Prophecy Strategy
Prophecy is a very easy game to play. On each turn, you just draw a card and then
play any card in your hand (that is playable), or you ask an opponent for a card. It is
kind of an enhanced Go Fish. However, determining which is the best card to play is not
always as straightforward as it seems.
When you play an online game against the computer, the Java program is written to
select the best card to play. I am constantly changing this part of the program. When you
leave the hints on, then the recommended card to play is the same one that the computer
would play if it had your hand. However, that doesnt mean that the recommended card
is really the very best card to play. It is just my best guess based on my experience. In
fact, the following recommendations actually deviate slightly from the Java program in
some cases and significantly in other cases. So here are my recommendations based on my
experience.
- Always play a Double Measure Card first. This card gives you 2 turns in a row. Each turn
you have gives you an advantage.
- If you have a Prophecy or Fulfillment card in your hand that matches one already played
on one of your Prophets, then play it. This will give you a match and also another turn.
- If you have a Prophecy card in your hand that matches a Fulfillment card in your hand
for one of your Prophets, then consider playing one of the cards on this turn, and the
other one on the next turn. You would make a match on your next turn. Of course, this
would leave your Prophet exposed for one turn. If your Prophet is already well protected
by Guardian Angels, then this is always a good move. If your Prophet is not very well
protected, then perhaps you might take a turn or two to play some Guardian Angels (if you
have any) on your Prophet first.
- If your Prophet is weak (turned over), then consider playing a Guardian Angel or Warrior
Angel to Strengthen him. It is much more advisable to play a Guardian Angel, but if you
dont have one, a Warrior Angel would do the trick. This can be very beneficial if
you have matching Prophecy and Fulfillment cards on the Prophet but have been unable to
make the match due to the Prophet being weak. In this case, you could play the Angel card
and then make a match! The Guardian Angels that help you in this case are Gods
Mercy, Joy, and Strength. The Warrior Angel that helps you in this case is Strength.
- If your Prophet is discouraged (has some cards turned over), then consider playing a
Guardian Angel or Warrior Angel to Encourage him. It is much more advisable to play a
Guardian Angel, but if you dont have one, a Warrior Angel would do the trick. This
can be very beneficial if you have matching Prophecy and Fulfillment cards on the Prophet
but have been unable to make the match due to one or more of the cards being turned upside
down In this case, you could play the Angel card and then make a match! The Guardian
Angels that help you in this case are Gods Mercy, Joy, and Encourage. The Warrior
Angel that helps you in this case is Encourage.
- You win the game by matching Prophecy and Fulfillment cards on a Prophet. Therefore, the
more Prophets you have, the more chances you have to win. I would recommend playing the
Demon Wanderlust next to take one of your opponents Prophets. This has the added
benefit of giving your opponent less Prophets and a less chance to win. I would play this
card early and not wait. Otherwise your opponent might protect his Prophet with a Guardian
Angel against Wanderlust and you will lose your opportunity. Of course, your opponent
might be able to block this with the Warrior Angel Peace. Also, you could always lose the
Prophet back to an opponent by another Wanderlust card, a Sabbath Rest card, or a Jubilee
card.
- Speaking of Jubilee cards, if you have lost a Prophet or two due to Wanderlust and you
want him (them) back, then play the Jubilee card. Make sure the results are what you
expect. If you have taken an Opponents Prophet with a Wanderlust card, and then you
play the Jubilee card, then the Prophet will return home to your opponent. Since your
opponent cannot block a Jubilee card, then it might be best to wait for your opponent to
protect the Prophet with Guardian Angels before getting him back.
- Another way to get a Prophet back who has wandered away is by playing the Sab
bath Rest card. This can be played on one Prophet only and is a great card to have. Like
the Jubilee card, it might sometimes be best to wait until your opponent has protected the
Prophet with some Guardian Angel cards first before you bring him back with the Sabbath
Rest card.
- The next best thing to do is to protect your Prophet with Guardian Angels. This is very
important and is actually among the first things that you should do in a game. Here is the
order of Guardian Angels that you should play. Of course, it all depends on which ones
that you are dealt with and which ones that you draw:
- Mercy: This protects the Prophet from being attacked and from wanderlust. Use this one
as soon as possible. Note that even if a Prophet is protected by this Guardian Angel, if
he is discouraged by a demon (where all of the attached cards are turned faced down), then
he will lost the protection of this Guardian Angel until he is encourage by another
Guardian Angel or a Warrior Angel.
