Power Well

Where will the Power Well emerge next?

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

There are rumblings of the Power Well emerging on Kickstarter…

A kinetic strategic tabletop dueling game for 2 players. Draw marbles from the Power Well to activate your abilities and slay your foe.

Join our pre-launch today ‼️❤️

https://t.co/3Bvw88tQQ3

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

💙

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@astrienluna Our game is not anywhere close to 1 for 1. Ming has misrepresented the similarities.

https://t.co/0zW6qmFxQY

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

Sure thing. This will be a long response, bear with me.

Let's break down Ming's list so we can define what is the "engine" and what are the details. Remember, this is a fighting game, let's picture Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat.

(According to Ming:) IDENTICAL Elements:

- 1 vs 1 dueling game where you play as a unique character with asymmetric abilities.

Engine. Ryu vs Sub-Zero. They both have two types of punches, two types of kicks, special abilities that are different from one another, etc.
Also, Power Well is 1v1 or 2v2. 2v2 is absolutely not a small adjustment, it required extensive planning and development.

- Same marble tower design and layout with 3 lanes of 5 marbles (with marbles in the same 3 colors).

Engine, but also untrue. I designed our tower myself, it disassembles into two distinct components, it has randomizer paths inside.

I addressed the colors in the document. Ming cannot own primary colors. Primary colors are important for color-blind players.

- Identical gameplay where players take turns clearing 1, 2, or 4 marbles of the same color to activate a 1, 2, or 4 marble attack corresponding to the marble's color on your character sheet.
- Identical clearing rules where you can only clear marbles from 2 lanes: the middle lane and the lane closest to you, and that marbles must connect orthogonally without backtracking.

These are the same mechanic in two separate points. Engine, but also untrue. This is "controls". Ryu has a down-forward-A attack. Sub-Zero has a down-forward-A attack.

Also, our Ronin hero uses 3 marble abilities that cross into all columns, our druid has abilities that require 6 marbles, our drauth applies 2,3,5 marble abilities.

Furthermore, we have a "hero marble" that enters play upon losing half of your coins. It is a wild-card marble for that hero and may be played from anywhere on the field.

- Identical HP system where attacks deal damage to 3 separate HP bars, each corresponding to the 3 different colors of marbles and their move sets.

Engine. Ryu has a health bar. Sub-Zero has a health bar. You literally cannot make a fighting game without some health indicator.

We have heroes that go against this grain as well that have not been announced in our official server but have been spoken of at conventions. One has no health at all, and one has extra health bars.

- When an HP bar hits zero, that color of attacks become disabled, but that color of marbles become WILDs that can be used to bridge and connect your other marbles.
- Each marble you clear as a connector this way restores 2 HP to that move set's HP bar.

These are the same mechanic in two separate points. I am inclined to say Engine, but will call this a Detail. Power Well does in fact have a similar mechanic.

- At the start of your turn, you can re-activate any broken move set at it's current HP level and immediately regain access to that move set.

Also Engine, but we can call this a Detail if you'd like. Power Well does do this.

- Identical win condition where you must pay 1 coin whenever you lose an HP bar. When you've lost 5 coins, you lose the game.
- When you lose an HP bar while you already have a broken HP bar, you must pay 2 coins instead of 1.

These are the same mechanic in two separate points. This is Engine. They are not the same, but are similar. Power Well is a 4 coin game. You spend a coin for each already exhausted health bar.

- Instant game over if you have no HP bars active.

Engine. This is how a fighting game works. If you have no health you lose.

- Every attack has a kicker ability that can be triggered in addition to the base attack.

Engine? Let's go with Detail. Regardless, Ming has made this into a very broad point to undermine the significant changes here. Here is an excerpt on this from the receipts.
In Power Well, our heroes all have a power bar called the Power Flow Meter that works similar to the “Drive System” in Street Fighter. As you battle, if you do not spend this meter it builds up, and you have associated empowerments on every ability with varying costs. If you can afford it you can spend to activate it, but you will not gain any additional power on this turn.

Overall, does this sound similar to you? Because it does to me. Why is that? He listed out core engine mechanics.

If we were talking about a MobA game like League of Legends or DotA, what has been described here is the equivalent of

-Click to walk
-4 abilities
-5v5 assymetrical hero gameplay
-health bars
-mana
-dying and respawning

What makes Street Fighter significantly different from Mortal Kombat (or vice versa)?
It is the uniquely designed yet well balanced characters. The games have minor differences, but the overall engine experience is similar.

