Gameplay Concepts

Out of Combat

• So I'm thinking that ruins have puzzles involving the point and click movement type of boards outside of combat. (I think Clash of Heroes did this a bit?) Pretty much the generic puzzles in RPGs, but explicitly for the walk-around system we have.
• Towns, in contrast, are largely freely navigable. Rumors, lore, and/or other optional content may require puzzles of some kind to access, but the main progress inside towns should be uninhibited in direction or timing. Exceptions are of course say during attacks or something.

General Combat

Moves

• The current idea is very similar to Clash, each player gets four moves by default, and is able to swap two adjacent blocks a la Puzzle Quest or delete a block to cause a cascade a la Clash. Like in Clash of Heroes, the move is refunded if deleting a block causes a match, because I think this adds a lot more strategy to using the delete rather than a 'last resort' when one can't swap two pieces.
  • One thing I'm thinking, because this has a full board AND a preview of upcoming blocks, is unlike Clash of Heroes (and more like Puzzle Quest), after the board is originally generated matched sets CAN end up coming to fill empty spaces, though it's not explicitly likely. Both because insuring they don't match will require a lot of effort for something that may add no strategic value and because with the next row visible I feel like thought should be put into trying to predict the next row and efforts should be rewarded rather than fucked over.

Matches

• So as established in late night calls, when matching a surplus of a color, only tetrominoes are a possibility, sets of five or more are not. I'm thinking if five blocks end up next to each other due to a spell (either an enemy spell or a side benefit from one's own), when they are next able the player draws the desired tetromino in the group, so as to prevent the system to screw someone over by defaulting to a tetromino they don't want. Should be relevantly easily to code and communicate.

Spells

• Every character has at least three, I'd say at most five spells usable in combat. Every character probably has least five, probably no more than ten spells learnable. Leaning towards eight, to provide a sufficient mix of physical, mental, and combination attack and defense for each (or a focus on solely one if that's what the player wants).
• Timing: Like Clash of Heroes' supers, spells can be used any time before the last move is consumed (possibly with the option to pause and use it right after the last move, because I know I've derped on my super before). Additionally, a few select spells (exceptions, not the rules) may be used as at another/any point, more likely in my head with the possibility of counterspelling.
• Cost: As detailed below in blocks, I imagine physical spells affect physical blocks, mental spells affect mental blocks, and a combination is needed to affect special or neutral blocks. Attack is used to mess with an opponent's board/blocks, defense is one's own. Certain characters may have additional gates for their spells, like being required to sacrifice special blocks, counters on doing/receiving damage, simply cooldowns that are over the course of a number of turns, et cetera. The sky's the limit, as long as it adds meaningful gameplay.

Visual and Sound Cues

• As mentioned, I was thinking a quick still image would flash on the screen of the character performing a spell, accompanied by a quick sound file. Just to make spells feel fancy for people who want it (and an option they can turn off if they don't, bastards).

Probably a quick slash for matching damage and a little ding for matching anything but neutral, which may have a little 'whomp.' Deleting a block would have an even deeper 'whomp' sound, blocks falling into the board would probably have a little 'thud,' probably higher pitched though.

• • Swapping two adjacent blocks would probably have just a little ding, and matching a set would have a ding chord or something, a 'fuller' sound.
  • Special blocks, when used for their purpose, would probably have a little jingle they do, like a little eight note jingle that's like a second. Each type would probably have the same jingle, just to have audial feedback be consistent for this.
  • More on the visuals of blocks in the block section below, as you already know.

Artifacts

If these exist, I imagine they exist largely as a secondary positive passive, used either to complement the positive passive and go min/max or to try to cover up the negative side of one's passive. Gain 25% from matching this type, heal X amount of health when matching these types, uh shit I actually had some ideas that were not QUITE as boring for secondary passives but two in the morning forgetting cough. Oh well. Spawning certain types of blocks slightly more frequently? Still not as good as a few I had. WHOOPS SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS SOONER Oh wait perhaps something like 'both characters take additional/less damage,' the former benefiting an offensive character like Koray while the latter a defensive one like Karm.

BLOCKS

Seven 'types' of blocks.

• Damage. What it says on the tin, does direct damage to enemy health when matched.

Shaped as skulls? Bit generic, biting from Puzzle Quest too much. Leaning towards metallic-colored swords, one pointing up one point down. Neutral. Kinda not sold on these existing SOLELY as a waste of board space. At first I was like 'Well Card City Nights make neutrals work' but neutrals work because they become what type they're matched with, they're more wildcards. It's possible we could do similar, but that might be too flexible. The one thing that works with them currently is I imagine there's 'chain' types of bonuses and/or spells that benefit from having multiple active ones, so they could be used for that. Still, I dunno.

• • Gray, much less shiny than other blocks, only slightly detailed beyond being a single color.
• Physical Attack. Probably not a great name. Use for spells that largely focus on manipulating physical blocks (attack OR defense) on an opponent's boards, in addition to other effects embodied by assaulting.
  • Colors for these four types of blocks? No strong feelings on them myself so any suggestions are welcome, just in general want to avoid red and green from being normal blocks, due to red-green colorblindness being the most common. (for full colorblindness, we'd need to add identifies to each type, but that's not as important (current ideas for true colorblind: fist for physical, brain for mental, sword in the lower left or right for attack, shield for defense))
• Physical Defense. Use for spells for manipulating physical blocks on one's own board (attack or defense) in addition to other effects emboding by physical resilience.
• Mental Attack. Same as physical but for mental. Was originally thinking this might extend to neutral and special blocks too, but that would unbalance physical and mental, leading to the much clearer solution: Spells that manipulate neutral or special blocks require both physical and mental blocks. Derp.
• Mental Defense. Ditto.
• Special. Half as common as other blocks (1 in 13 as opposed to 2 in 13), these blocks are specific to each character and have their own effect.
  • In my head, all these blocks have different looks detailed on the respective character pages, but the one thing is common with all of them is they're circular blocks inside the square block shapes to make them distinctively visible from others regardless. In addition, they'll be the most detailed blocks, with designs inside of them instead of just a shiny color.