Prowl Design Diaries #3: Turn Order Tactics

Art of War

Though a quick, compact game, Prowl is deeply tactical, and its simplicity (“just use one card each turn, and after 5 cards the game ends!”) provides the substrate for a surprising amount of depth. Prowl hence serves as a great warm-up for heavier titles later in a game session, with enough strategy to sink your teeth into — without the bloat or long run-times bigger games. In this article and others, we'll try to showcase the skills that you can weave into a game as short as Prowl.

In the previous Tactics update we discussed card advantage, so today we wanted to talk about how player order – if you're going first, second, or third, etc. – can influence the way you play the game. All players get the same five turns, but when you get to go can influence your optimal strategy.

Queuing Up

A big part of Prowl's gameplay is its 5-round cadence. You'll always get 5 actions – no more, no less. This has the effect of making the "last turn" of the game telegraphed well in advance: the table will know exactly who the last action of the game goes to. 

Because of this, the earlier you go, the more you'll need to plan around your upcoming friends' actions. In Prowl the "endgame" starts as early as your 3rd or 4th card. By then – especially if you're an earlier player – you'll want to have a rough idea of how to interfere or disrupt the others' plans. This might be via card effects, moving the track into an unfavourable state, or even just making simple Accusations (and forcing them to Change their clans).

Conversely, if you're going later in the turn order, you're inheriting a preconfigured problem. Your earlier friends have all sent their last agents out into the field, and you've got one final shot at making a change. While it might be liberating to have the last word, it also means that your friends have all been planning around you – a single wrong move, and you'll be playing right into their hands.

Wait for It…

One mechanic that cares a lot about turn order is the game's Early and Final cards. The former only trigger their effects if played in the opening rounds of the game, while the latter only do so if you save them for the finale.

This means that the earlier you go in turn order, the sooner you'll be able to make use of these Final cards. Many of these are as powerful as they are situational, meaning that if you play towards them (even as you plan around your enemies), you can often throw a wrench in your subsequent friend's plans.

Seizing the Chance

In a game as quick as Prowl, victory can slip out of your grasp in but a moment. Even as the clans shift around you, it pays to be mindful of who's acting before and after you. Played right, your opponents will find themselves reacting to your plans, unable to effectively advance their own agendas. Mess it up, however, and you'll find yourself trapped, with victory just out of grasp. While there's always an element of uncertainty amidst the chaos, those able to time their schemes to their enemies' plans will find the most success.