What makes Mighty No 9 different from Mega Man? The details.

So let's talk differences. Ming gave 9 similarities, here are 10 differences. Some of these are explained above. We discussed most of these at dinner in Ohio.

-We have already gone over our Power Flow system. This is a power meter system similar to many fighting video games that is used to empower your attacks. This system is robust and includes several game-wide keywords and interactions for both players to utilize against each other. It is a significant change.

-Power Well has a 2v2 mode, which Sento never had. As stated above, this requires extensive amount of work to create proper balance. In short, in our current design this utilizes a targeting system that can be swapped at a cost, with a team having to pull marbles at the same time.

-We have designed an entire PvE system that uses an "AI" to play against you for solo and co-op play. This system ties into our website using your mobile device, and has been an absolute nightmare to build due to the complexity.

-Some characters in Sento had modifiers that affected the rows of marbles. Our game has expanded over that system to include special modifiers that also apply to columns. This opens up a vast array of new capabilities for the heroes that would never have been possible within Sento.

-Our coins work similarly, but not identically. We have 4 coins and a hero marble. This changes the balance of the game vs Sento largely. The hero marble will be covered next as it is a large change in and of itself.

-We have hero-marbles that are specific to each hero. As currently designed the marble enters play after you have lost 2 coins as a catch-up mechanic, and it has special functions per hero.

-Our game has a mulligan system in which if you are being hurt by RNG you can forfeit a wishing coin and reset the entire play space. This system gives a gigantic risk vs reward scenario that will reward system mastery greatly.

-We designed a system in which heroes have abilities that are activated before you ever draw any marbles from the Power Well. This required additional keywording and drastically changed the capabilities of the heroes. Sento did not do this.

-Our startup sequence works differently from Sento. We have specific rules about how the person that going second is allowed to modify their opponents playable space to give them a chance to breath. From what I can remember Sento did not do this when I saw it.

-Our heroes are all fully unique and distinct from Sento, with many of them drastically breaking the engine rules. Some of these are covered above. We have heroes that have no health, we have heroes that reach across any of the 15 marbles, we have heroes that have abilities available on the exhausted side of their abilities, we have heroes that change the ability cost of the opponent to 2,3,5 marbles, and many more.

-Kind of aesthetic but also kind of not, our Power Well apparatus includes a gate system that is engaged to block marbles from being revealed when doing large pulls. This system is also used extensively in the 2v2 mode to limit the playable space for each team.

-Our UI/UX is significantly different.

That is all to say, of course there are similarities. We are a spiritual successor. There are also tons of changes in all of the details.

Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are nearly identical if you boil them down broadly, but nobody would say Mortal Kombat "stole" Street Fighter.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@megapig9001 My motivation for making Power Well is my love of board games like Dice Throne, a lifetime of loving high and low fantasy, and of course a memory of Sento.

I am a serial hobbyist video game developer. I have never completed a video game that was worth attempting to publish.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

Sure thing. This will be a long response, bear with me.

Let's break down Ming's list so we can define what is the "engine" and what are the details. Remember, this is a fighting game, let's picture Street Fighter vs Mortal Kombat.

(According to Ming:) IDENTICAL Elements:

- 1 vs 1 dueling game where you play as a unique character with asymmetric abilities.

Engine. Ryu vs Sub-Zero. They both have two types of punches, two types of kicks, special abilities that are different from one another, etc.
Also, Power Well is 1v1 or 2v2. 2v2 is absolutely not a small adjustment, it required extensive planning and development.

- Same marble tower design and layout with 3 lanes of 5 marbles (with marbles in the same 3 colors).

Engine, but also untrue. I designed our tower myself, it disassembles into two distinct components, it has randomizer paths inside.

I addressed the colors in the document. Ming cannot own primary colors. Primary colors are important for color-blind players.

- Identical gameplay where players take turns clearing 1, 2, or 4 marbles of the same color to activate a 1, 2, or 4 marble attack corresponding to the marble's color on your character sheet.
- Identical clearing rules where you can only clear marbles from 2 lanes: the middle lane and the lane closest to you, and that marbles must connect orthogonally without backtracking.

These are the same mechanic in two separate points. Engine, but also untrue. This is "controls". Ryu has a down-forward-A attack. Sub-Zero has a down-forward-A attack.

Also, our Ronin hero uses 3 marble abilities that cross into all columns, our druid has abilities that require 6 marbles, our drauth applies 2,3,5 marble abilities.

