Changing the Bow

Thinking about changing the bow in order to bring the Atlatl back into play. Right now an Atlatl + Spear costs more than your starting 5 points, so the only time people are buying them is after they die. A Bow & Arrow, or Club & Sling are the most prevalent strategies, with the Bow's deadly animal immunity power making it extra appealing.

But from a game design perspective I don't like it. Beyond the pure immunity taking a lot of the fun out of it, it's also another exception that needs to be taught. And the bow itself coming with one arrow is funky too.

So I'm contemplating increasing the cost to 4 (arrows cost 2), removing the extra shot that comes with the bow, and getting rid of the immunity power. In exchange I'd make it +5 to hit, and keep the damage at 2. Here's what that would look like:

Weapon / Combo	Squirrel	Rabbit	Deer	Boar	Wolf	Bear
Club	38%	50%	74%	63%	38%	50%
Club First Hunt†	50%	63%	84%	74%	50%	63%
Sling	74%	84%	91%*	-	-	-
Spear	50%	63%	84%	74%	50%	-
Atlatl	63%	74%	91%	84%	63%	74%
Bow&Arrow	84%	91%	98%	90%*	71%*	83%*

† First Hunt is the +1 bonus a Club gets against an animal discovered this turn.

OK, clearly that has exchanged one imbalance for another. What if I made it +4 to hit? The sling is still valuable because it's cheaper and has unlimited shots, but let's see if that fixes any of the balance vs. the Atlatl...

Weapon / Combo	Squirrel	Rabbit	Deer	Boar	Wolf	Bear
Club	38%	50%	74%	63%	38%	50%
Club First Hunt†	50%	63%	84%	74%	50%	63%
Sling	74%	84%	91%*	-	-	-
Spear	50%	63%	84%	74%	50%	-
Atlatl	63%	74%	91%	84%	63%	74%
Bow&Arrow	74%	84%	95%	83%*	55%*	71%*

† First Hunt is the +1 bonus a Club gets against an animal discovered this turn.

Atlatl average kill odds: 75%, Bow&Arrow average kill odds: 77%.

Another factor to consider when making the comparison is that for half the animals the bow requires two shots, which means both extra movement (and not claiming the spot you were intending to), and the extra point cost of the arrows.

Update
Added the Club's First Hunt special power numbers.

Second Update
Corrected the hunting Deer with Bow & Arrow odds.

Notes from Thirty-seventh Playtest

Board at end of game

Maybe our most competitive game so far - 3 players with Dan and Kris. The score was really tight, so as one player would fall behind they'd have to go hunting stuff on the board to delay the end of game, or try to secure the largest area bonus.

Setup
We added a setup rule where none of the obstacles (currently meadows & tar pits) are allowed to be adjacent to each other or the village. That, along with low start player rolls made for a less nasty board than last time.

Number Changes
Tried the plant distribution at 2-2-2-1. Gatherer scoring is very steady with these numbers. The Hunt track didn't catch up until late in the game, and that's because we only left 2 animals on the board.

I changed the Spear cost to 2, and the Wolf to 3 hide.

To Try Next
Now the Atlatl has become the neglected weapon, because it costs enough we've only been picking them up after we die. But with the spear price reduced we'll have to give it a few more plays.

The Torch, at 1 point, is clearly under-valued. Nobody ever goes out exploring without at least one. We'll  try it at 2 points next time.

With the obstacles on the board we want to try allowing them to be placed next to each other. Or at least next to the other type (but not next to the village, and probably not next to the same type.)

Notes for the Rules
I'm planning to have a first game / beginner setup with no obstacles, and specifically assigned equipment cards. That way you can just start playing. Then once you've had a chance to try out the equipment you'll have an easier time making that important first turn decision. And the obstacles on the board add a lot to game play, but aren't essential.

Notes from Thirty-sixth Playtest

Lester, Dan, and Kris

4 player game with Lester, Dan, and Kris. Same rules as Playtest 35.

Notes
With the lowered plant values Hunting dominated again.

Click to Enlarge

The board setup was brutal! Kris (red) went first and was able to wall us off and make it through the only pass. Of course it didn't help that our little valley was full of deadly animals. Oh, and we all rolled like crap the whole game. Don't think I hit anything, my final score was zero.

Next Experiment
Move plant distribution back up to 1-1-2-3, or 1-2-2-2 (or a mixture). I want to avoid having many 3s, they make the luck in the game very swingy (whoever happens to find a 3 and sell it for 12-15 gains a huge advantage).

With the plant values back up I'll have to boost hunting somehow. I'll try increasing the Wolf hide value from 2 to 3. Also I want to try lowering the Spear cost goes down to 2 instead of 3.

To Clarify
A player with a Torch must use it, no suicide allowed! May need to consider how to make suicide a little less appealing at times :P

Notes from Thirty-fifth Playtest

Lester & Dan, end of game

Playtest with Lester and Dan.

