Squee
Alert
Support
Control
Resource
Type
Power of Cuteness
Endears Others with Cuteness
As the defender, after arrival, use this power to “appeal” to the invader. The invader may choose to retreat from the encounter. If they do not and win the encounter, their win will be peaceful.
While you are a leader, aliens that coexist with you cannot sponsor your opponent for any reason, and your opponent cannot invite them.
Legacy: Aliens cannot sponsor a leader if they have a base in the enemy leader’s system.
The infamous Squee have cultivated a certain intangible charm that virtually none can resist. Just look at that widdle face. Who wouldn’t agree to make them the rulers of the Cosmos?
Defender: Arrival
Mandatory
Wild Flare
As the defender, after losing an encounter, discharge this flare to choose one alien on either side. Ravage that alien’s ships equal to your casualties this encounter.
Defender: Encounter
Super Flare
As a leader, after arrival, when your opponent has no sponsors, you may discharge this flare instead of using your power. That alien must either surrender for a peaceful win or allow you to transfer one of their ships to a planet of your choice.
Leader: Arrival
Modifications
- Original Squee has the power of “unimaginable cuteness”. Shortened as part of my philosophy to make power names either a word or common phrase.
- Original Squee’s power is optional.
- Original Squee’s power activates after approach.
- Original Squee’s power is a modified version of my ability to appeal. Instead of scoring a guaranteed peaceful victory, Squee ravages three of the invader’s ships immediately and gains compensation on loss. Modified to make the power more coherent.
- Original Super Squee activates as a backward. Forces all enemies to rebound one of their ships. Modified to fit better with my version of Squee.
- Squee’s legacy makes Squee’s sponsor restriction global, resulting in fewer sponsors as the match progresses. Aliens can only act as a foreward once for each alien, which can really slow down the base race. Aliens that benefit more from backer boons may need to abstain from sponsoring invaders in order to avoid losing access to them. Original Cosmic has no legacies.
Tips
- Retreating from Squee is most useful when you don’t already have a base in their system. Having multiple bases won’t often make a difference unless one is lost, which is rarer in my Cosmic.
- Squee reaches maximum power once every alien has a base in its system, similar to Fan. Once this happens, every alien will be unable to sponsor Squee’s enemies, making Squee the only viable target if Squee is one of the leaders.
- Retreating from Squee’s system in the early-game can be a wise move to leave one’s options open for later. As the late-game approaches, this drawback will cease to be as much of an issue.
Development Notes
- I needed to make sure that Squee’s power is not completely undermined by Zipper, which is why it works differently than Bouncer. Squee’s ability to prevent enemy sponsors is important for keeping the power relevant, and I wanted to refrain from another power completely nullifying it. Parasite also doesn’t work against it since it uses the same mechanic. Both Zipper and Parasite can still use their powers on Squee’s enemy when they don’t have a planet in Squee’s system.
- The term “squee” refers to an exclamation commonly used to express one’s joy when they see something cute. In this context, it acts more as a nonsense word that reflects the concept of cuteness in a less direct way than having an alien named “Cuteness” or “Charm.” Though I do prefer real words to names, I think it gets the point across well enough for my design philosophy, in the same way that Spiff captures the idea of crash-landing due to the reference it taps into.
- Squee’s concept can be considered an “anti-Mite”. It is a defender-only ability that allows automatic peaceful victories. The original power is considered very weak since the automatic losses merely give it compensation instead of free bases. It is also generally unfun to play against, since aliens that end up targeting Squee pay such a high cost that many simply choose to retreat most of the time. I also find it somewhat unthematic that Squee lashes out when its cuteness is rebuffed. Squee could be the type of alien that is a dangerous being hiding behind a cute veneer, but that would mean the power doesn’t derive from the cuteness. It also overlaps somewhat with Ethic, as both gain compensation from guilt. I’d rather see more variance between them.
- I see this power as others being unable to attack something so cute to the extent that it becomes a superpower, which is why they can’t sponsor Squee’s enemies once they “embrace” Squee’s cuteness. Mechanically, accepting Squee as an ally locks an alien in for the rest of the match. Whether they win against Squee or invade a planet with Squee, there’s no going back once they take the plunge. My version also has no need to be optional, since the benefit is now strictly good for the user instead of bad for the enemy. It makes more sense to me that Squee can’t “turn off” its cuteness, though in the context of the original it is more that they are “turning on the charm.”
- My Squee has interesting interaction with other sponsor-based aliens like Grudge and Scholar. They have to take the question of coexisting with Squee more seriously since doing so will greatly limit their options. Unless they can trust that Squee will always invite them, it can be especially risky to make the decision early. But even in the late-game, being unable to side against Squee as Sapient with 32 accumulated wisdom can mean the difference between victory and defeat.
- Since it can effectively guarantee either retreats or peaceful victories as defender, Squee’s power can be incredibly difficult to deactivate or eliminate. One would need to exhaust all of its ships when it acts as invader or sponsor, since the bases cannot be easily targeted directly.