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M
2019 · 1-4 players · 20min · weight 1.14 · 1,312 ratings
port: no port
BGGv4 widev4v4 deep5Sources2Rules cardCandidateDeep dive
Bayes
5.80
Users rated
1,312
Owned
2,972
Wishing
360
At a glance — v4 wide
Controlled-vocabulary primitives + 8-axis MDA aesthetic vector. Vocab v1.
Core loop (micro)
Play a color-and-shape card matching a monster's board location to capture it; monsters advance each round; cooperate to capture all before castle falls.
MDA aesthetic vector (0–3)
Sensation
1
Fantasy
1
Narrative
0
Challenge
1
Fellowship
2
Discovery
0
Expression
0
Submission
2
Mechanic-interaction primitives (4)
- [3]escalating_threat— “monsters follow a single path toward a single castle; tension builds as more monsters are placed and move along the path”
- [3]attribute_alignment_scoring— “each step toward the castle identified by a color and a shape; players hold cards with defenders with a color and shape”
- [2]hand_management_under_draw— “players hold cards in their hands with cute defenders; when a card is played that matches the monster location”
- [2]attrition_clock— “if the castle is destroyed, the players lose; if it still stands when all monsters are in the dungeon, the players win”
discovery_score: 0.873
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coop Genuine cooperative shared fail-state with Pandemic-shape escalating_threat — but open-information hand cripples bluff_info_asymmetry which the rubric flags as the strongest coop signal. | 5.60 | 7.0 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 9 |
| Wordle Pictogram onboarding is Wordle-tier (9), but escalating_threat is multi-round not single-puzzle — no clean daily-seed shape. Loss is gentle in kids tone. | 5.50 | 8.0 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 9 |
| Cozy Coop-or-Solo tier (Cooperative Game + Solo Solitaire) → no cap, scored against gentle kids tone. attribute_alignment_scoring + cute monsters + 10-min sessions land in cozy comfort despite escalating_threat. Best cozy candidate of the batch. | 5.50 | 8.0 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 10 |
| Balatro Solo-playable per BGG Solo / Solitaire tag, but attribute_alignment_scoring is single-step matching with no engine_growth or combo_chaining — runs flat. | 5.00 | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| Snap Cooperative shape with open-information matching — zero bluff load, the strongest Snap signal. Wrong archetype. | 4.20 | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 8 |
Sources (2)
Inputs to rules-card synthesis. Click any pill with ↗ to open the original source.
Wikipedia0.70LLM memory0.10
BGG tags
Categories (2)
Children's GameFantasy