Game Types

1. Introduction

¡Greetings alchemists! Today we will break down one of the improvements that the new version of Master Of Cladia has brought: game modes. 
As some of you already know, in Master Of Cladia there were some "game modes" that were based on special configurations or self-imposed rules among players, but... ¡With the latest update, game modes that really change the rules of the game have arrived!

2. Official game modes

We will start by looking at the "official" game modes. Basically, these are game modes that the game itself supports and changes the rules of the game by preventing us from performing certain actions or modifying mechanics. For now, we only have two "official" game modes, but we are working and thinking about what other game modes we could add.

2.1 Standard

It is the default game mode.

We have several ways to achieve victory:

• By conquest: that is, we kill all players.
• By talisman: we must finish a turn with all talisman fragments in our tower. We can achieve this by being faster than others to collect them around the world or directly taking them from other players.
• By apotheosis: we must cast the apotheosis ritual spell and have it complete without us having died or losing the contingency.

Therefore, in this game mode:

• We can attack enemy towers and eliminate other players.
• Talisman fragments are collected and brought instantly to our capital after picking them up.
• The number of talisman fragments is NumberWorlds 1 with a minimum of 3.
• Talisman fragments appear in sites or in settlements indistinguishably.

2.2 Talisman Search

This is a new game mode introduced by the new version.

We only have one way to achieve victory:

• Have at least one dragon in each settlement/site with a talisman at the end of the turn.

The peculiarities of this game mode are:

• We cannot attack enemy towers.
• Talisman fragments are not "collected" when we win combat over the location (site or settlement) where they are. (They stay where they are, they do not go to your tower instantly)
• The number of talisman fragments is always set to 3, regardless of the number of regions.
• Talisman fragments only appear in settlements.
• We cannot cast synthesize or apotheosis.

There are still aspects to be addressed in this game mode, such as that many skills, spells, or mechanics become completely unusable.

For example

The Active Contingency no longer makes sense because they cannot attack us

Dragon skills such as Teleport or Guard no longer make sense because they cannot attack our capital.

Settlement and site skills such as Abyssal City are useless because it is no point for kaustiko to defend us or Crysolite Mine because it is useless to hide if no one can attack us.

The same with spells such as Supreme Clairvoyance or Premonitory Dreams.

I think you get an idea of how many things are completely useless just because we cannot attack other players.

This game mode is highly polarized; matches last a couple of turns or extend for a very long time and still needs refinement to redirect those mechanics that have become useless.

3. Unofficial game modes

These "unofficial" game modes are those that work either due to a specific world configuration or self-imposed rules by the players.

3.1 Massacre

The first unofficial game mode favored by players is the "massacre" mode. This mode is based on the simple rule that the game configuration is: a single world where all players start the game.
That simple change has a huge impact on several aspects of the game. Suddenly, the world no longer offers resources for everyone, practically from the beginning you risk being eliminated or losing your initial dragon. The game becomes much more aggressive, and defeats can occur because a player goes bankrupt. Contingency loses usefulness, and spells such as apotheosis become practically infeasible.

This game mode can be played in Standard or Talisman Search. 

3.2 Teams

The second unofficial game mode is the "team" mode. While we are working on actually including team play mechanics such as sharing ingredient knowledge or discovered spells, it is already viable to use an external communication channel to coordinate with other players to play together.
This mode has no science, it is simply self-imposed rules by players. Players are distributed into teams usually of 2 or 3 members who constantly share recipes or the rotation order of merchants. Yet, for example, the game is not prepared so that if all team members have all the talismans it is considered that the team has won, or if, for example, one of your teammates wins, it counts as a loss in your stats.

4. Conclusion

That's all, alchemists. 
Which is your favorite game mode? Do you have ideas to give a second life to those elements that in the "Talisman Search" mode become obsolete?
We would be delighted to read your feedback.
See you in Cladia.