Closing The Loop On The Game Mechanic

March 23, 2016 Posted By: Mihnea

Ever since we started thinking about Run An Empire, we’ve been aiming to develop a game that’s accessible and fun, and requires the same tactical planning as the digital and tabletop games we already enjoy – but rooted in the real world where physical actions make a difference.

The game’s features have evolved considerably since the concept stage, but the main objective remains the same: use your run strategically to capture as much territory as you can.

So our most recent build update is about the underlying game mechanics. We’ve been using these new features internally for some time and we’re sure they’re going to help balance play and increase the strategic elements that have always been at the heart of Run An Empire.

Introducing Tile Decay

We’ve seen that time plays a big part in tile ownership. Those who have joined the Beta recently will know that some parts of the world are almost unobtainable due to high-scoring players who perhaps haven’t opened the game for 6 months. Tile decay addresses that by reducing every player’s influence over a tile by 1 point each day (all existing and future runs are now worth 10 points too). This brings the emphasis onto recent activity, making a more dynamic play space that reflects your current competitors.

We’ve also added a cap to how strongly you can own a tile. This is to avoid runaway tile ownership and encourage players to compete for new territory. At the moment that cap is set to a ginormous 500 points.

Time Check

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Time Check limits a player’s run time to one hour, with a cooldown period of 24 hours since the start of their last run.

We think this gives a finishing touch to the overall spirit of the game, which is about strategy and determination. It also hinders unfair strategies such as going on several short runs in quick succession, through the same area, in order to capture those hexes quickly.

The objective is to capture as much territory as possible within this timeframe. Once you’ve ended and uploaded your run, you’ll be able to have another go 24 hours after the time you started.

And now you can finally put all those hard-earned coins to better use! You can spend them to extend your run or to remove your 24-hour cool-down. Speaking of coins…

Coin Raiding

Every time you go for a run, you can now ‘raid’ coins for all the enemy hexes you run through! You’ll need to collect them yourself – to do so, just open up the Run Review screen and tap on the coin collection button.

All of these features are already live as part of the iOS Beta. Happy running!

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