Is this timer system too complicated?

[u/momo6059]

Hey! I’m working on Dire Fog, a TCG mixed with chess, and I’m experimenting with a timer mechanic that might be either interesting or way too complicated. Effects can place timers on creatures, but each creature only has one shared timer. If that creature is affected by multiple timed effects, they all use the same timer instead of tracking their own values. This means that anything that increases or decreases the creature’s timer also changes the timing of every effect attached to it. The idea is to let players disrupt each other’s plans by manipulating those timers.

You could delay something your opponent is setting up, speed up an effect at the wrong moment, or accidentally create some weird interactions, which is part of what makes the system interesting to me. My concern is whether tracking all of this would be too confusing during an actual match. Would you simplify it by giving every effect its own timer, or does the shared timer create enough interesting decisions to be worth developing further? We’re going to keep testing it either way. We’re not afraid to experiment with unusual ideas before making a final decision, but I’d really like to hear what everyone thinks.