Notes from Eighty-fourth Playtest

Kris and Ryan

What we tried

Instead of a choice between a goal or equipment when a character dies, you always get a goal and only two points for equipment.

I also removed restrictions from trading in equipment. Instead of being required to upgrade, you can now swap out for equal or lesser value.

Notes

This was Ryan's second game, but Kris and I decided to take the gloves off and play as hard as we could. But Kris died on the first turn, so it was an uphill battle. But the game is long enough now (closer to an hour than 45 minutes) that he had time to almost catch up. I triggered end game and prevented him from making a big score and was 10 points ahead. I also accomplished a large goal. Then Kris scored his goals, the first one caught him up to where I was before my goal scored, and the extra goal he had from dying on the first turn pushed him ahead. Very tight and exciting game!

Conclusion

There are goals that can now be completed which were nearly impossible before, Wolf Hunter (kill two wolves) and Crack Shot (kill two rabbits or two squirrels). This is simply because there are now three of each animal instead of two.

I'm still a little bit concerned that a "suicide strategy", getting killed intentionally to get a bunch of goals, might be successful. Back when players got a goal and three points worth of equipment that was definitely a problem (although a pretty advanced strategy), but now it's two points, and the better equipment is more expensive.

Kris, who has been playtesting this game from the beginning, through many revisions, said something great. He said that the game now has the same level of decision making as a much earlier edition of the game, but with much simpler rules. That to me is a breakthrough. Also, the experienced players trounced the score of the newer player, pretty good for a game with both input and output randomness!