Doom and Redemption!

So, this week, I was all excited to start working on the Title of Liberty cardset, printing them out and getting them cut and sleeved, ready for playtesting. By the way, if you want to help playtest, just email me!

Then my son and I were talking about decks from the Scripture Mastery set, and he started wondering out loud if he could make a One-Turn-Kill deck. In Yu-Gi-Oh, that's where you kill off your opponent in, obviously, one turn. In this case, it would be a One-Turn-Win, since nobody dies in Seeker's Quest.

I thought, No way. It can't happen. I've set all of the verses where you receive blessings to have high sacrifice costs. But he thought that he could get enough draw verses going to overcome that. I was still skeptical, but I was, honestly, scared.

Well, to shorten the long story, he did it. It was a wicked deck, filled with verses that allowed him to draw blessings, and verses that allowed him to draw verses, both from his deck and the discard. Three games in a row, he won before I even got a chance to freeplay my first verse.

In the game design world, this is known as "Breaking the Game". I would have been thrilled if we had discovered this in the early playtesting phases of making the game. Instead, it came to light after the cards were designed and already available to the public! Yikes!

Seriously, I was quite dejected.

But, soon after, I regrouped, and he and I started talking about ways to "nerf" the verses in question.

Let me explain that. In his video/online gaming circles, if a game company makes a facet of a game weaker or harder to use, it has been "nerfed". To understand this word, think of a real sword, and next to it, a Nerf sword. That should clear up any confusion.

So, we had to nerf the blessing draw verses, and we did that by setting it up so that after receiving the blessing, you end your turn. That way, the other guy gets to play. We also nerfed the verse draws, so that they're not so many, or for greater cost. And, the few verses that pull from the discard, like "Judgement Day" don't pull quite so many, so easily.

That meant that I had to rework the graphics of the verses, and re-upload them into The Game Crafter's website. It took me a while to do all that, but it's done, now. Anyone who buys any of the Seeker's Quest products (Full games, boosters, or pre-con decks) will all contain the new versions of the verses.

There are a few of you who have bought the game already, and for you, if you contact me, and tell me which game set you bought, I'll make up a special booster with the right cards and get it sent off to you.

Here are a few of the "new" verses:

Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.

The Title of Liberty

I'm really excited!

I've been working on a first draft of a whole new set of Seeker's Quest verses!

This set is tentatively titled "The Title of Liberty" and will cover the books of Alma, Helaman, 3rd Nephi, and maybe 4th Nephi as well.

There are some fun new mechanics! One is called "Battle". When a battle is activated, your opponent puts verses from his/her deck into his/her discard. If that happens enough, you can cripple your opponents. Remember, unlike Magic, or Yu-Gi-Oh, having an empty deck doesn't lose you the game. However, with nothing to draw, you're out of resources, and it will be difficult to carry on!

Another mechanic is the "Cross Reference". A cross reference verse will mention another verse. If you have that referenced verse in your hand when you trigger the Cross Reference effect, you can set it immediately.

We're also exploring the markers, with some new ones, like Righteous and Unrighteous Characters, and Locations. The "Wartime" marker boost the Battle effect.

So, what does all this mean?

Well, first I have to finish the first draft of the verses. I'm making them all on a big spreadsheet. Then, when I've got them done (I'm shooting for about 125 finished cards), then I'll flow the spreadsheet into a form and print out some prototype cards. These are the ugly ones, without graphics. Then, I'll tediously cut them apart and sleeve them.

Then the real work begins! Playtesting! We'll test the set in isolation, meaning using randomized decks only of the new set. We may find some problems that we'll have to fix.  Then, we'll mix the new verses in with the original Scripture Mastery set, and test that mix, using random decks.  Finally, we'll make some decks and test those against each other, using both sets.

If you're interested in playtesting, just let me know by emailing me at mrkhmusic@yahoo.com, and we'll get you in on the party!




Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.

Card of the week: Who Are You?

Verse:  GConf Apr 2016, Thomas S Monson, Pst Sess

Text: “You are a child of promise. You are a man of might. You are a son of God.”

Verse Rule: EFFECT: Draw a Verse
Sacrifice Cost: 1
Markers: Priesthood, Wisdom
Icons: W, L

In recent years, I’ve had a lot of fun creating a booster of verses with quotes from conference talks. I’ve posted them from time to time here to show, but until last week, they weren’t available for purchase. Now they are!  https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/seeker-s-quest-voices-of-the-latter-days-boosters

This verse is from our most recent Priesthood session. It’s quite an inspirational line. It’s good to remember where we came from and who we are. The inspiration is played out in drawing another verse.

Seeker’s Quest! It’s the most fun you can have with your scriptures! To get the game, and get in on the fun, go to https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/seeker-s-quest-scripture-mastery-set

Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.

Card of the week: Write Our Stories

Verse:  BoM, 2 Nephi 25:23

Text: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ.”

Verse Rule: DISCARD: Mastery
Sacrifice Cost: 1
Markers: Histories
Icons: W, H, L

In Evangelical Christian theological circles, it’s often believed that Mormons are not Christian. Whether or not that’s true depends on what you mean by “Christian”. I don’t see how someone can look at this verse, or another one close to it, in verse 25, and think that we’re not Christian.

