Double-sided Card Improvements

The first time I set up the game at a company picnic I put the stack of arrow cards upside down. So it was clear that I needed a stronger distinction between the back and front of the double sided cards. I realized later that in addition to adding stronger notice that a shot had been used up, I didn't need the equipment cost or hunter/gatherer restriction information on the back side of the Arrows and Spears:

It was also pointed out that "flip" could mean turn upside down, or flip over to the back side, so I designed a little icon that will hopefully help.

Notes from Sixty-fifth Playtest

Dan "Wolf Bait" Grayson pulls a tie out of nowhere

This game continues to surprise us. Dan, living up to his playtest nickname, went out gathering and found every wolf in the game all right around the village, and got himself killed 3 times. But with those 3 deaths came 3 extra secret goals, which he somehow accomplished with only 4 disks collected, and those goals translated into a surprise win in a tight 4 player game.

Of course Kris, bitter at being caught by surprise, figured out how Lester could use his Copy Cat goal to score a single point from one of Dan's goals, bringing up the need for a tie break rule.

Other fixes: We found a printing error on the deer tile, the "to hit" number was 12 instead of 10. I should make note of the number you need to roll to escape a deadly animal on the player aids. I might even consider putting "draw 2, keep 1" on the goal cards. I also want to add a graphic to remind players that arrows and spears should be flipped over when used. I also want to re-think the disk and player colors. The orange and red score cubes are too close in color, and the green disks look like player colors. I want to use white for the exploration disks, and green for a player color if possible, then I can use black for village value, village, and tar pits.

I might do some more tweaking of the equipment. I'm thinking about adding a 5th pouch so that the last player has the option of getting one, should all the players before him pick one up. But that brings up another issue. My playtest team's "group think" is currently that pouch + spear is the best opening equipment choice. And this may well be true, a pouch makes gathering much easier, buying you more time to wait for the village demand to be right. The spear, while not the best odds to hit, works against a large variety of animals. And if the character does die you get another 3 points worth of equipment (more than the 1 the spear cost) and a choice of a new goal.

What I'm considering is raising the cost of the spear to 2 points, and lowering the atlatl down to 3. That still keeps spear+atlatl beyond the starting equipment allotment, but leaves it a viable strategy. But I'll have to look at what the new viable openings would be. Maybe it would be best if players were given fewer starting options to encourage people to have to go back for more equipment rather than play out the game with their initial choices.

Notes from Sixty-fourth Playtest

First play with the new pieces from The Game Crafter. I've got some notes for the rules to add about assembly instructions. Glad it doesn't take too long to put the stickers on the disks, so I'll feel fine sending games directly to my blind playtest groups once I touch up the rules.

The game itself was a little lopsided at first, my goal was Crack Shot, so I did a little gathering, then poached a few small animals. All without incident, building a line down the side. Meanwhile, Dan was doing a good job impaling himself on wild boar tusks. But at the same time he was collecting secret goals and leaving me to work the market solo. In the end it came down to a 2 point game, and he could have won with the Master Scout goal, had he remembered that 6th tile was the boar I drove off with a torch.

It's great that the game plays are still fun and surprising, and the secret goals help balance out runs of bad luck.

Print On Demand

First print on demand copy of the game!