JULIEN GRIMARD
3 STARS BOARD GAME
In Development
2019
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Game Design
3 Stars is a board game for 2 to 4 players.
The goal is simple: be the first player to make 3 stars on the board.
Each player starts the game with triangle pieces of his color and 3 cards.
The cards represent different configurations of triangle pieces placed on a star. We have a card for every possible configuration of 1 to 3 triangles on a star, for a total of 41 cards.
Players must hold their cards in the same orientation as the board (here, with the black triangles on top).
How to play
Players play in clockwise order.
On his turn, a player can choose between 3 possible actions:
1: Use one of his cards to place triangle pieces on the board.
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Play example for the blue player:
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2: Steal territory from one of his adversaries using one of his cards to exchange adversary triangles for his own.
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Play example for the blue player:
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3: If the player can’t either of the first two options, the player must discard one of his cards and pick a new one. That’s the end of the his turn.
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Once a player manages to form a star using his triangle pieces, he gets a point. The star is now safe, it’s triangle pieces can no longer be removed by an adversary.
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VICTORY
The first player to get 3 stars wins the game
Another way to win is to gain enough territory to make the victory impossible for your adversaries.
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For exemple, here, with the blue player’s 2 stars, the red player only has enough place for a maximum of 2 of his stars. The blue player is thus assured of winning. :
Players aren’t allowed to place pieces in a spot that would position the card’s star outside of the board.
A player must reproduce his card perfectly when placing pieces.
Players can't steal territory in a spot that would position the card’s star outside of the board.
Players are allowed to steal territory only if all of the triangles on his card are occupied by one of more of his adversaries' triangles.
PLAYING WITH MORE
THAN 2 PLAYERS
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The board is split in 3 regions to adjust to the number of players.
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2 players 3 players 4 players
Board evolution
The first prototype was too big for 4 players, which discouraged interaction (stealing territory) between players..
Addition of a section for 3 players. Current version.
First prototype
Test for another pattern, using diamonds instead of triangles. In the first prototype, each triangle is part of 3 different stars patterns. Here, diamonds are only part of 2 stars, but the total number of possible stars in a 2 players game goes from 12 to 19.
Another pattern with circles. Easy to read, and could be played with marbles, but the pattern isn’t as interesting as stars.
The diamond pattern is a lot more difficult to read. I added star shapes to make it easier to understand. It’s better, but still not as easy to understand as with triangles.