Experimental Rules

1. Clubs +1 newly found animals
2. Dynamic village, meadow, and tar-pit spots (meadows connect to make a spot larger, tar-pits are impassible)
3. Plant value distribution dropped down to 1-1-2-2

Notes

The club is interesting now, Sling + Club are a strong opening, but lose value later. The spear actually feels a little over-priced now, tempted to try having it cost 2.

Hunt and Gather scores were very close, I think they're finally coming back into balance!

Click to Enlarge

Our board setup was particularly nasty - in other words it was awesome. Area bonus went to Dan (red) had 4 space territory, which gave him a 4 point win!

To Try

Wolf with 2 life or 3 hide. (2 life might actually devalue the Spear even more)

Spear cost at 2.

Notes from Thirty-fourth Playtest

Click to Enlarge

4 player game with Eddy, Dan, and Kris.

Notes

Scouting
It didn't come up, but here are the rules:  if you are a hunter who has not killed anything, and have no means to hunt, you may move 4 spaces and explore twice. The second exploration does not end your turn, and you do not have to reveal anything about the tiles you found, even if they are deadly animals.

Scouting when you have already killed something is not allowed. If you do so you must put the tile back on the draw stack, and must continue for the rest of your 4 movement from that space.

Club
An  interesting weapon now (with +1 to hit on newly discovered animals). It allows for stronger early game hunting.

Click to Enlarge

Game Board
This board is tight with four players, which isn't a bad thing. But I'm really interested to try a board with dynamic obstacles.

Tile Value Distribution
Need to lower plant qualities again, the 3 value tiles are way overpowered. Right now plants are valued at 3-2-1-1, but I'm going to try 2-2-1-1.

I'm considering raising Wolf back up to 3 hide, what do you think?

Notes from Thirty-third Playtest

Click to Enlarge

Notes
Board asymmetry is interesting, guides 1st player in one direction. But may get old playing the same setup every time. Instead want to try dynamically placed "meadow" (which joins two spaces into one) and some "brier patches" (which block movement) for greater replay.

Tried the Scout rule. Tricky because can't scout twice and also go home, so have to waste a turn only scouting once then walking home. Very inefficient. Might allow a Scout to continue movement after a second explore, otherwise you can only really scout once, then you have to get back to the village to re-equip yourself.

New Rule
Kris and I brainstormed about the Club. It's the hardest weapon to hit anything with, and even priced at 1 point doesn't see much use.

The rule we want to try is that the Club gets a +1 to hit against a newly revealed animal tiles, but not against one that was on the board at the start of your turn. The idea being that the club is the best close-quarters weapon, the rest are ranged weapons. We'll try that, see if it isn't too powerful.

Notes from Thirty-second Playtest

Click to Enlarge

Kris is back. We caught up after not playing in a while, and I got feedback on some of the experiments I've been running.

What We Tried

• A board with irregularly shaped spaces
• Personal goals for end game scoring
• Weaponless hunting (+0 to hit, 1 damage)

Notes

• The board was definitely interesting, we'll try the other 2 drafts, then build one deliberately based on what works and what doesn't.
• Dubious about the personal goal approach to the Hunt or Gather prediction cards. Creates weird "take stuff to lower your score" situations.
• Weaponless hunting is kinda lame, more like deliberate suicide to to get better stuff when you re-spawn.
• In addition to player aids, need a distribution card with animal stats as well as tile distribution. Maybe this would be the place for the "recommended weapons to hunt with" information Cybil is looking for.

New Rule for Next Time

In response to the weaponless hunting dilemma, trying to avoid the suicide strategy, but also not wanting a weird rule where Hunters run away from deadly animals like Gatherers, we came up with a new rule to try: Scouting.

A Hunter without a weapon is considered to be Scouting. They may explore twice, but may not attempt hunt anything. At the same time, they are are being careful, so they do not have to role in order to evade deadly animals. 

Notes from Thirty-first Playtest

Josh & Dan

Josh came over to visit (he used to work in the same building) and we played a three player game.

Latest Rules

• Plant tile value distribution: 3-2-1-1
• Random starting position for village (based on start player roll)

Notes

Board at end game
(see my wolf&boar?)
Click for Larger Image

Clarify if that you can move over spot with face down tile and not explore.

Hunt and Gather scores were more balanced with lower plant values, and a couple animals remained on the board at the end as usual. May try a 2-2-1-1 distribution, but might not be as fun even if it's more balanced.

Wondering if there should be a fixed set of starting equipment for people's first play?

Need to look through all the possible starting combos. May change things around just to provide more options, but the one thing I know is you can't start with an Atlatl & Spear.

Exploration Odds

I've put together the numbers to look at how valuable each piece of equipment, and and combination really is. There are some pretty fantastic coincidences in here, considering that most of this balancing was a combination of intuition and playtesting. For example, the odds of finding and being able to kill something with a Sling and with an Atlatl are the same, the sling's accuracy makes up for its lack of damage dealing.

(As a side note, one missing piece from the Atlatl/Sling comparison is the scenario where the first tile that you find while hunting with a Sling is a deadly animal, which eliminates your second chance to search.)

