Gameplay

Player number:

1-4

Playing time:

60-120 min

Age:

15+

Cerebria is a dynamic, team-based, objective-driven area control game, centered around the player-controlled Spirits and the Emotion cards controlling Cerebria’s areas, each with their own stats and abilities.

Players play as Spirits, powerful entities representing Bliss or Gloom, the two opposing sides of human nature.

The Spirits can perform up to three actions on their turn. These include:

Moving between Cerebria’s Realms and Frontiers, using the specific powers of the Realms;

Invoking and upgrading Emotion cards;

Removing opposing Emotions;

Building Fortresses to consolidate their influence on certain areas.

Actions cost Willpower, gained primarily by absorbing from the ever-rotating Origin’s Spheres in the middle of the board. Both Bliss and Gloom also have a rare shared team resource, Ambition, enabling them to use the game’s most powerful effects.

The teams can score points either by accomplishing publicly known minor objectives (the Intentions) or completing their major objectives (the Aspirations), which change dynamically during the course of the game. Scoring Aspirations allows players to add Bliss and Gloom Fragments to the Identity, which is built in the middle of the board.

These Revelations are key moments in the game; Cerebria’s state is in constant flux, but the Fragments are permanent imprints of a game state during the scoring events. The game is won by whichever side has more influence over the finished Identity, thus becoming the dominant force in Cerebria.

Mechanisms

Multiple aspects of area control

Cerebria features seven different aspects of area control. The game is objective-driven; while each of these control aspects gives benefits, their importance in scoring will change dynamically based on the Aspiration (objective) cards. Each side has its own secret Aspiration but there is also a common one, openly contested by both sides. By gaining resources from the Origin, players will eventually trigger Revelations; this is when the Aspiration cards are evaluated, and a Bliss or Gloom Fragment is added to the Identity based on the result.

Build your own deck of Emotion cards

Cerebria's gameplay revolves around the Emotions, the Inside World's inhabitants. They all have unique, thematic special abilities and an Intensity value that depends on the amount of Essence them. The more intense they are, the more effectively they can influence Cerebria's Realms and Frontiers. With enough Essence, they can even be evolved to their stronger form!

There are dozens of different Emotions available, enough to build and customize your own Emotion deck before each game to suit your play style.

Action point system with resource management

On their turn, players can take up to three Actions with their Spirits. Each of these actions cost one action point and some amount of Willpower. Willpower can be gained in several ways but mainly from the Spheres of the ever-rotating Origin in the middle of the board. Taking Willpower from the Spheres lets players have control over mid-game scoring; managing Willpower, then, is critical to the Spirits' success.

Further powerful Actions are only available if the players have Ambition, the rare resource in their possession.

Defeat the Ego, Cerebria's solo opponent

Challenge the Ego for a game of Cerebria by yourself or cooperatively with another player! The Ego, an automated opponent, takes control of the opposing side using the powers of Defiance, Judgment, and Endeavor against you. Its variable difficulty levels, highly human-like behaviour, and intricate-yet-intuitive rules guarantee a balanced and challenging experience.