Furthermore, we have a "hero marble" that enters play upon losing half of your coins. It is a wild-card marble for that hero and may be played from anywhere on the field.

- Identical HP system where attacks deal damage to 3 separate HP bars, each corresponding to the 3 different colors of marbles and their move sets.

Engine. Ryu has a health bar. Sub-Zero has a health bar. You literally cannot make a fighting game without some health indicator.

We have heroes that go against this grain as well that have not been announced in our official server but have been spoken of at conventions. One has no health at all, and one has extra health bars.

- When an HP bar hits zero, that color of attacks become disabled, but that color of marbles become WILDs that can be used to bridge and connect your other marbles.
- Each marble you clear as a connector this way restores 2 HP to that move set's HP bar.

These are the same mechanic in two separate points. I am inclined to say Engine, but will call this a Detail. Power Well does in fact have a similar mechanic.

- At the start of your turn, you can re-activate any broken move set at it's current HP level and immediately regain access to that move set.

Also Engine, but we can call this a Detail if you'd like. Power Well does do this.

- Identical win condition where you must pay 1 coin whenever you lose an HP bar. When you've lost 5 coins, you lose the game.
- When you lose an HP bar while you already have a broken HP bar, you must pay 2 coins instead of 1.

These are the same mechanic in two separate points. This is Engine. They are not the same, but are similar. Power Well is a 4 coin game. You spend a coin for each already exhausted health bar.

- Instant game over if you have no HP bars active.

Engine. This is how a fighting game works. If you have no health you lose.

- Every attack has a kicker ability that can be triggered in addition to the base attack.

Engine? Let's go with Detail. Regardless, Ming has made this into a very broad point to undermine the significant changes here. Here is an excerpt on this from the receipts.
In Power Well, our heroes all have a power bar called the Power Flow Meter that works similar to the “Drive System” in Street Fighter. As you battle, if you do not spend this meter it builds up, and you have associated empowerments on every ability with varying costs. If you can afford it you can spend to activate it, but you will not gain any additional power on this turn.

Overall, does this sound similar to you? Because it does to me. Why is that? He listed out core engine mechanics.

If we were talking about a MobA game like League of Legends or DotA, what has been described here is the equivalent of

-Click to walk
-4 abilities
-5v5 assymetrical hero gameplay
-health bars
-mana
-dying and respawning

What makes Street Fighter significantly different from Mortal Kombat (or vice versa)?
It is the uniquely designed yet well balanced characters. The games have minor differences, but the overall engine experience is similar.

What makes Mighty No 9 different from Mega Man? The details.

So let's talk differences. Ming gave 9 similarities, here are 10 differences. Some of these are explained above. We discussed most of these at dinner in Ohio.

-We have already gone over our Power Flow system. This is a power meter system similar to many fighting video games that is used to empower your attacks. This system is robust and includes several game-wide keywords and interactions for both players to utilize against each other. It is a significant change.

-Power Well has a 2v2 mode, which Sento never had. As stated above, this requires extensive amount of work to create proper balance. In short, in our current design this utilizes a targeting system that can be swapped at a cost, with a team having to pull marbles at the same time.

-We have designed an entire PvE system that uses an "AI" to play against you for solo and co-op play. This system ties into our website using your mobile device, and has been an absolute nightmare to build due to the complexity.

-Some characters in Sento had modifiers that affected the rows of marbles. Our game has expanded over that system to include special modifiers that also apply to columns. This opens up a vast array of new capabilities for the heroes that would never have been possible within Sento.

-Our coins work similarly, but not identically. We have 4 coins and a hero marble. This changes the balance of the game vs Sento largely. The hero marble will be covered next as it is a large change in and of itself.

-We have hero-marbles that are specific to each hero. As currently designed the marble enters play after you have lost 2 coins as a catch-up mechanic, and it has special functions per hero.

-Our game has a mulligan system in which if you are being hurt by RNG you can forfeit a wishing coin and reset the entire play space. This system gives a gigantic risk vs reward scenario that will reward system mastery greatly.

-We designed a system in which heroes have abilities that are activated before you ever draw any marbles from the Power Well. This required additional keywording and drastically changed the capabilities of the heroes. Sento did not do this.

-Our startup sequence works differently from Sento. We have specific rules about how the person that going second is allowed to modify their opponents playable space to give them a chance to breath. From what I can remember Sento did not do this when I saw it.

