Start Them Up! is live
Start Them Up! is a 1-4 players deck-building game in which you first brainstorm a start-up project, and then try to make it a reality. It is live on Kickstarter and the campaign will run for another 29 days. You may pledge for a copy of the game.
In Start Them Up!, you first pick a character that comes with a dedicated starting hand. There are two main phases in the game, Imagine and Make.
In the Imagine phase, players compete to be the first to fulfill a project. A project is fulfilled by validating Users. Each card has a suit/color (blue, green, or orange), a cost (except cards from your starting hand), an energy value, a validation value, and a number of Users that get added to the project if you assign the card to it. You have three different ways to fulfill the project, two requiring specific combinations of Users from the different suits that bring a bonus once fulfilled, and one that does not require any specific suit.
On your turn, you first draw an Emotion that will affect you this round. Then, you can validate cards and assign them to the project for each multiple of 7 validation points from the cards in your hand. Validated cards leave your hand and go to your project, bringing in the specified number of Users. Next, you can buy new cards to add to your deck from a common market by paying the energy cost with the energy value of the cards in your hand. Purchased cards go to your discard. At the end of your turn, you draw three new cards, shuffling the discard pile to form a new deck whenever necessary.
As soon as a player fulfills a project, the Imagine phase ends, and the Make phase begins, which basically plays the same. The game ends when there are no longer cards to add to the common display. The winner is the player with the most validated Users.
In the solo mode, you play against an AI. The AI also tries to fulfill its project, but does not have a proper turn. Instead, AI cards are shuffled into the deck. Whenever they appear in the common display, you follow their effects.