gamebox

The science fiction card game with the round cards!

Premise

The universe is ending. Only those who hold the Oracle will be reborn into the new universe.

Goal

To control the Oracle when the last planet disappears from the cosmos. 

Replay

Setup is random. Placement of game elements is different every time!

Game & Components

Turn Based   /   Casual Card Game   /   2-6 players  30 – 45 minutes a game!

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Rulebook

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Game Cards

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Player Mats

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Game Tokens

The Oracle is calling...Can you hear it?

nitty-gritty Details

With the universe imploding around you, play as one of several races traveling from planet to planet in search of items that will help your people control the Oracle and survive.

PLAYER ELIMINATION

 

There is no player elimination. If a player is defeated in combat, a new agent appears in the nebula so that they may continue to play.

RACES

 

Players select one of the two races presented to them, out of a possible twelve!

FEATURES

 

The game plays quickly and is easy to learn. The play area shrinks and forces players to interact. There is no complicated scoring!

PE

Player Elimination

There is no player elimination. If a player is defeated in combat, a new agent appears in the nebula so that they may continue to play.

RA

Races

Players select one of the two races presented to them, out of a possible twelve!

FE

Features

The game plays quickly and is easy to learn. The play area shrinks and forces players to interact. There is no complicated scoring!

Recent Review

History

about oracle

This game has been in development for 30 years.

It started when I was in Junior High School and read the book Interstellar Pig by William Sleator. I loved the plot. In the book, aliens fight to possess an artifact that will allow them to survive the imminent destruction of the universe. I wanted to play the game mentioned in the book, but it didn’t exist. I sat down with a hole punch and a piece of black poster board. I had trails of stars that you could move from planet to planet by rolling a die. Once on the planet, you could search through the envelope of cards hoping to find some beneficial piece of equipment or the Interstellar Pig itself.
 
Combat took place on graph paper with more rolling and moving. You had to keep track of damage. We tried all kinds of mechanisms to keep track of time. We actually used digital timers at one point.
 
In past renditions of the game, I had planets move every turn. There were multiple boards at one point. Sometimes there were resources to manage. Victory points and money. I have played a lot of games. Table top gaming has come a long way in the past 30 years. I knew that I wanted a game that was approachable and easy to learn.
 
Five years ago began the final genesis of this project. My wife had bought me the hardback version of the book for Christmas. After I reread the book I fell in love with it again. It was time to dust off the project and finish it!
 
I felt like there were so many directions I could go. Maybe I should make a game involving deckbuilding, endless piles of dice, and zombies? Nah The biggest problem was making the game fun! I felt like the envelopes with the cards were important, but that they also took away from the game. Would I make a gameboard with
flaps to place cards under the planets? I was riding my bike home from work with my wife when I had an epiphany.
 
If the planets were cards, I could put the items directly underneath them! When the universe began to unravel, I could actually remove the cards from the table! I was so inspired! I knew that I had stumbled across the kernel that could make my game great!
 
Luckily for me Kickstarter had been gaining momentum. I researched how much it would cost to produce the game. I made prototypes so people wouldn’t see my game on index cards. I asked friends of mine who had launched successful (and unsuccessful) projects so I could learn from them. I thought I was ready.
 
That was TWO YEARS ago! They say that the three rules of game design are playtest, playtest, and playtest. I think that there are six rules of game design and they are playtest, playtest, playtest, playtest, playtest, and finally playtest!
 
The game has evolved so much! I think it is a great game and most people will enjoy playing it. Even your non-gamer friends! It is light-hearted and fun. It plays quickly and is different every time. I’m not offended if you call it filler or a beer and pretzels game. Those aren’t bad words.
 
I am proud of this.
 
– Bryan Corbett

Get Connected

Find us elsewhere in the nebula!

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The stone people

Credits

You can’t create something fantastic without a great design team. Despite all my dedication and vision, you just need a different perspective occasionally to craft the best possible product. I am truly grateful to all my friends, family, and play-testers. The column to the right is a list of people who were instrumental in making this game a reality.

Lance Gharat. Creator of the  fractal world map generator I used to make the planets. 

(gharat.net/pages/planetgen.html)

A resource for the icons that I used on my cards. (game-icons.net)

Gary Simpson. Did all the art for the cards, box, and alien races. His advice and experience in the game industry was very helpful.

Christopher Holmes. Designed the card iconography and range arc for the weapon cards. He was always excited to see this game come to fruition! Also designed the shrinking universe animated .gif!

Loren Coleman. Industry insider who helped me learn what pitfalls to avoid.

Molly Corbett. My wife and supporter. She lit the spark that rekindled the fire in this project. She has always encouraged me and was never afraid to tell me, “That’s stupid”.

Kent Leonard. Made the brilliant website you are looking at right now.

Portland Game Crafter’s guild. A great resource! They have been willing to play this game every time that I brought it to the table. They helped me take a good game and make it a great game!

Noah Gadea. He was an early play-tester who helped me stay on track despite the fact that he is designing a similar game from the exact same inspiration piece!

Dr. Glenn Sykes. A genius and madman who inspired me to make a game with NO DICE.

Kevin Grote. My first previewer!

Rob Nolan. Kickstarter Campaign Manager.

Steven Mohan Jr.  Author of the Oracle’s Lament  novella.

Sam Hillier.  Editor and refinement expert.

Thank you all very much!

Credits

You can’t create something fantastic without a great design team. Despite all my dedication and vision, you just need a different perspective occasionally to craft the best possible product. I am truly grateful to all my friends, family, and play-testers. The column to the right is a list of people who were instrumental in making this game a reality.

Lance Gharat. Creator of the  fractal world map generator I used to make the planets. 

(gharat.net/pages/planetgen.html)

A resource for the icons that I used on my cards. (game-icons.net)

Gary Simpson. Did all the art for the cards, box, and alien races. His advice and experience in the game industry was very helpful.

Christopher Holmes. Designed the card iconography and range arc for the weapon cards. He was always excited to see this game come to fruition! Also designed the shrinking universe animated .gif!

Loren Coleman. Industry insider who helped me learn what pitfalls to avoid.

Molly Corbett. My wife and supporter. She lit the spark that rekindled the fire in this project. She has always encouraged me and was never afraid to tell me, “That’s stupid”.

Kent Leonard. Made the brilliant website you are looking at right now.

Portland Game Crafter’s guild. A great resource! They have been willing to play this game every time that I brought it to the table. They helped me take a good game and make it a great game!

Noah Gadea. He was an early play-tester who helped me stay on track despite the fact that he is designing a similar game from the exact same inspiration piece!

Dr. Glenn Sykes. A genius and madman who inspired me to make a game with NO DICE.

Kevin Grote. My first previewer!

Rob Nolan. Kickstarter Campaign Manager.

Steven Mohan Jr.  Author of the Oracle’s Lament  novella.

Sam Hillier.  Editor and refinement expert.

Thank you all very much!

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