Goals cards are a fundamental part of the Doctor Who CCG and yet strangely enough were the last cards to enter the game. In the original design, the Spacetime cards also contained the goals. Whilst this was economic in cards and meant that you didn’t have to wait until playing a Goal before playing Enemies, it was very restrictive in terms of using the same Enemies to complete other Goals on other Spacetime cards and it didn’t make a lot of ‘story sense’ either as it would have meant that, for example, Sutekh could only return in Victorian England and The Hand of Omega could only be found on Earth 1963. The game demanded more variety, and so Goals were born.

However, we didn’t want any goal to be played anywhere, or again, the ‘story sense’ could be ruined. We didn’t want Davros to be Rescued from Earth in the Middle Ages and a ship certainly couldn’t be Hijacked from 1972! So Goals were given a ‘type’ such as Apocalypse, Invasion, and Quest, and each Spacetime card listed the type of Goal that could be played there. This gave enough freedom so that games played differently, but that ‘Who’ feel was retained.

With the exception of recent ‘Purpose’ Conditions, Goals are virtually the only way that a player could gain points, either by Reaching or Opposing them, and so win the game. They still remain the best way of gaining points and some have been revised to give more points as we felt that they were a bit difficult to accomplish.

Choosing the Goals is virtually the first thing to do when designing your deck as they will drive what you include. Clearly, Enemies and Spacetime cards that you include must be able to support the Goals and allow you to complete them. Other cards that are mentioned on Goals like Artifacts, Puzzles and Conditions must also be included – often in multiples if you wish to see them in a game! Some Goals can be very card intensive, especially Goals that require you to kidnap an opponent’s character, such as “Auton Invasion” and “For my Amusement”. Not only do you need Attack cards like At Gunpoint or Collared on the table and enough Brawn to actually kidnap them, but also a way of ‘persuading’ your opponent to come to the Spacetime card where you have your Goal. This isn’t always easy, and needs a good Misjump or Temporal Reverse. Setting all that up can be very difficult and take a lot of turns

However, Goals can be divided into two basic types – Specific and Non-specific.

Specific Goals are those that refer to particular cards or Enemies. “Auton Invasion”, “Destroy Unity” and “Sutekh’s Return” are all examples of specific goals. Specific Goals tend to be a little harder to Reach but gain more points and other benefits than non-specific goals.

Generic goals will just refer to traits or qualities so that a range of enemies can Reach. “Hijack Ship”, “Alien Invasion” and “Mining Rights” are all Non specific Goals. These generally offer lower points but are mostly easier to Reach.

Through playtesting, we have found that a successful deck uses a combination of both types of Goal, with some multiples of each Goal if you can, but remembering that you can’t score twice from the same Goal card. About 5 to 6 Goals in a deck of 60 cards seems to be about right, and with enough points to reach that magic 10!

So what factors should players consider when deciding upon which Goals to include in a deck?

I think the key ideas are compatibility and independency.

Firstly, Goals need to be compatible with each other and work best if one feeds off the other, so that if you can successfully Reach one, then you might be halfway to Reaching another. Specific Goals that use certain Enemy races work this way. Putting “Rescue Davros” and “The Quest for the Hand” in a deck means that you can use Daleks for both. The same can be said with “Cybermen Reborn” and “Destroy Unity”.

The problems come when Goals need to be done in a certain sequence and thus not independent on each other. In the Cyberman example above, if you can complete “Cyberman Reborn” first, you can then move your Cybermen to “Destroy Unity” at another Spacetime card – perfect! But what happens if you draw “Destroy Unity” first? Do you keep it in your hand and let it take up a card ‘space’ there, or go ahead and try to “Destroy Unity” first and then hoping to get back to Telos? As the Doctor said, every decision creates ripples…………

There are ways around this, such as stocking more “Cyberman Reborn” Goals than “Destroy Unity”, but it doesn’t totally solve the problem.

I think the solution is to choose Goals that can be compatible but done in any order. A real favourite ‘add on’ Goal with our playtests is “Alien Invasion”. Virtually anyone can do it and all you have to do is ship a few enemies to a different location. Simplicity itself, especially for a squad of Daleks using a Time Corridor! “End of the World” works similarly well for Davros and a few Daleks.

Having said that, reusing Enemies for two different Goals means you must have a way of moving them around, as you can only play one Goal on each Spacetime card – see my next article on ‘Travelling the Universe’ for ideas.

So which Goals are my own favourites?

Purely for design, I think “Cybermen Reborn” and “Rescue Davros” just look superb, the graphics and stills make stunning cards.

If I had to choose a favourite combination though, I’d opt for “Sutekh Returns” together with “For My Amusement”. Although the combination takes a little effort to set up, careful planning can usually pull it off.

Time to devise that Masterplan!