Garrett
Designer of Hollow Cell
In this article I wanted to focus on the primary mechanics of the game. Hollow Cell at its core is a first person shooter video game in a dice and card form. I loved playing these kinds of video games and really wanted to create that feel around a table. I believe that Hollow Cell has successfully created that kind of experience for players.
To set up the game, players will be dealt warrior cards in which they will choose one to play. The remaining will be shuffled back into the warrior deck. Each warrior has their own unique ability. Follow the text on their card for any special set up instructions and place a life die at 5 on their card. This die will track their life points. When a warrior has 0 life points, they are defeated and that player will bring a different warrior into play.
There is also an event deck of 21 cards. These cards represent the actions of the Hedonix who oversee the battle as well as naturalistic events that may occur during the game. There are also 3 Sudden Event cards in the main Hollow Cell deck. When one of these cards are drawn during game-play, the game will freeze and an event card is drawn with the results happening immediately. There are some set up rules that must occur so that the event card, “The Dust Bomb,” will turn up at a certain point in the game. This is a card that will heighten the tension in the game and cause battles to result in defeat much quicker. After the event deck is set up, each player will be dealt 5 cards from the Hollow Cell deck.
There are also a certain amount of Hollow Cell dice placed on the Cache board which is placed in the center of the play area. The amount of these dice depends on the number of players which is anywhere from 2-6 players. The Grenade, Ration and Defensive dice are placed next to the cache board. Each player will also receive a reference card.
The game will begin with the player who is controlling the warrior with the lowest initiative number which is displayed on the warrior card. When it is a player's turn, they will follow these steps in order.
I do not intend to explain each of these steps in detail other than to briefly mention how step 3 is played. This is the main step of a player's turn and where the excitement mostly takes place. The active player may play as many cards as they want on their turn as long as they are able to. If they play a card to equip their warrior, they will place it at a plug that will connect the equipment to the warrior. Each warrior has plugs around the outside edge of their card. If there requires any Hollow Cell dice to be placed on the card to equip it, those dice must be present at the cache, otherwise the card may not be equipped. Once the card is equipped, it may be used immediately as stated on the card.
Cards can be played from a player's hand to attack other players. When this happens, the attacker will announce who they are attacking and how. Once this is announced, the defender can discard any cards in hand as a means to jump out of the way. Most cards will have a note about how many defensive dice can be rolled if discarded and if there are any special rules if a focus result is rolled during an attack. Once this happens, both players roll their dice and deal with the results. If a defender is hit, they may still react with a unique card in hand or an equipped card that has a rule in reference to an attack. Each hit against the defender will reduce their hit points by one. If an attacker defeats a player, they will receive their warrior card as a victory banner. They will also take all of their equipped cards and if the defender was in a building, they may take the building card and enter it immediately or discard it. The defeated player will then discard their hand of cards, draw a new Warrior card to player and draw a new hand of 5 cards.
If any player receives 3 victory banners, they win.
That is a very basic understanding of the game. There is more to it, but it is very easy to learn and play. Once the rules have been finalized, they will be posted for all to read.
In the next article, I will take some time to share how Grenade and Ration cards work with their own unique dice mechanics.
To set up the game, players will be dealt warrior cards in which they will choose one to play. The remaining will be shuffled back into the warrior deck. Each warrior has their own unique ability. Follow the text on their card for any special set up instructions and place a life die at 5 on their card. This die will track their life points. When a warrior has 0 life points, they are defeated and that player will bring a different warrior into play.
There is also an event deck of 21 cards. These cards represent the actions of the Hedonix who oversee the battle as well as naturalistic events that may occur during the game. There are also 3 Sudden Event cards in the main Hollow Cell deck. When one of these cards are drawn during game-play, the game will freeze and an event card is drawn with the results happening immediately. There are some set up rules that must occur so that the event card, “The Dust Bomb,” will turn up at a certain point in the game. This is a card that will heighten the tension in the game and cause battles to result in defeat much quicker. After the event deck is set up, each player will be dealt 5 cards from the Hollow Cell deck.
There are also a certain amount of Hollow Cell dice placed on the Cache board which is placed in the center of the play area. The amount of these dice depends on the number of players which is anywhere from 2-6 players. The Grenade, Ration and Defensive dice are placed next to the cache board. Each player will also receive a reference card.
The game will begin with the player who is controlling the warrior with the lowest initiative number which is displayed on the warrior card. When it is a player's turn, they will follow these steps in order.
- May discard down to 1 card
- Draw until you have 5 cards in hand.
- Attack and Equip Warrior
- Replace Hollow Cell dice
- Draw 1 card
I do not intend to explain each of these steps in detail other than to briefly mention how step 3 is played. This is the main step of a player's turn and where the excitement mostly takes place. The active player may play as many cards as they want on their turn as long as they are able to. If they play a card to equip their warrior, they will place it at a plug that will connect the equipment to the warrior. Each warrior has plugs around the outside edge of their card. If there requires any Hollow Cell dice to be placed on the card to equip it, those dice must be present at the cache, otherwise the card may not be equipped. Once the card is equipped, it may be used immediately as stated on the card.
Cards can be played from a player's hand to attack other players. When this happens, the attacker will announce who they are attacking and how. Once this is announced, the defender can discard any cards in hand as a means to jump out of the way. Most cards will have a note about how many defensive dice can be rolled if discarded and if there are any special rules if a focus result is rolled during an attack. Once this happens, both players roll their dice and deal with the results. If a defender is hit, they may still react with a unique card in hand or an equipped card that has a rule in reference to an attack. Each hit against the defender will reduce their hit points by one. If an attacker defeats a player, they will receive their warrior card as a victory banner. They will also take all of their equipped cards and if the defender was in a building, they may take the building card and enter it immediately or discard it. The defeated player will then discard their hand of cards, draw a new Warrior card to player and draw a new hand of 5 cards.
If any player receives 3 victory banners, they win.
That is a very basic understanding of the game. There is more to it, but it is very easy to learn and play. Once the rules have been finalized, they will be posted for all to read.
In the next article, I will take some time to share how Grenade and Ration cards work with their own unique dice mechanics.
