Arcs: My Favorite Mechanism

Jamey discusses his favorite mechanism in the space-themed game, Arcs.
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[@BassWakil]

As soon as I saw the combat mechanic for this I thought “what a great clean way to represent the different kinds of space combat onto planets without stages and lots of dice rolling”. Not surprised since Root also has a terrifically simple and elegant combat dice mechanic.

[@tobyyasutake9094]

I also love that the attacker makes all decisions on what gets hurt, really speeds up play. The only games I can think of (other than Arcs) where the attacker makes *all* decisions are deterministic games which you ruled out!

[@jameystegmaier]

I'm glad you mentioned that other decision for the attacker--I agree!

[@Benjamin-ri3rk]

I love the combat but for me the way the court works is my favourite mechanism in Arcs. I love the way it works as a high-risk bidding war where if someone else secures the card they get all your agents as captives for the Tyrant ambition. It's so interesting and unique but also feels familiar.

[@White1148]

Just picked up Arcs today and played my first game, it is fantastic. Too much to comment on at the moment but the combat is so unique and well thought out in this game it is absolutely incredible.

[@thefacethatstares]

love arcs. i've played some games on TTS and it's an instant classic

[@lystic9392]

In Odalin only the attacker rolls, too, but I think there is no hurting yourself.

[@LucasWolfox]

I like that you can copy a lead card so if someone starts out with Aggression you can clap back even without Weapons. >:) The resource combos can really open up the game into amazing gameplays and situations!

[@jameystegmaier]

True! Though, as I understand it, you can only spend resources for benefits/actions before taking your primary action (the "prelude" phase of your turn), a caveat we frequently overlooked.

[@LucasWolfox]

@@jameystegmaier yes, after playing a card but before spending pips. It seems a bit peculiar, but because of how Psionics let you copy a lead action, the Prelude phase lets you really twist the gamestate by doing something normally impossible! :) We usually track them by playing them directly on the card as it is played.

[@aaronclark7687]

I’ve always appreciated the design of Leader games. I’ve played Root and Fort and thought they were good, but not really my type of games. Arcs feels different after one play. It still has the feel of a Leader Games design, but something about it felt both unique and approachable. The trick taking action selection works much better than I expected, and my favorite mechanisms has to be the “Declare Ambition”. Determine what will score points this chapter, but almost certainly at the cost of losing the lead. It’s certainly a confrontational game, but not as much as you initially expect. I do agree that the combat dice options are also nice and provide the complexity to what is otherwise a very simple combat system!

[@RC_991]

congrats on the W

[@mrp4242]

I backed Root from its inception with all expansions. But after backing Oath, and being underwhelmed (it’s fine, I just not love it), I was reluctant to back another Leder/ColeW game. So I didn’t back Arcs. But after watching all these videos about gameplay and reading the rulebook--I’m now sold. Pre-ordered from the Leder site, hoping it will come in September. I’m very excited about this. I enjoy good combat mechanisms. Bring it on!

[@jameystegmaier]

I appreciate you sharing your history with those games! I'm fine with Root (I think its asymmetry is brilliant, but there's just a lot to do/resolve on every player's turn), I really didn't connect with Oath, and I appreciate Arcs--I think it might be Cole's most refined game yet, though it still asks players to remember quite a bit (not necessarily due to lack of notes, but certain things that could have been more fluid are not--for example, you can spend resources for extra benefits, but you can only do it during the prelude phase of your turn, something we consistently missed). But it has some really interesting mechanisms--combat at the top of the list--and I hope you enjoy it!

[@mrp4242]

@@jameystegmaierI appreciate that insight.

[@chadstilson8804]

So excited to play this game! I too think it's clever to have the "Defense" in the actual dice the aggressor is using. Will you look to play this game again?

[@jameystegmaier]

I'm happy with just the one play of Arcs, but if it's the primary choice for others at game night and they need a 4th, I wouldn't turn it down.

[@joelface]

I am a little hesitant with Arcs because I've struggled to enjoy Root. My brain is absolutely overloaded the entire game as I try to hold every player's different abilities and objectives in my mind, to understand their strategies while also trying to remember exactly how I'm supposed to play my own character. I know that for some people that makes it perfect, but for me I just feel overwhelmed. I'm sure if I watched lots of tutorial videos I'd get the hang of it, but I just didn't find the experience rewarding enough to justify all of that mental work. I've never played Oath, though I love the art and the idea of it. Now I'm hearing these amazing things about Arcs and feeling a little hesitant to try and learn it. But I love the theme, I think the reinvention of the trick-taking mechanism for action selection is really cool, and this combat seems really cool too. I'm just a little worried it might be as hard to "grok" as Root was.

