Sky Mappers

SKY MAPPERS – the race to collect constellations in ancient Greece

Sky Mappers is currently seeking a publisher. Want to know more about it? Contact me at your convenience!

In the Sky Mappers card game, players are astronomers racing to record their constellations and other discoveries they spy in the night sky. Each turn a player has a hand of cards, and with it they choose to:

• Play a card to build on to a set: Players must arrange Star Cards in a Sky Field in front of them, so that the cards match the pattern on the various constellation cards either in their hand or on the draw piles.
• Record an item to the Folio: there are a lot of mysterious heavenly bodies floating around there in the night sky that don’t seem to be like stars…Add records of these to your Folio, and you’ll have a secret points bank to factor into your total points at the end of the game.
• Play a Special Effect: several ways to strengthen one’s position and inflict a “take that” effect against one’s rivals exists, from “Debate Champion” to “Shared Discovery” to “I Spied It First!” All these cards help a player add to their current constellation piles or Folio. Don’t like another player’s Special Effect? Then play “Absolutely NO Interruptions!” and cancel out their Special Effect so you can go back to work – and winning!

As soon as a player completes a Constellation, they reveal or claim the Constellation card, and collect all the corresponding Star Cards from their Sky Field into a Constellation stack. This is kept until the end of the game, when Final Scoring takes place.

The game ends after a final round when there are no cards left to draw. Players then count up the Stars in their Constellations as well as the Discoveries in their Folio. Whichever player has the most points wins the game!

WILL THIS GAME SELL? YES!

• Accessible: the basic learning curve of the game is not steep and setup is simply an initial shuffle and deal, allowing for quick integration of new players. The theme is light, family-oriented, and accessible, featuring plenty of competition but no direct conflict or violence. Intended age of players is about 12 to Adult.
• Compact Production Footprint: the essential game consists of a deck of cards. No other components needed, which prevents extended production times or additional production costs.
• Familiar Mechanics: drawing cards, building matching sets are the main mechanics present in the game. New players will quickly familiarize themselves with the “wrinkles” presented through the Special Effects and Folio points bank.
• Tactical Depth: new players will adapt and succeed quickly, while experienced players will be able to maximize their position by utilizing Special Effects and cards banked in the Folio. Though the luck of the draw is a significant factor, the dual-purpose of each card allows players to never have a “dead hand” or be disadvantaged beyond their control for too long.
• Secret Points: the ability to “bank a card” in the player’s Folio allows them a chance to win up until the very end of the game, regardless of any player’s apparent point lead.
• Abbreviated Play Time: Sky Mappers is a game for 2 to 4 players that finishes in 30 -45 minutes. Multiple games can be played with the same group in a relatively short amount of time, and each match will provide plenty of variety.

SKY MAPPERS is currently seeking a publisher, and is making the rounds at local game conventions. See Sky Mappers at UNPUB 2016 this coming Spring!