A new mechanism idea:
Holidays. You can go on holiday and take your favourite cards with you!
Once per game you may take a Holiday turn instead of a regular turn. You get to choose which cards are in your deck for your Holiday turn.
The Holiday itself is a landscape with special effects which apply on your Holiday turn. It is like a Landmark or free Project that applies for just one turn.
In the card generator I am using a lovely lilac colour: R 1.2, G 1.1, B 1.5.
Rules:- Once per game, before the start of your turn, you may choose to take a Holiday turn instead of whatever turn you were going to take (whether it was going to be a regular turn, or an Outpost/Voyage/Possession/Mission etc turn).
- This choice happens after anything that triggers after the previous turn (like determining what type of turn it is) but before anything that triggers at the start of your turn.
- A Holiday turn is the same as whatever turn it is replacing except:
- At the start of your turn, you do the Going on Holiday effect. If other things also trigger at the start of your turn (including any special effects on the Holiday card itself), you choose the order.
- At the end of your turn (after Clean-up), you do the Returning Home effect. If other things also trigger at the end of your turn (including any special effects on the Holiday card itself), you choose the order.
- The special effects on the Holiday card apply.
Going on Holiday effect:- Put your deck into your discard pile.
- Look through your discard pile and set-aside any number of cards, putting them under the Holiday card.
Returning Home effect:- Put your hand and deck into your discard pile.
- Take the cards you set aside under the Holiday card and put them into your discard pile.
- Shuffle your discard pile and draw 5 cards.
My thoughts on power level / interest:
A generic holiday with no special effects is already a good thing, and free, so it would probably be used by each player at some point in the game.
I think this is ok - it is only once per game, and the decision of when to take the holiday should always be an interesting one.
The special effects on the holiday should be not too strong; they could even be negative. They should certainly be situational, and increase the interest in when (or if) the holiday should be taken.
Feedback appreciated.
I'll put some example Holidays in the next post.
EDITED 27th April: Changed the "Going on Holiday" effect to leave your current hand untouched. Removed the rule against taking a holiday in your first 2 turns.