[@jameystegmaier]

Having played Root, Oath, and Arcs, I can relate to what you're saying. Now that I've played Arcs, I think it's the most streamlined of the bunch, but its still a lot to keep track of. There wasn't a moment in the game when I didn't feel overwhelmed, and despite it being streamlined, there are lots of fiddly things to remember (rules exceptions and the like). Each player has a book as a reference guide (not just a card), which is very helpful...but it's still a lot. And it did not feel like a trick-taking game (we had a big discussion about that after the game--it's almost more of a "follow action" game with your available actions randomized (though each player does have the option of playing a card face down as any 1 action, which is good but can feel weak if other players are consistently taking multiple actions based on their random hand).

[@louisnooope]

Arcs (the base game) is totally symmetrical. All player play by the same rules. there's like only 7 different actions. It's much much lighter than root and oath. When you add the leaders and lore cards you ad in some asymmetry. and then the campaign game is crazy asymmetric. but the base game, which is what you should try first if your interested by the game : is not much more than learning 1 root faction basically.

[@TheWeapon33]

I never liked Root asides from the style and Arcs is absolutely amazing to me. Have played the game so many times in the last week and can't stop thinking about it.

[@joelface]

I really appreciate all of your feedback. My takeaway is that I should find a way to watch a playthrough or to try it out before I buy it. Certainly I think that the base game being symmetrical is a huge plus to learning the game. Fiddliness and rule exceptions, on the other hand, can raise the barrier of entry for lighter gamers and steal some of the fun from your first several games when mistakes and confusion grind the game to a halt. But not necessarily a deal breaker if the pay off is great.

[@mattjenkinscomic]

Cool overview. Is this game available for purchase in stores or just Kickstarter right now?

[@timebert8537]

@mattjenkinscomic Preorder right now. I believe it's September delivery for retail.

[@analog_arnie]

Last Light has only attacking dice. But no defense mechanisms in the dice. It's just whether the attacker hits or not. Still speeds up play, but Arcs does it better

[@jameystegmaier]

That's true! I should have thought about that, having played it fairly recently.

[@QuantumMechanic343]

The other thing that I liked is that the defender gets to claim the attackers ships as trophies if they are destroyed as a result of the red and orange dice.

[@joelface]

Is there any value to having them as trophies, or it just feels cool?

[@jameystegmaier]

Absolutely! One of the possible scoring opportunities in the game involves having the most trophies.

[@QuantumMechanic343]

@@joelface if the Warlord ambition is in play, then at the end of the chapter, the player with the most trophies gets the points. If the Warlord ambition is not in play, then when the chapter ends, players keep all their trophies!! This means that destroyed ships only recycle back to their player’s supply when the Warlord ambition is scored!! This adds risk to every attack involving the red and orange dice, because you could potentially benefit an opponent and/or hamstring the ability to build new ships. It also introduces a meta game element where an attacker can “sacrifice” their ships to put a different player ahead of another for the Warlord ambition. For example, say you are in first place and want the player in fourth place to win the Warlord ambition. You could attack their 3 fresh ships with your 3 damaged ships, and roll the red dice. If you roll the intercept symbol, all your ships get destroyed and the fourth place player gains 3 trophies. In the campaign variant it gets even crazier because you can trade trophies to other players for other things. Players also keep their trophies between acts (games) and only return them when the Warlord ambition is scored at the end of a chapter.

[@Jemethyy]

My only concern with the raid dice is how far you could be set back with lucky roll by the attacker. I know combat games inherently always have risk of 'feel bad' moments, but just curious on your thoughts?

[@jameystegmaier]

In our game, someone attempted to attack/raid me and failed miserably--they lost far more than I did. That left them vulnerable, so on my turn I did the same--and did really well. This was a massive swing and a huge setback for that player in the category that was going to score the most poitns that round, largely due to luck. Honestly, this felt similar to the bad luck of not having a higher card in the lead suit (if that's the case, you can take at most 1 action from the card you play). The only agency you have there is to become the lead player...but the easiest way to do that is to have a higher card of the lead suit, so it's a bit of a catch-22.

[@sunderedpsyche4289]

I've tried so hard to like this game because so many people are loving it. But for some reason there is something about it that puts me off and I can't figure out what it is.

[@jameystegmaier]

Please note that I try to find something positive about every game that I play (for the purpose of this channel)--my videos are not an overall indicator of how much I enjoy or recommend any particular game. You can check out my ratings on BoardGameGeek for that. :)

[@simonjones9151]

Only a 7 on your BGG… What didn’t you like about it ?

[@jameystegmaier]

I'm here to discuss standout mechanisms I really enjoyed about the games I play, not the elements I don't connect with. I'm happy I had the one opportunity to play Arcs and learn from it! :)