Sanctum Guard
A downloadable game
Sanctum Guard is a 20-minute pen-and-paper solo game about protecting a powerful magic artifact against a horde of night terrors.
To play this game, you need:
- Two D6 dice
- Pen and graph/squared paper (anything with squares)
In this game, you are a lone guardian of a secluded sanctum built to protect the Obsidram, a powerful artifact that can potentially destroy worlds if it falls into the wrong hands. You live in peace and harmony with the Obsidram while it is hidden in this secret and desolate domain from power-hungry minds. But one night, someone or something finds the way and you see a glimmering portal from which a horde of monsters descends upon you. Will you manage to protect the Obsidram?
Key game mechanics: Worker placement gameplay (guard activates actions in different rooms), dice-drafting in the game setup (for drawing rooms of your sanctum).
Genre: Tower defense
Steel Wolf Expansion (Christmas 2023)
A one-page expansion that adds a new room to the game. You can choose to draw the Steel Wolf room during the setup instead of the Palisade, Armory, or the Mind control room. It allows you to summon the Steel Wolf into battle. This magical construct taunts the enemy and fights to the death.
Classes (Spring 2024)
A one-page expansion that adds classes to the Sanctum Guard base game. The six classes with perks as well as hindrances are: Lightning paladin, Revenant, Tinker, Warlock, Shieldmaster, and Psychic knight. It also includes a new optional difficulty for brave people: Brutal.
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A surprising amount of thematic 'flavour' packed into such a simple core mechanism.. I've been looking for a simple pen and paper tower defence game for a long time.. This fits the bill perfectly! What I wasn't expecting was the level of tension and storytelling that comes with little box rooms and little box monsters! Can't recommend this game enough!
I am happy you like it! Thank you. That tense feeling while facing box monsters and running around the sanctum...I had this all the time while playtesting:)
Really impressed you've managed to create so much with so little! ... I've created a little variant whereby instead of separate 'stamina/strength' for the sanctum, I cross off squares (of my choice) in any of the rooms.. once all squares in that room are crossed off I lose the power associated with that room.. Makes it even tougher!.. But it adds a level of tactical decision making that just adds to the fun!
Great! I tested this option while developing the game initially, but it seemed too tough in some playthroughs, especially towards the end. But I absolutely love that you houseruled it to this tough difficulty and that it works for you, and it adds realism to that as well. Maybe, I will add it to the rules as another difficulty option at some point. Thank you for this inspiring comment! Do you have a favorite room? I always feel nice when I use the Obsidram to deal a lot of damage, but probably in a narrative sense I like to take up arms with my guardian in the field the most:))
Oh it's absolutely brutal! Haha! But it's such an addictive little game and so easy to fire up a new sanctum (I enjoy doing that in itself and trying different strengths for different rooms)
I'd say the armoury too, like sending the guardian out to do his duty!! .. But I also enjoy getting the Palisades up and running early, before I then take damage and lose 1 ballista after the next (through crossing them out as damage)
I've not tried your expansion yet with the guard dog/statue thing!! .. Think I'd get too attached to the pup! Lol!
Haha, well, do enjoy this little game, and save as many sanctums as possible!:)) thank you for this!