Stricken is a hidden-information game. The game uses a lattice with 5 layers. Each layer has 25 points.
1. Shells and information
- Each side starts with 12 active shells.
- Each shell contains one bead. A bead has 1 to 4 capabilities.
- The capabilities are Inspire, Ward, Pulse, and Sap.
- Your shells display every ability they contain. An eye-off marks it Hidden; an eye marks it Revealed after its first use.
- Opponent shells display only Revealed abilities, plus a question mark while hidden information remains.
- A question mark never identifies a specific ability.
Capability permissions
InspireActive. Adjacent allies permanently gain +1 Power, with no cap.
WardActive. Adjacent allies permanently gain +1 Defense, with no cap.
PulseActive. Every adjacent shell takes damage equal to the actor's Power.
SapActive. Clear an adjacent enemy's buffs and disable its abilities.
Any active shell can Drift or Attack. An unsilenced shell can also use any ability contained in its bead.
2. Turn sequence
- Select one active shell.
- Select one normal action.
- For a target action, select one highlighted target. The action commits immediately.
- The other side starts its turn after the action.
A silenced shell cannot use Inspire, Ward, Pulse, or Sap. It can still Drift or Attack.
3. Power and Defense
- Each shell starts at 1 Power / 1 Defense.
- Inspire buffs add to Power. Ward buffs add to Defense.
- Power and Defense are printed directly on every shell and are always Revealed.
- Damage reduces Defense and persists.
- A shell is destroyed when Defense reaches 0.
4. Normal actions
Drift
Select one adjacent point along one axis. The target point must be inside the lattice and empty.
Attack
Any active shell can Attack one adjacent opponent shell.
- Both shells use Power. Both shells take damage at the same time.
- A shell that reaches 0 Defense is destroyed; its owner scores the target shell's original capability count.
- If both shells are destroyed, both sides score the original capability count of the shell they destroyed. No shell advances.
- If only the target is destroyed, the attacker advances into the target point.
Inspire
The acting shell must have Inspire and at least one adjacent ally. Every adjacent ally permanently gains +1 Power. The acting shell does not buff itself, and the buff has no cap.
Ward
The acting shell must have Ward and at least one adjacent ally. Every adjacent ally permanently gains +1 Defense. The acting shell does not buff itself, and the buff has no cap.
Pulse
The acting shell must have Pulse and at least one adjacent shell. Every adjacent shell takes damage equal to the actor's current Power, including friendly shells. The acting shell is not adjacent to itself and takes no damage.
Sap
The acting shell must have Sap. Select one adjacent active opponent shell.
Sap removes every Inspire and Ward buff from the target and permanently disables all of its abilities. It does not reveal the target's Hidden abilities.
- The target can still Drift and Attack.
- If losing Ward buffs leaves it at 0 Defense, it is destroyed.
- Sap does not deal combat damage.
5. Foretell
- Each side has 3 Foretell orders for one game.
- Toggle Foretell in the Action card to open the inline controls.
- Select a structurally valid action and a delay of 2 or 3 of your turns. Foretell mode uses the same actor/target board flow as a normal action.
- Choose the action button, then click the actor and target on the board; the normal final click seals the order and ends your turn.
- At the due start of your turn, the order opens if the actor and target are still valid; otherwise it fizzles.
- A successful open introduces the actual action event before it resolves.
- A shell can have one unresolved Foretell. Two Foretell orders cannot have the same due turn.
- Each ability has a two-turn owner cooldown: used on owner turn 1, ready on owner turn 4.
6. End conditions
- You win automatically at 15 points with a lead of at least 3, or when no opponent shells remain.
- Destroying or capturing a shell scores the total number of capabilities originally in that shell.
- Destroyed and captured shells reveal all original capabilities.
These rules are an original reconstruction. The rules are not canonical. The game is inspired by Iain M. Banks's The Player of Games.