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Pruning techniques are commonly based on calculated values of the piece movements. But what if these values are 'outside' the movement?

For example: The Drone would be calculated at an extremely low value since its immediate movement does not result in the loss of material for the opponent. But it has another value which does not present itself until later in the game. Without a Drone, a player cannot promote a Highborn and thus risks losing the production phase of the turn.

Another thing that many chess programs have difficulty with is sacrifice. Without large look-aheads, they often do not detect the value of this maneuver. And in this game it may often require a sacrifice, or several sacrifices, in order to re-acquire the right of the production phase. For example, an opponent has reduced the player's Workers so that several pieces need to be loss to be able to introduce another.

So any pruning technique would need to continuely revisit previously discarded moves for evalution in relation to the examined ply.

Yes, you can create a program which would simply 'push' the pieces around. But would it ever be able to make tactical, or even strategic, sense of the play.