Gideon’s Unofficial Wonderlands War Solo and Duo Mode Automa

Overview

If you don’t know, I think Wonderlands War is a pretty great game. But it was missing something. It didn’t have a solo mode, and at two players it was a slightly lesser experience. So I designed a relatively simple automa that can be played solo, or added to a two-player game to emulate a three-player experience. You could technically use it at higher player counts, but there wouldn’t be a point.

The best part? All you need is a page or two of rules and a standard deck of playing cards. You can find a link right below the following disclaimer, but I also explain it all in the rest of this article if you’re interested.

I do not own, nor am I affiliated with Wonderlands War, Skybound Games, or Druid City games in any way. Skybound Games and Druid City Games own the copyright thereof. The existence of this automa is not a blockade to the release of an official automa or solo mode in any capacity. I make no claim of ownership over the concept or idea. I am just a fan sharing my own homemade add-on.

As I mentioned, you will need a standard set of playing cards and a page or two of rules you can download here. Alternatively, you can simply read the rules in this article. Remember the best way to support my homebrew content and Gideon’s Gaming as a whole is through my Patreon.

I also want to emphasize that while I think I’ve done a pretty good job of balancing the automa. I can’t dedicate an excessive amount of time to thoroughly test it. The automa is offered as-is, although I may update it as issues arise.

Setting Up

I had a few goals for the automa and one of them was that it wouldn’t require new components to be printed. I needed it to use the existing faction leaders, and a way to help choose some of its actions. A deck of playing cards works perfectly and it’s thematic to boot!

You follow all the standard rules for setting up for whatever player count you’re choosing to play at. I recommend using the automa for solo play to emulate a two-player game and with two players to emulate a three-player game.

You choose a leader for the automa, follow the standard setup procedure and give it all of the components for that leader. Take a standard deck of playing cards and remove the jacks, kings, and queens, then shuffle it.

Choose a difficulty level and adjust the setup based on the one you pick.

• Novice: Give the automa two extra forge chips
• Intermediate: Give the auto two extra forge chips, one extra quest, and unlock one of its abilities
• Expert: Give the automa three extra forge chips, one extra quest, unlock one of its abilities, and fill up one of its forge tracks with forge tokens.

If you want to increase the diffiuclty further, implement the following tweaks.

• The automa gains +1 Victory Point per follower and Wonderlandian that it has on the board at the end of the game.
• The automa gains victory points equal to twice its leader strength at the end of the game

Each leader has its own logic pattern to follow, so if you need to unlock an ability, or forge a track for it, refer to that characters section of this article or the automa’s rules page.

Scoring

The automa earns victory points almost the same way that players do. They earn VP from battle, any abilities that grant VP, and castles at the end of the game. It also loses VP for every madness shard it has.

However, it interacts with quests differently. Whenever it would gain a quest, deal it to the automa facedown. It does not try to complete quests. It gains five victory points per facedown quest it has at the end of the game instead.

Tea Party

On the automa’s turn, flip over the top playing card from the deck we prepared earlier and move the automa around the table that many spaces. Count every space, even if it is occupied or doesn’t have a tea party card. If the automa would end in a space occupied with no tea party card, or the space is occupied, continue clockwise to the next viable space. The automa gains the card in that space and everything it offers.

If the automa were to cross the head of the table, it stops to roll the shard dice and refill the table before continuing on, just like a player.

• If the card grants chips, add them to the automa’s bag
• If the card has a line, the automa always chooses the choice in the top half
• If the card grants a Wonderlandian, roll the shard dice. On a 1 it receives the leftmost Wonderlandian, on 2 it receives the middle Wonderlandian, and on 3 the rightmost Wonderlandian.
• If a card allows for an optional roll of the shard dice to gain a benefit, the automa always chooses to do so.
• When placing supporters or Wonderlandians, it always chooses the highest-scoring region that it has less than three units in. Once it has three units in that region, it adds them to the second-highest scoring region. If two regions are tied, it chooses the ones closest to the starting battle marker.
• When placing its leader standee, it always chooses the region where it has the most supporters that it doesn’t already have a castle present. In the case of a tie, it chooses the one closest to the starting battle marker.

Any other choice is covered in each specific leader’s logic path that you can find within the relevant part of this article or the automa rules page.

Battle

During battle the automa will pull chips until one of the following conditions are met

• It has a 7 point lead over the player closest to it on the battle track
• It is not in the lead but is on a forge symbol, and is guaranteed second place
• Another player has a 7 point lead on it and it only has one supporter left

In addition, it obeys the following logic path

• The automa will always block madness with the shield if it’s available.
• If the automa ever has a choice that affects its place on the battle track (Flamingo C for example) It only chooses to use it if doing so would increase its position on the battle track.
• When choosing between multiple chips to use in battle, it always chooses the one with the highest strength. In the case of a tie, it chooses the first one drawn.
• When wagering on other players, it always bets on the one with the most supporters. In the case of a tie, it chooses randomly.

