The goal of Aethermon is to provide its player’s with a complete experience in a single sitting: Discovery -> Growth -> Climax. 

Last week we noted this process takes about 25 turns + a final setpiece to cap off the event. At about 5 minutes per turn (each player’s turn is resolved simultaneously), this turns into 2.5 to 3 hours per game. 

Personally, I love centerpiece games that form the backbone of a game night; and 2.5 hours fits that description perfectly. But if you could condense that experience without sacrificing any mechanical nuance or emotional resonance, even better! 

As detailed last week, about half of a player’s turns consist of the connective tissue between the larger turns that leave lasting memories. These connective tissue turns are important, but we can shave a few of them off without compromising the experience. 

A game of Aethermon is good, but a game of Aethermon + a game of Codenames? Yes Please! 

To get players around the board quicker we have added a 7th movement card: The wildcard. This card  allows players to move any distance between 1 and 6.

This increases the player’s average movement per turn from 3.5 to 4 (if they use their wild to travel 6). But more importantly it affords greater flexibility.

We noticed every game players would spend one or two turns somewhat purposeless (neither completing an objective or heading towards an objective) because their cards would not allow them to advance. The Wild card eliminates almost all of these turns!

With the added flexibility and increased movement, we’re now seeing games finished in 22ish turns (as little as 19!) as opposed to 25. At 5 minutes per turn this is saving players 15 minutes!

As an additional bonus, this system of 7 movement cards fits more neatly into our current nomenclature describing each cycle of 7 turns as a week.

Keep on innovating AetherRen