- Peace: This protects the Prophet from wanderlust. You dont want to lose your
Prophets.
- Gods Mercy: This protects the Prophet from being attacked, weakened, and
discouraged. If you can put this one on a Prophet along with a Guardian Angel Peace (see
above), then the Prophet is fully protected from all demon attacks!
- Protect: This protects the Prophet from being attacked. When a Prophet is attacked, all
of his attached cards (including Guardian Angels) are reshuffled into the deck.
- Joy: This protects the Prophet from being weakened and discouraged.
- Strength: This protects the Prophet from being weakened.
- Encourage: This protects the Prophet from being discouraged. When a prophet is
discouraged, his attached cards are turned face down.
- If you dont have a Guardian Angel to play, then consider next playing a demon card
to slow your opponent down. You can play a demon when your opponents Prophet is not
protected by a Guardian Angel against that demon. Of course, your opponent might have a
Warrior Angel to play against the demon. The best demon to play is Wanderlust, as
mentioned before. Here are the other demons to play in the best order.
- Attack: All of the attached cards of the Prophet (including Guardian Angels) are removed
from the Prophet and reshuffled into the deck. This will really slow him down!
- Weaken: This demon card turns the Prophet face down and he is unable to make prophecies.
Your opponent can keep attaching cards to the Prophet, but cannot make any matches until
the Prophet is strengthened by a Guardian or Warrior Angel.
- Discourage: This demon card turns the attached cards of the Prophet face down. Sometimes
this can be a great card to play. For instance, your opponent might have a Prophet that is
protected against Wanderlust. On one turn, you can discourage the Prophet (and he loses
the Guardian Angel protection), and the next turn you can play the Wanderlust card and
take the Prophet.
- If you have a Prophet in your hand, I would recommend it as the next card that you play.
Playing a Prophet certainly gives you more opportunities to fulfill prophecies. However,
the more Prophets that you have, the more Prophets that you need to protect with Guardian
Angels. Of course, playing a Prophet card this far down is only my opinion. It could be
good to make this the first card you play because it gives you more opportunities to win
the game.
- The special card Gods Call can certainly be useful because your opponent must give
you all cards that he has in his hand for that Prophet.
- Finally, there are the actual Prophecy and Fulfillment cards for each Prophet. These are
ultimately the most important cards in the game (along with the Prophet card itself)
because they are used to win the game. What I am going to say deviates significantly from
the way the game works right now, as far as which card the computer would play on
its turn or would recommend for you to play. I would not recommend playing any of
these cards unless your Prophet is well protected by Guardian Angels. By playing these
cards on an unprotected Prophet, you expose them to be removed from the Prophet (by an
attack demon) or turned face down (by a discourage demon). They are safest in your hand
and should only be played when needed to make a match or on a well protected Prophet.
Therefore, you should leave these cards in your hand, and ask the computer for a card for
one of your Prophets. Of course, I would still recommend playing any of the other cards
first if you have them (Guardian Angels, demons, etc.). However, there are times that you
dont have any of those cards to play and just have Prophecy and Fulfillment cards in
your hand. In this case, dont play them, but ask your opponent for a card. If you
receive a card that matches one in your hand, then on your next turn you can play the
matching card and make a match. I know that in this game, the temptation will be there to
play these Prophecy and Fulfillment cards on your Prophets, but just remember that there
are 4 Attack demons in the game and 4 Discourage demons in the game. Also, what if you
played several of these cards on a Prophet and then your Prophet was stolen with a
Wanderlust demon? You would actually be helping your opponent!
Prophecy is a game that is easy to play, but has a lot of strategy. On each turn, you
draw a card, and then you either play a card in your hand or ask your opponent for a card
for one of your Prophets. Of course, if your opponent asks you for a card for one of his
Prophets, then if possible try not to give him a card that gives him a match.
If you play the online Java version of Prophecy against the computer, consider turning
off the hints button and coming up with your own strategy to help you win the game! |