
ALCAZAR RULES

"Alcazar" is a card game in which each player has a tower that they need to defend.  A tower has a rating between 0 to 100.  If a player has a tower that reaches 100 or more, that player automatically wins.  If a player's tower reaches 0, the player has lost.

Each player also has a wall that protects their tower.  Walls have no limits on size.  Most damage is inflicted on the wall first and then any leftover damage is then applied to the player's tower.  For instance, if you have a wall of 3 and a tower of 15 and took 6 damage, your wall would then be 0 and your tower would be 12.  Some cards, however, can deal damage directly to a tower, completely bypassing a wall.

Cards themselves are arranged in a collection called a hand.  Each player's hand always contains 6 cards.  Cards may only be played during a player's turn.  Cards have varying effects, which are displayed by typing  PLAY SCORE  (you must be participating in an active Alcazar game to use this command).  To play a card, you must pay its "cost".  Each card has one of four costs:


         FREE:      the card is free to play.  It requires nothing.
         BRICKS:    the card requires a certain number of bricks to play.
         GEMS:      the card requires a certain number of gems to play.
         CREATURES: the card requires a certain number of creatures to play.
         

To play the cards, each player has a number of resources called "bricks", "gems", and "creatures".  At the beginning of every turn, each player gains bricks from his/her quarry (a generator for bricks), gems from his/her magic, and creatures from his/her zoo.  For instance, if you have a quarry of 2, a magic of 1, and a zoo of 4, then at the beginning of every turn (your opponent's turn included), you will gain 2 bricks, 1 gem, and 4 creatures.  You can use these resources to play cards.  Optionally, you can automatically win the game by having an exceptionally high resource.

Additional costs: some cards have effects that cause you to lose resources, wall, or generators.  For example, a card may say "deals 5 damage to enemy, lose 2 gems" and cast 2 bricks to play.  You will lose the 2 bricks for sure, but if you have less than 2 gems, you can still play this card.  You won't wind up with negative gems.  Use this to your advantage to avoid paying some of these costs.

Playing again: some cards let you play them and then play again immediately.  You will draw a new card and get to play again. Yes, this does count as the beginning of another turn, so you (and your opponent) will gain resources from the generators again.

Other play options: you may forfeit at any time to immediately lose.  You may also pass your turn by playing nothing or by discarding a card.  See  PLAY for more details.

Winning conditions:  you win if (a) your opponent's tower is 0, (b) your tower reaches 100, or (c) any of your resources are at or above 500 at the end of your turn.

The game has no timer on it.  This may change in future versions of Alcazar.

ALCAZAR COMMANDS:

PLAY HELP                           -- Displays these rules.
PLAY NEWGAME WITH <opponent name>   -- Starts a new game with your opponent.
PLAY SCORE                          -- Displays your current cards and all their details.
                                       Also displays you and your opponents score, tower,
                                       wall, quarry, bricks, magic, gems, zoo, creatures,
                                       and who's turn it is.
PLAY QUIT                           -- You'll automatically be taken out of the game, leaving your opponent as the winner.
PLAY CARD <card #>                  -- Executes the card of your choice into play.
PLAY PASS                           -- Passes your turn to your opponent.  No cards are exchanged or lost.
PLAY DISCARD <card #>               -- Same as PLAY PASS, but exchanges the card of your choice for a new card from the deck.

ALCAZAR ROSTER                      -- Shows you who's on the top 20 Alcazar score list.
ALCAZAR ROSTER SHOW                 -- Shows you on the top 20 Alcazar score list. (If you're in the top 20).
ALCAZAR ROSTER HIDE                 -- Hides you from the top 20 Alcazar score list. (If you're in the top 20).
