turn, the first phase is Room Selection/Combat.
   The player rolls the Room Selector and places one of his tokens in the corresponding room. If the room was previously empty or occupied by his/her own tokens, this is called occupying the room. If the room was already occupied by an opponent, this is called invading the room.
   
   * If a player is out of tokens, they must select any one of their tokens on the board and roll the Room Selector to occupy or invade another room.
   
   If you occupy the room and do not invade, the Room Selection phase is over and youdo not enter combat.
   If you invade a room, it is time to enter Combat.
   
   In combat, the invader is called the Attacker and the other player is the Defender. The Attacker rolls the Combat Die to initiate an attack. The Defender must roll a higher number to defeat the attacker. The loser of the roll must remove their token and take damage equivalent to ½ of the roll difference. If the damage is not a whole number, round up.
   
           Example: Attacker rolls 6; Defender rolls 1. Damage = (6 – 1) / 2 = 2.5
           2.5 rounds up to 3. Loser takes 3 damage.
   
   When taking damage, remove that number of heart beads from your Heartstring and add it to the extra beads in the Bead Pool.
   
   * In case of a tie in combat, the Defender loses and must remove their token, but they do not take any damage.
   ** If the Defender has multiple tokens occupying the room, the Attacker only rolls once, but the Defender must roll for each token until they defeat the attacker or they lose all tokens. Damage is still taken per token loss for the Defender.
   
   If any player loses all of their heart beads in combat, that player is eliminated from the game and all of their tokens must be removed from the board. Any remaining players continue play as normal until only one player is the victor.
   
   After the Combat phase is over, a player may enter their Token Sacrifice phase.
   
   If the player occupies any room with more than one token, they may choose to sacrifice that token from the board to gain (1) heart bead on their Heartstring. A player may only do this if there are heart beads still available in the Bead Pool. Token Sacrifice is limited to one token per turn. Sacrificed tokens return to the player's possession and may be used in their next turn during Room Selection.
   
   Special Rooms
   There are 7 special rooms on the board:
   2 Defender Buff rooms (rooms 4 and 8)
   3 Attacker Buff rooms (rooms 3, 6, and 9)
   2 Heart Bead Bonus rooms (rooms 1 and 12)
   
   Any time Combat occurs in the Defender or Attacker Buff room, the Defender or Attacker adds that buff to their roll.
   
           Example: If a player invades room 8, the Defender's roll automatically gains 2.
           If a player invades room 9, the Attacker's roll automatically gains 3.
   
   If a player occupies or successfully invades (defeats the Defender) a Heart Bead Bonus room, they gain (1) heart bead on their Heartstring. This only occurs if there are heart beads in the Bead Pool. A heart bead is only granted when the token first occupies or invades the room. There is no bonus for staying in the room.
   
   
9. The game is over when all but one player is eliminated by losing all their heart beads.
   The last player with heart beads is the winner.
   
   
10. Tips:
    -If you find yourself occupying a room with an Attacker Buff, it may be beneficial to sacrifice that token to gain health and avoid a likely defeat in the future.
    -As this is not an area-control game, there is no real advantage to occupying as many rooms as possible. Occupying many rooms will only increase the odds of being a Defender.