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C
2015 · 1-2 players · 30min · weight 2.11 · 2,237 ratings
port: no portdifficulty: Easy
BGGv4 widev4v4 deep5Sources2Rules cardCandidate0.599Deep dive
Bayes
6.14
Users rated
2,237
Owned
5,245
Wishing
828
At a glance — v4 wide
Controlled-vocabulary primitives + 8-axis MDA aesthetic vector. Vocab v1.
Core loop (micro)
Flip a tile, either use its ability or place it in your castle layout; survive three monster attacks with six-tile base intact.
MDA aesthetic vector (0–3)
Sensation
1
Fantasy
2
Narrative
1
Challenge
2
Fellowship
1
Discovery
2
Expression
2
Submission
2
Mechanic-interaction primitives (5)
- [3]tableau_personal_board— “tile-laying game in which you form parts of the castle for defense against monsters”
- [3]escalating_threat— “three monster attacks; towers allow you to see what is coming; keeps can help minimize damage”
- [3]on_play_trigger— “Each turn you flip over a tile and either use its special ability or place it as part of your castle”
- [2]partial_observability— “towers allow you to see what is coming; ranks reduce the effects of traitors inside your walls”
- [1]delayed_payoff— “When all three monsters have attacked and you still have a base of six tiles, you win”
discovery_score: -0.336
Archetype fits — v4 deep
How well this game shape maps to mobile archetype templates. Composite is a weighted sum of the 10 fit dimensions.
| Archetype | Composite | LTF | Session | Combo | Arc | Share | 5in | Onboard |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balatro Three_monster_wave_survival is a clean ante-ladder structure mirroring StS boss escalation, and flip_and_place_or_use creates real combo pressure. Oniverse expansion lineage gives content_extensibility lift; combat additive not multiplicative. | 6.40 | 8.0 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 6 |
| Coop Cooperative tower defense with escalating_threat hits coop arc_tightness sweet spot, and Oniverse lineage delivers expansion path. Communication constraint is light (open tile play) so bluff_info_asymmetry doesn't load-bear like Hanabi. | 6.30 | 7.0 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Cozy Cooperative Game + Solo / Solitaire Game triggers Coop-or-Solo tier (no cap, score against tone). Escalating_threat + cascading_failure are anti-cozy primitives — losing a wave bites — so tone score lands middling 6-7 not 9-10. | 5.40 | 7.0 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| Snap Solo/coop survival shape doesn't map onto Snap's adversarial 3-min match — no factional play, no location reveal. Visual tower/keep tableau sprawls past 5-in legibility. | 4.70 | 6.0 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 5 |
| Wordle Three-wave structure is daily-puzzle-shaped and solo loop fits, but 30min and tile-laying tableau are both wrong scale for Wordle's 60-90s window. | 4.70 | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 5 |
Translation candidate
Composite fit_score = bayes×0.30 + wish×0.18 + compress×0.17 + difficulty×0.20 + headroom×0.15.
bayes_norm×0.300.007
wish_norm×0.180.427
compress_norm×0.171.000
diff_norm×0.201.000
port_headroom×0.151.000
fit_score (total)0.599= 0.599
Difficulty reasoning
Solo tile-placement puzzle with a simple use-or-place choice per turn is a perfect mobile idle/puzzle fit; part of the Oniverse series which has seen app implementations.
Closest loop translation
none yet
Sources (2)
Inputs to rules-card synthesis. Click any pill with ↗ to open the original source.
BGG comments0.75LLM memory0.10
BGG tags
Mechanisms (3)
Categories (2)
FantasyPuzzle