-Our heroes are all fully unique and distinct from Sento, with many of them drastically breaking the engine rules. Some of these are covered above. We have heroes that have no health, we have heroes that reach across any of the 15 marbles, we have heroes that have abilities available on the exhausted side of their abilities, we have heroes that change the ability cost of the opponent to 2,3,5 marbles, and many more.

-Kind of aesthetic but also kind of not, our Power Well apparatus includes a gate system that is engaged to block marbles from being revealed when doing large pulls. This system is also used extensively in the 2v2 mode to limit the playable space for each team.

-Our UI/UX is significantly different.

That is all to say, of course there are similarities. We are a spiritual successor. There are also tons of changes in all of the details.

Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are nearly identical if you boil them down broadly, but nobody would say Mortal Kombat "stole" Street Fighter.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@astrienluna We simply could not give this specific credit legally.

Ming had sold Sento outright in perpetuity to J, with the stipulation that he could not re-design the concept nor publish it himself.

With that agreement existing, if I say he designed Power Well we could be sued by J.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

As I was asked in a DM, I will address this specifically, though it is also covered in the receipts document on August 7, 2024.

PAX West happened AFTER our "break up". Ming had specifically asked not to be "special thanks'd"

He didn't want the credit we could offer.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

Unlike Ming, I will not hide his response from this thread. He said he wanted this to be "in the court of public opinion" but has blocked us and hid this from his audience.

Again, we have nothing to hide. He has added nothing that wasn't addressed in the receipts already.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@TroyKv We had nothing to do with Ming's Nintendo troubles. He brought that on himself.

As for the accusations he is throwing around, I wanted to make sure you were given the full context.

Here is all receipts of all communication I have had with Ming.

https://t.co/KJC38bzLJG

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@Wingo86 Completely understand where you are coming from. I just wanted to give you the full context as Ming clips up our messages.

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

This contains ALL communication I have had with Ming from start to now. This way you can see the full picture.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@BoardGameGhee Hey there. I saw that you wanted to gather all documentation and post it here.

Here is all of my communication with Ming from start to now. Full, complete context.

We gave him credit. He demanded thousands of dollars and more.

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@brightjade2142 @BrotherMingGame Hey there. Ming has been misrepresenting this issue and oftentimes outright lying about it.

Here is the full context, with all receipts. We attempted to give Ming credit. He demanded large sums of money and more.

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@GwenIsGae @BrotherMingGame @Cleanbones2 This is becoming a strange, unhinged fan-fiction of my life.

Ming is now just making things up to tell a story. As I stated, I am eating through my life savings trying to make a board game.

Again, ALL receipts available here:

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@GwenIsGae For the record, Ming has never spoken to our legal team, and this is an outright lie. Our receipts show everything he was ever told about our legal team.

It also shows the many mechanics that make Power Well unique and absolutely NOT a 1 for 1 copy of Sento.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@GwenIsGae It truly is that simple. I never tried to hide our origins. I never misrepresented what we were.

I made it abundantly clear what I could and could not do.

Now I am being made out to be a villain for obeying the law?

Full context for everyone:

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@uncertaintyp_ Here is the context. All messages between Ming and myself. Every last receipt.

For some reason he has hidden this from the replies.

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@SparksRoar Apologies for angering you. To be clear, we credited Ming. He demanded that we also pay him amongst many other things.

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

He has hidden this link for some reason. It contains all messages between us so you can get the entire picture.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@Tavitay For some reason Ming has been hiding replies. If you would like to know what is happening, please feel free to read all of the messages with Ming from start to finish. Nothing has been removed.

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@Cleanbones2 I'm not sure why Ming is trying to suppress the receipts.

https://t.co/KJC38bzLJG

Ming said that he wants this to be in the court of public opinion.

We credited him. He also demanded money. Please feel free to see the entire context without his lies.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@BrotherMingGame Just for everyone's record, here is the post being referred to:

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

Ming said that he wants this to be in the court of public opinion.

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

@JazzFlight We did credit Brother Ming. He demanded significantly more. Here is the full context, all receipts, all messages between us. We have nothing to hide and tried so hard to work with him.

https://t.co/KJC38bzdU8

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

We have kept silent as to not raise a private issue, but Ming's lies and privately contacting press has put us in a position in which we must speak up

https://t.co/37P9ZQ1Sr7

We have nothing to hide, so please read for full context and all receipts, from start to present

[Power Well @PowerWellGame]

The Painter held strong for days but Knight rallied hard as the battle came to a shocking conclusion on the final day of #PAXWest #PAXWest2024 ‼️

Thank you all for participating, join us on Discord and keep the conversation going. Links in bio.