Turn-based
Learning paths through this topic
Let a piercing shot hit several enemies for less, but stop at walls
A shot that goes through enemies sounds fun until it hits them in the wrong order, ignores a wall in between, or does a decimal of damage. This entry gives the rules for who is hit, in what order, and for how much.
Make a poison or buff last exactly the number of turns it says
A poison that says three turns hurts twice, or four times, and a second dose either does nothing or lasts forever. The count has to be right at the exact moment it ticks. Here is the order of events and the reapply rule that keep it honest.
Build a balance meter that breaks a tough enemy open after enough hits
Chipping at an enemy that blocks everything can feel pointless. A balance meter turns pressure into progress: it fills, breaks the enemy open for a while, and drains when you stop. This entry fixes when it drains, what a break does, and what hits during the break are worth.
Size the next raid on your base by what you own, without sudden jumps
A base that gets richer should attract bigger raids, but a straight line makes late raids impossible, and a sudden jump after a long break feels like a trap. This entry gives a growth curve that flattens, moves a step at a time and has a hard ceiling.
Make wet, burning and cold effects cancel each other, whatever the order
Rain on a burning hero, frost on a soaked one: survival games love these reactions, but they turn into bugs when the result depends on which spell came first. This entry gives a small table where each pair gives the same answer in both orders.
Remove a fighter who dies mid-round without skipping anyone's turn
A poison tick or a counterattack kills someone in the middle of a round, and suddenly a teammate loses their turn or acts twice. The bug appears only in some fights. Here is how to remove a fighter and still have the right person next.
Let everyone pick a move, then play them out in the right order
When both sides choose in secret and then everything happens together, odd things appear: the dead still attack, a heal lands after the hit that should have been prevented, and ties flip. This entry gives the order and the three outcomes every plan can have.
Bring defeated enemies back later, never in front of the player
Camps and herds need to refill or the world empties, but an enemy popping up in front of the player breaks the spell, and a timer that only runs during fights never ends. This entry shows a respawn rule based on world time, sight and a limit per visit.
Make resting in the open heal you, but the longer you stay the riskier
If a rest button heals for free, players use it after every scuffle and the world stops being dangerous. If it can be interrupted at random, it feels unfair. This entry makes the risk grow with each resting turn, and shows what the player keeps when interrupted.
Pick a new target when the chosen one is already dead
Two heroes attack the same goblin; the second blow lands on a corpse and the turn is wasted, or the game crashes. Players expect a sensible redirect, but not always the same one, for example when healing or reviving. Here is the rule that handles both.
Let a downed player be revived without the countdown to death running on
A downed teammate has a few seconds before death and a helper needs a few seconds to revive. Who wins when both end on the same frame, and what happens to the revive bar when the helper is knocked away? This entry answers both with clear rules.
Let a shot hit where the target was on the shooter's screen
In an online shooter the player aims at a target that has already moved on the server, so clean shots miss. This entry shows how to look back in time to the moment the shooter saw, and how far back you should allow, so nobody can cheat with a bad connection.