Empower

The escalating battle to collect magical energy
Designed by Brian Powers & Greg Powers
No. of players: 2-4
Ages: 12 +
Playing time: 60-120 minutes

An untapped source of magical energy has been discovered deep underground and many Wizards are vying to make it their own. You must summon a dwarfling army to escort you and fight off the other Wizards.  As you collect more power, you will be able to sustain more powerful units. To be victorious, you must be the first Wizard to become fully empowered, thereby achieving the title of Master Summoner.  But it is a close race with your rival Wizards and there is no time to lose.

Empower is a perfect information strategy game with an emphasis on tactical movement.  It uses a proximity based combat system without any randomization, relying instead on combined attacks and  simple unit interactions.  Unit attacks and interactions are passive, rather than activated, so it is always easy to read the game-state.  Players get to customize their armies by summoning from a selection of five units with unique abilities.  A player’s summoning rate and unit cap are regulated by a sliding scale of Energy, which increases over the course of the game.  Movement is limited, so players must balance their efforts between escorting their own Wizard through the cavern and stalling their opponents.  The objective of Empower is not conquest, but to be the first to collect enough Energy Gems, so the player who is able to plan ahead and predict their opponent’s moves will be the winner.

Notes: Units will need to be redesigned (the rulebook and prototype are based around pieces from Nexus Ops).  This makes for a more flexible theme.  Plastic models are preferred, but wooden tokens would be sufficient.
Game Development Stage:  Prototype complete with full rulebook.

Required Components:
1 Rule Book (12 pages half sheet)
4 Player guides
14 board tiles; 8 Large Board Tiles (4 designs), 6 Corner Board Tiles (single design)
4 Portal Tokens (1 of each color)
100 plastic units (25 of each color); 12 Skirmishers, 3 Illusionists, 3 Shieldmaidens, 3 Acid Spiders,
3 Boar Riders, 1Wizard
36 Energy Gems (9 of each color)

Printable PDF of this page: Empower Spec Sheet