Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar

Tzolkin: The Mayan Calendar presents a new game mechanism: dynamic worker placement. Players representing different Mayan tribes place their workers on giant connected gears, and as the gears rotate they take the workers to different action spots. During a turn, players can either (a) place one or more workers on the lowest visible spot of the gears or (b) pick up one or more workers. When placing workers, they must pay corn, which is used as a currency in the game. When they pick up a worker, they perform certain actions depending on the position of the worker. Actions located "later" on the gears are more valuable, so it's wise to let the time work for you – but players cannot skip their turn; if they have all their workers on the gears, they have to pick some up.  The game ends after one full revolution of the central Tzolkin gear. There are many paths to victory. Pleasing the gods by placing crystal skulls in deep caves or building many temples are just two of those many paths...

{
  "game_id": 126163,
  "name": "Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar",
  "core_verb": "place or pick up worker",
  "decision_shape": "combinatorial",
  "reward_schedule": "delayed",
  "aesthetics": [
    "Challenge",
    "Discovery"
  ],
  "core_loop_pitch": "Drop a worker on a turning gear or pull one off for a stronger action — the longer you wait, the better the payoff.",
  "mobile_translation_difficulty": "Medium",
  "translation_difficulty_reason": "The rotating-gear timing is visually digital-friendly but the depth of multi-turn planning fights short mobile sessions; no official port exists.",
  "direct_digital_port": null,
  "closest_loop_translation": "none yet",
  "primitive_tags": [
    "time_delayed_action_escalation",
    "rotating_gear_action_track",
    "deferred_payoff_optimization",
    "tech_tier_unlock",
    "corn_economy_squeeze"
  ],
  "confidence": 0.85
}

{
  "game_id": 126163,
  "name": "Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar",
  "mechanics": {
    "core_verb_long": "On your turn you must do exactly one of two things: place workers onto the lowest visible action space of one of five themed gears (Palenque, Yaxchilan, Tikal, Uxmal, Chichen Itza), paying corn equal to the space number plus an escalating placement fee, OR pick up one or more workers from the gears and trigger the action under each. You cannot do both, you cannot pass — if all your workers are out, you must retrieve at least one. After everyone acts, the central calendar gear ratchets one notch and every worker on every gear physically advances one space toward more valuable actions.",
    "core_loop_long": "Phase 1: in turn order, each player either places workers (paying corn) or picks up workers (triggering actions). Phase 2: when all have acted, the central Tzolk'in gear rotates one tooth counter-clockwise and the five peripheral gears rotate with it; workers visibly migrate one space along the ripening curve, and any worker pushed past the top space returns home with no action. Phase 3: at four pre-marked Food Days during the game, players pay 2 corn per worker on the table or lose 3 VP per starved worker; two Food Days also trigger middle-of-age temple rewards and two trigger end-of-age VP scoring with bonuses to temple leaders. Phase 4: technology tracks, monuments, buildings, and crystal skulls deposited at Chichen Itza all accumulate VP. Game ends after one full revolution of the central calendar gear (~26-28 rounds).",
    "decision_space": "Every placement is a wager on *when* to come back, not just *where* — leave a worker on Yaxchilan tier 1 for 1 corn and ride the gear free to tier 4 over four rounds (free escalation, but four rounds of opportunity cost and Food Day liability), or pay 4 corn to place directly at tier 4 and harvest next turn. You thread three timing layers simultaneously: per-worker tier ripening, the visible Food Day countdown on the central gear's teeth, and the end-of-game Chichen Itza scoring window in the final quarter. The option space per turn is moderate — 5 gears × current lowest spaces × number of workers in supply — but the decision depth is several rotations ahead.",
    "skill_expression": "The dominant skill is *temporal optimization* — reading the ripening curves on each gear and committing workers to specific future payoffs, with the visible calendar serving as a literal countdown clock. A close second is corn budget management: corn is placement currency, Food Day food, and a starvation hedge all at once, and tightening corn cycles is what lets you stretch workers across multi-round bets. Pattern recognition on the synergy between gears (Yaxchilan harvests skulls that score at Chichen Itza; Tikal advances tech tracks that compound on temple steps) is the third major skill. In multiplayer, blocking and lowest-space racing add an opponent-reading dimension; in solo this collapses into pure optimization.",
    "tactile_dependency": "medium",
    "tactile_dependency_reason": "The five physical gears meshing into the central calendar wheel are *the* signature appeal — reviewers universally lead with them, and end-of-round rotation is the most physically satisfying procedure in modern Eurogame design. But unlike Crokinole or Junk Art, the gears are *animatable* — a SwiftUI/SpriteKit version can arguably be better than cardboard (zoomable, slow-mo, predictable rotation) while preserving the haptic click. The IP begs to be digitized; the tactile dependency is real but transferable."
  },
  "theme": {
    "promise": "Lead a Mayan tribe through one full turn of the sacred calendar — place workers on giant rotating gears, harvest crops, build monuments, and offer crystal skulls to the gods at Chichen Itza before the calendar completes its revolution.",
    "setting": "ancient, historical, Mesoamerica, Mayan, mythology, civilization, farming",
    "narrative": "none — pasted-on theme, but unusually well-fused to the mechanism (the central calendar gear is the Tzolk'in calendar both literally and mechanically). No story beats, no scenarios, no campaign in the base game — but the Tribes & Prophecies expansion adds asymmetric tribe powers and prophecy events that gesture toward narrative.",
    "audience": "hobbyist Eurogamer, hardcore strategist",
    "art_direction": "Saturated jungle-Maya stylization: vivid greens, terracotta reds, jade and gold leaf, glyph-decorated gear rims and temple iconography. The physical gears are the visual hook — bronze-mechanical-mythic rather than steampunk. Original art by Milan Vavroň; CGE house style favors bright, illustrated, slightly stylized historical fantasy."
  },
  "translation": {
    "digital_meta_layer_ideas": [
      "Roguelite calendar cycles: a 'run' is one full revolution of the central gear (~26 rounds, 4 Food Days, 25-40 minute session), a 'season' strings 3-5 cycles together with persistent unlocks",
      "Tribes & Prophecies expansion as built-in character-class draft: at start of each cycle pick 1 of 3 tribes, each modifying one gear's payoff curve (Bonampak doubles Palenque tier-3 corn; Itzamna grants free Theology track every 5 rounds; Kukulkan gives skull-gear payouts +1 VP)",
      "Persistent civilization unlocks via post-run obsidian currency — new tribes (~13 base from expansion + 10-15 new), new monuments, new prophecies, new starting buildings, ~60-100 unlockables for a 25-40 hour completion arc, no power creep (sideways variety only)",
      "Prophecy events as roguelite encounter deck: Tribes & Prophecies prophecies become event cards drawn at cycle start ('player with most stone scores 8 VP, fewest loses 3'), giving each run identity"
    ],
    "closest_mobile_genre": "worker-placement roguelite / temporal-optimization puzzle (no incumbent on mobile — closest cousins are Anachrony and Teotihuacan, neither of which has a native iOS port)",
    "live_service_potential": "medium"
  },
  "confidence": 1,
  "extraction_version": "v3"
}