Hail, Explorers!
This here article shall show you what The Western Shores board game project is about. We shall tell you the basics of what you can do in the game. How you can make it happen. What collectible are is there for you...
And how it shall be possible to see it as a blockchain game later on.
The illustration of the card Frost Giant Outlook by 
The Western Shores is a project by 
How you play the game
All players have starting decks consisting of a few "starter" cards. Turn by turn, they add new card to their personal decks. Those cards they draft from the Draft Deck. The draft sequence shall be quite important. The choices you make here reflect on your development.
The cards can be Characters who help you play other cards or add special effects to your game, or they can be placed as tiles on the players' personal versions of world maps. That is done by paying the card's cost and then placing it next to another tile on the map according to its Terrain. Water must touch on water, and land must touch on land. There are also split-terrain cards that have both types of terrain — cards you can place as tiles on your shores. One should be careful with one's tile placement. Available space may get scarce.
Additionally, cards have the following types:
Character or Heroic Character— we already wrote about them. They cannot be placed on your map but...wait for it...they can ascend to Valhalla;
Resource — easy to build cards that shall help you place the more costly ones later;
Harbor — places on the shores that give you access to the open seas and also boost your sailing capabilities;
Boat — currently only the Fishing Boat card. it provides Food and access to the open sea;
Ship — the Viking Longships or Drakkar, providing both sailing and combat capabilities;
Beast — the more common natural beasts or their rare versions;
Mythic — creatures or places of legend. Beware, there be Trolls, Dragons, and probably something else out there;
Discovery — legendary locations far from the homeland. Expensive and rewarding;
Element — well, seas and oceans are dangerous. Mostly tricky cards such as Storms here that would cost you but that actually means you can Ascend your characters earlier;
Runestones — capitalizing on certain types of other cards you build around them;
Quest — a subtype that is usually associated with the Ascend game mechanic and other achievements;
Non-character cards usually have both Discard abilities (immediate and easy) and Passive abilities (each turn they are on your map, giving you advantages on the turns to come).
Cards placed as tiles on your map bring you glory at the end of the game.
The rest is...well, card specific.
There are 65 unique cards planned so far.
Where we are
We're at Revision VIII now with Revision VII still being playtested. When we get to Revision IX, that shall call for some Open Beta testing.
A Discord server shall be announced before that.
How about blockchain playability?
There is a version possible and being planned already. But it shall require different rules and mechanics. No map, but collections and keywords. Leaning more on a storytelling mechanic that offers diverse paths.
It does not depend on the board game so it shall be ready when it shall be ready.
Crowdfunding
You can now buy collectible art AND support the project!
We have tokenized a few of the illustrations on NFTshowroom.com:
Temptress by
Jormungandr, The Sea Dragon by
Dragon of the Woods by
Quiet Inlet by
Frost Giant Outlook by
There will be more! And there's the #westernshores tag to bind them in a single collection.
Donations to this account are also welcome. You shall be remembered and duly rewarded!
And, of course, your feedback is also important. We know that at this point feedback mostly means...questions. But trust us, they help, too!
Thank you for being with us!
Also, Good Luck And Have Fun!