In reality, it simply means that even though we all strive to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, if I don’t believe the same things about Jesus that you do, then you can label me “not a true Christian”.

Oh, well...

The verse rules of this card were actually inspired by a mechanic from Magic: the Gathering. In that game, if someone plays a card that you don’t like, and you have a card with the “counter” ability, you can make your opponent’s play fizzle, and his card is discarded.

It’s a way to either keep your opponent from getting too much traction, or to prevent the play of a really powerful card.

In Seeker’s Quest, however, we do that with a twist: The DISCARD: Mastery mechanic! It’s a DISCARD ability, so you can trigger it in someone else’s turn, when they play something. That also means that you have to discard your verse, so you can’t go doing it over and over, unless you have more verses with the ability. “Mastery” means that your opponent has to be able to quote the text of the verse he’s attempting to play in order to successfully play it!

It means that when you’re about to make a key play, you’ll want to read over your verses in case someone goes all Mastery on you!

Seeker’s Quest! It’s the most fun you can have with your scriptures! To get the game, and get in on the fun, go to https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/seeker-s-quest-scripture-mastery-set

Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.

Card of the Week - Receive Me

Verse: DC, D&C 84:35

Text: “And also they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord.”

Verse Rule: ABILITY: When you play this verse or another priesthood verse, you may draw a verse.
Sacrifice Cost: 2
Markers: Priesthood
Icons:  S, W, F

There are many things that make Mormonism (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) different from other religions, even unique among Christian sects. Many of them are cultural, some are political, others are doctrinal.

One difference between us and other Christians that I feel is key is the priesthood authority that we claim. We believe that the early church organized by Jesus and the apostles fell into apostacy over the years. We believe that as the apostles, who were chosen and ordained by Jesus Himself, were killed or died, that priesthood was lost.

We also believe that this priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith and others as a part of the overall restoration of the Gospel in the 1830’s and 1840’s. There are many revelations explaining the priesthood and documenting this restoration, but the best one to read is D&C 20.

This week’s featured verse is all about receiving that priesthood. It allows you draw a verse everytime you play a verse with a priesthood marker.

This verse doesn’t have a thematic marker. I thought it would be a little interesting to have a verse with just the priesthood marker, but to give it three different icons instead.

Seeker’s Quest! It’s the most fun you can have with your scriptures! To get the game, and get in on the fun, go to https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/seeker-s-quest-scripture-mastery-set

Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.

Latter-Day Voices

Each time General Conference rolls around, I have a lot of fun on Twitter and Facebook! I love livetweeting what I'm hearing, and reading the thoughts that others post. You can kind of get a feeling for the zeitgeist of Mormondom based on the lines they tweet. Those are the quotes that hit people.

So, I pick out some of the more commonly tweeted and retweeted lines, and I've started to make those into verse cards! Between last year's conferences and this year's, I'll soon have enough for a booster to make available.

Here are some of the ones for this year:

This one, named "Crazy Life" came from Pres Uchtdorf's Saturday talk about simplifying life. I grabbed that one word and decided that was the power of the verse. I'll make it simple, with the Quote mechanic!

When Elder Maynes talked about the pottery class, and then the sister after him also mentioned the concept in some hymn lyrics, I knew that would make a great verse card. Especially since the potter's whee is such a cool visual. This quote was a nice gem of wisdom, so the icons were easy to choose. I didn't think this one needed any special rules.

So, those will do instead of the regular featured card of the week, right?




Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.

Card of the Week - Rememberance

Verse:  NT, Luke 24:8

Text: “...And they remembered his words.”

Verse Rule: Quote OR DISCARD: Play after chosen player fails to quote a verse. That quote attempt succeeded instead.
Sacrifice Cost: 1
Markers: Wisdom
Icons: W, H

So, this is kind of a fun and useful verse.

In the context of the scriptures, it’s quite joyous. This is when the women returned to the sepulcher to tend to the body and encounter the angel. He tells them that Jesus has risen, and quotes them the things Jesus said about the resurrection.

...And they remembered his words.

Then, they rushed off and told the apostles.

In the context of the game, I had a little bit of fun with it. I kinda ripped it out of context and just thought of the text, and of remembering the words. First of all, it had to be a Quote verse, because that’s all about remembering the words. Then, what if you flub a quote? What if you mess up and don’t remember? It seems to me that you should be able to have a “gimme” card that lets you succeed anyway. That’s what this one does. If you fail a quote, either for a verse’s ability, or if you get challenged, you can discard this verse, and treat it like you had quoted it perfectly.

It’s nice for some forgiveness, right? Like someone’s got your back.

Other than that, it’s a nice way to drop a W or H icon for free, because the quote itself on this verse is really easy. Also, it’s a nice cheap throwaway verse in case you have to play some powerful 3-drop pearl verse!  Like I said, a fun, useful verse!

Seeker’s Quest! It’s the most fun you can have with your scriptures! To get the game, and get in on the fun, go to https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/seeker-s-quest-scripture-mastery-set

Mark has a lifelong testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon Church). Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his Dutch Oven blog.