Before I delve into all of the new gameplay mechanics grafted, at least on first pass, into Nocked like some unhinged Frankensteinian monster, I want to talk a little bit about what survived the purge: granular resources.
Granular resources are the immediate, tangible gratification; rewards you receive for taking specific actions, and that can be spent for immediate effect. The granular resource triangle is composed of gold, renown, and men. While each can be applied to different purpose – building structures, convincing allies, scouting the forest, etc. – they can also be traded one for another.
There's a fourth, related resource that also survived the purge – tactical experience. This is the amount of gold each of your merry men raids from the sheriff’s tax collectors at the end of every game season. If this were a board game, you can think of it as the thing that happens automatically at the end of your turn.
The tension and interplay between spending, trading, and saving your granular resources was a primary driver in the first iteration of the game. It's revised importance will be revealed as we continue our examination of Nocked’s gameplay restructuring for desktop.
Next time we’ll examine the far end of the gameplay spectrum, the entirely new regional mechanics.
Gold, Renown, Men. Ignore them at your peril.