mundane

Turn structure, priority, and the stack

The five phases

A turn proceeds through five phases, in order:

RESET  ->  WAKE_UP  ->  PLAN  ->  DO_STUFF  ->  WIND_DOWN

There is no “advance phase” action. A phase ends — and the next begins — purely as a consequence of every player passing priority in a row while the stack is empty (see Priority below).

When the final phase (WIND_DOWN) ends:

• the turn passes to the next player;
• the phase resets to RESET;
• the turn counter increments;
• the new active player’s Wake Up housekeeping runs: their Time refreshes to 5, and they draw a card from their deck if it is non-empty.

Stubs, out of scope for the MVP: Wake Up housekeeping currently runs at end-of-turn rather than in the WAKE_UP phase; combat in DO_STUFF (People assigning to Problems) is not implemented.

Priority

Two notions are kept deliberately separate:

• active_player — whose turn it is. Slow: changes once per turn.
• priority_player — who may act right now. Fast: changes constantly.

That separation is what lets a non-active player act during the active player’s turn.

Granting priority after a stack change. Whenever a card goes on the stack, the active player receives priority (even to respond to their own card), and the consecutive-pass counter resets.

Passing priority. When the player holding priority passes:

1. the consecutive-pass counter increments;
2. if it has not reached the number of players, priority moves to the next player;
3. if it has reached the number of players (everyone passed in a row with nobody acting), the counter resets and either:
   • the top item of the stack resolves (if the stack is non-empty), after which the active player receives priority again; or
   • the phase advances (if the stack is empty).

Timing

• Sorcery speed (PlayCard: PERSON / APPLIANCE / HABIT / TASK) is the restrictive timing: legal only for the active player, only during PLAN, and only when the stack is empty.
• Instant speed (CastInstant: INSTANT) is the permissive timing: legal for whoever currently holds priority, in any phase, regardless of what is on the stack.

The stack and LIFO resolution

The stack is a list; the most recently added item is the top.

• Items resolve one at a time, top first (LIFO). After each resolution the active player receives priority again, so further responses are possible before the next item resolves.
• A response goes on top of the item it responds to and therefore resolves first.
• Each stack item carries an id (assigned from GameState.next_stack_id), unique within the game, so an effect can target a specific item.
• On resolution: a permanent (PERSON / APPLIANCE / HABIT) goes onto its controller’s board; a one-shot (TASK / INSTANT) applies its effect and then goes to its controller’s discard.

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