Any other possible choice is covered within each leader’s logic path in the relevant section of this article or the automa rules page.

Hostile Actions and Forging

If the automa needs to choose a player to target with a hostile action, it chooses the one with the most VP. In the case of a tie, it chooses randomly.

When forging it always forges using the following chips in order of priority

• Chips that provide a bonus when forged
• Faction chips
• Forge Chips
• The leftmost active ally chip with a strength of 1
• The left-most active ally chip.

The automa never uses artifacts or Wonderlandian chips to forge other than the Carpenter’s Hammer.

Leader Specific Changes and Logic Paths

Each leader has a different power when played by the automa and follows an alternative logic path for choosing chips, forging tracks, unlocking abilities, and using certain abilities.

I designed these paths to be simple to follow with as little overhead as possible while allowing the automa the best chance to be effective despite the fact that the automa doesn’t make intelligent decisions.

Alice

Replace Curious Strength in solo play or Strange Reflection in multiplayer with the following power.

Unbroken: Whenever Alice refreshes, flip her shield to the unbroken side.

The automa unlocks Alice’s Abilities in the following order.

1. Sword of Hope
2. Befriend the Populace
3. Love of Learning
4. Everywhere at once

The automa fully forges Alice’s forge tracks in the following order.

1. Top
2. Second from the top
3. Bottom
4. Second from the bottom

When choosing a weak chip, the automa always chooses a Forge chip.

When choosing a strong chip, the automa always chooses a Rose chip.

Love of Learning: The automa always chooses the leftmost active chip with the highest strength.

Everywhere at Once: The Automa will always choose to lose a unit where the next battle will take place and move Alice there

The Mad Hatter

Replace It’s my Party with the following Power

Marvelous Madness: Whenever the Mad Hatter draws a madness chip, he gains +2 strength on the battle track

The Automa unlocks the Mad Hatters’ abilities in the following order

1.  It’s Always Tea Time
2. Piping Hot
3. How Refreshing
4. Unbirthday Present

The automa fully forges the Mad Hatters forge tracks in the following order.

1. Top
2. Bottom
3. Second from the Bottom
4. Second from the Top

When choosing a weak chip, the automa always chooses a Forge chip.

When choosing a strong chip, the automa always chooses a Red Rook chip.

It’s Always Tea Time: The automa always chooses the extra card over placing The Mad hatter.

How Refreshing: The automa always chooses to give another player a shard instead of returning an exausted chip

Piping Hot: The automa always chooses to place the tea cup chip on the madness track.

Jabberwock

Replace Fearsome Maw with the following power.

Vile Poison: At the start of Jabberwock’s turn during the tea party phase, place 5 poison counters among the tea party cards if there are less than five on the table. Flip cards from the deck to determine the placement as if Jabberwock was moving around the table.

The automa unlocks Jabberwocks abilities in the following order

1.  Borogoves
2. Beware the Jabberwock
3. Manxome Foe
4. Claws That Catch

The automa fully forges Jabberwocks tracks in the following order

1. Second from the top
2. Top
3. Bottom
4. Second from the bottom

When choosing a weak chip, the automa always chooses a Forge chip.

When choosing a strong chip, the automa always chooses a Creature chip.

The Queen of Hearts

Replace Red Army with the following power.

Motivated by Fear: Supporters grant +1 strength to the Queen of Hearts battle track.

The automa unlocks the Queen of Hearts abilities in the following order.

1. Twice as fast
2. Off with their Heads
3. Royal Temper
4. Paint it Red

The automa fully forges the Queen of Hearts’ tracks in the following order.

1. Second from the bottom
2. Top
3. Second from the top
4. Bottom

When choosing a weak chip, the automa always chooses a Forge chip.

When choosing a strong chip, the automa always chooses a Card Soldier

Paint it Red: The automa always chooses to lose a supporter in region where it has the least that a battle already took place in. Otherwise, it opts not to use the ability.

The Cheshire Cat

Replace Mirror Breaker in solo play or Sharing the Madness in multiplayer with the following power.

We’re All Mad Here: The Cheshire Cat always loses half of its madness shards at the end of the tea party phase and splits them between the other players.

The automa unlocks the Chesire Cats’ abilities in the following order.

1. Wicked Smile
2. Vanishing Army
3. Misleading Smile
4. Engineer of War

The automas fully forges The Cheshire Cats’ tracks in the following order.

1. Top
2. Second from the top
3. Second from the bottom
4. Bottom

When choosing a weak chip, the automa always chooses a Forge chip.

When choosing a strong chip, the automa always chooses a Flamingo chip.

Misleading Smile: The automa always moves a Wonderlandian if possible to the next battle that The Chesire Cat will participate in. It will move a supporter if no Wonderlandian is available.

Closing Words

I know there’s a large audience out there that would enjoy Wonderlands War if it had a solo mode, so hopefully, folks will find some value in this little automa I made!

I actually make a large amount of homebrew content for board games, I just don’t usually share much of it. If this is something you would like to see more of. Let me know on Twitter, my Discord, YouTube, or by email!