Item / Weapon / Combo	Find	Kill	Success
Gatherer	76%	-	76%
Gatherer with 1 item	25%	-	25%
Gatherer w/ pouch + 2 items	48%	-	48%
Club	76%	52%	40%
Sling	45%	83%	57%
Spear	67%	64%	43%
Atlatl	76%	75%	57%
Bow&Arrow	76%	66%	50%
Sling+Club	76%	67%	51%
Sling+Spear	76%	71%	54%
Sling+Bow&Arrow	76%	69%	52%
Sling+Atlatl	76%	78%	59%
Club+Spear	76%	62%	47%
Spear+Bow&Arrow	76%	68%	52%

Find means the odds of drawing a tile that it is possible to take.
Kill is the average chance of taking the found tile (see the 3rd table in my previous post).
Success is the combined probability of taking a tile in a given turn.

All of these percentages assume no knowledge of what has previously been found. It does factor in exploring twice per turn (an initial failed attempt increases the odds of the next attempt because we're dealing with a pool of only 24 tiles).

Of course since these are blind odds, if you do know what it is you are hunting, or that a given tile is a plant vs. animal, your odds will increase significantly.

Art for the Animal Tiles

Next batch of sketches arrived today! We both, independently, had the idea that deadly animals be scary close-up drawings.

Squirrel, Rabbit, Deer

Boar, Bear, Wolf

Introducing Bob Garvin, Game Artist

I have hired upcoming game artist Bob Garvin (see his Online Portfolio or find him on deviantART as OmegaBob-158) to do the prototype artwork for this game!

I don't think I need to say any more, his artwork speaks for itself. Here are the initial sketches for the items & equipment:

Nuts, Torch, Herbs, Berries, Pouch

Meat, Hide, Atlatl, Spear, Club

Sling, Bow & Arrows

Closer Look at the Odds

3D6 Bell Curve

Time to peel back the curtain a bit here and look at the probability behind this game.


Weapon Statistics

Weapon	+ To Hit	Damage
Club	1	4
Sling	4	1
Spear	2	3
Atlatl	3	4
Bow&Arrow	3	2

Animal Statistics

Animal	Roll To Hit	Life
Squirrel	13	1
Rabbit	12	1
Deer	10	2
Boar	11	3
Wolf	13	3
Bear	12	4

"To Hit" Statistics


Next look at odds of killing each animal  with each weapon / combo.

Weapon / Combo	Squirrel	Rabbit	Deer	Boar	Wolf	Bear
Club	38%	50%	74.1%	63%	38%	50%
Sling	74%	84%	91%*	-	-	-
Spear	50%	63%	84%	74%	50%	-
Atlatl	63%	74%	91%	84%	63%	74%
Bow&Arrow	63%	74%	91%	70%*	40%*	55%*
Sling+Bow&Arrow*	-	-	-	76%*	46%*	-
Sling+Spear*	-	-	-	-	-	52%*

* = requires 2 shots (and 2 movement)

What's Next?
I'll look at the odds of exploring and finding something that you could take/kill depending on what equipment you are carrying. And then I'll pick apart the odds of finding and actually successfully taking/killing it.

The Odds of Hitting a Wolf with a Club

Handy little Dice&Coin Odds Calculator iOS app for anyone who wants to cheat at this game (or just level the playing field with those of us who have been working with these numbers since childhood).

Thanks for pointing this out Spencer!

Notes from Thirtieth Playtest!

Playtest 30

Played a three player game with Eddy, Dan, and myself.

Today's Rules:

1. Random Village placement based on start player roll.
2. Hunt or Gather prediction is a personal goal, you get 5 points if you score higher in the one you said.
3. Atlatl costs 4

Observations

• With personal goals (hunt or gather) you have a lot more control over your destiny, and so it shapes how you play the game.
• Random start seems cool, as does bigger board. Still want to see someone try a trailblazing to the far end of the board strategy. Also want to try irregularly shaped board spaces.
• Costs of equipment make for tough decisions. You get 5 points, but lots of things cost 3, and only Arrows cost 2, which can't be used by themselves. Pouches are expensive, but I think they should be.

Next Steps

1. Work on Exploration Tile distribution. Right now the numbers are balanced plant vs. animal values, but at the end of the game there are a bunch of animals on the board (they had been cleaned up in this photo.)
2. Design irregularly shaped board

Extended Board

Here is a new board, or rather set of boards, based on yesterday's playtesting:

Click for Detail

I've changed a couple things here:

1. I've moved the Village onto it's own board to make the exploration area larger, and wrapped the score track around both boards.
2. I've removed the built-in village squares from the exploration board, and numbered the rows & columns.

New Setup Rules

Players roll 2 dice to determine who goes first. The highest number also determines which row along the longest edge of the board the village will start in. The player who will go last rolls one die to determine which column the village will start in. The last player places one village marker on that space, and another marker on any adjacent space.