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Is This The First Ever Stalemate in Zenith?

Posted: 17 July 2025, 23:37
by visuseast
All science trees completed, no cards in hand, discard, or draw pile, and no winner. Is this the first draw in Zenith? :shock:

https://boardgamearena.com/3/zenith?table=701657599

Rulebook has no mention of what happens in this case, perhaps they figured it impossible or so unlikely it wasn't worth thinking about? We had to abandon the game as even though I had no cards, it was still asking me to select a card.

What do you think a tie break should be, if any?

Re: Is This The First Ever Stalemate in Zenith?

Posted: 18 July 2025, 16:44
by SunflourGully
I think letting a draw happen and neither player wins is best because it is so rare, but IF we find draws being more common during optimized high-level play, here is my proposal for a tie break rules:

1) Most planets claimed
First have players check who has the most total planets claimed. If one player has 4 and another has 2, the player with 4 wins. If both players tie, then move onto step 2
2) Net Closest Pulls
Total the amount of pulls you have towards you for each planet. The player with the highest number wins. (aka the most total dominance over the galaxy). For example, if player 1 has purple 2 moves towards them, orange 1, and blue 3 they have 6 as their net pulls. If player 2 has red 3 towards then and green 2 towards them, they have 5. Thus, player 1 wins.
3) Net Resource Advantage
If SOMEHOW the amount of planets claimed and net pulls is equal in a tie, you can total net resources using the diplomacy value for scale (meaning credits are worth 1, zenith is worth 3 credits, and each card on your side of the board is worth 1.5 credits). So if player 1 has 20 credits, 4 zenith, and 50 cards on their side, they have 107 total resources. If player 2 has 14 credits, 10 zenith, and 40 cards on their side, they will have 104 total resources, so player 1 will win.