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| Close end-game score. |
What we tried
- Simplified hunting rules: if you hit, you may roll again (or run away). This only changes the Sling, because other weapons kill anything in the existing two shot limit.
- A new action available before or after scoring a disk: Consume. Choose one of 3 face up consume cards to increase the demand of one or more resource.
- Events were removed for this playtest.
- Pouch is priced at 4, bow 6, arrows are free if one of your characters has a bow.
- Players start with 5 points of equipment, get 2 points worth when a character re-spawns.
- "Hunger cube" rule is in place, you only explore once, but if you fail to collect something you get a cube that can be turned in later to continue moving and exploring after a failed explore.
Notes
I need to calculate the odds on the Sling with the simplified hunting rules. It's definitely fun to play this way, adds a lot of tension when trying to kill a wolf or a bear with 3 or 4 successful shots in a row (Lester killed a bear, it was awesome!) I may need to raise the cost to 3, or lower the numbers needed to hit with the spear and club (both of which have lost ground to the other weapons).
I will also consider lowering the points that you get towards starting equipment to simplify that decision at the beginning of the game.
The goal cards (/player aids) should say "draw 2, keep 1" on the back, one less rule to remember, and it's the same at the start of the game and when you re-spawn.
Need to double check that the rules are clear that you score one disk at a time, and that the meat/hide from an animal are also scored separately, and each move the demand track.
I will also consider lowering the points that you get towards starting equipment to simplify that decision at the beginning of the game.
The goal cards (/player aids) should say "draw 2, keep 1" on the back, one less rule to remember, and it's the same at the start of the game and when you re-spawn.
Need to double check that the rules are clear that you score one disk at a time, and that the meat/hide from an animal are also scored separately, and each move the demand track.
What's next?
I'm going to add encounters back into the game, with encounter tiles mixed in with plants and animals. There will be corresponding encounter cards with simple to resolve events. I briefly considered "choose your own adventure" style encounters, but that has problems with unfair knowledge advantage, and would disrupt the flow of an otherwise very smooth game.
I think most players have figured out that it is very effective to follow behind someone else, pay attention to what they fail to pick up, and poach it for themselves. I'll have to keep an eye on that with the encounters mixed in with the explore disks. There are few enough turns in the game that so far nobody has intentionally not explored new ground themselves in favor of always poaching.
We'll need to test whether a player who draws an encounter gets a hunger cube. It may depend on the particular encounter.
Given that the goal of this playtest's "consume" mechanism was to prevent the demand track from stagnating, not really increase scores, I will try integrating demand track manipulation with the encounter cards. That way there's only one new deck being added to the game. (Thanks to Kris for that idea).
I think most players have figured out that it is very effective to follow behind someone else, pay attention to what they fail to pick up, and poach it for themselves. I'll have to keep an eye on that with the encounters mixed in with the explore disks. There are few enough turns in the game that so far nobody has intentionally not explored new ground themselves in favor of always poaching.
We'll need to test whether a player who draws an encounter gets a hunger cube. It may depend on the particular encounter.
Given that the goal of this playtest's "consume" mechanism was to prevent the demand track from stagnating, not really increase scores, I will try integrating demand track manipulation with the encounter cards. That way there's only one new deck being added to the game. (Thanks to Kris for that idea).
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