Notes from Seventieth Playtest

Mini Equipment Cards shown with
Goal card, a pawn, and a meeple

This play-through was a test of the new mini equipment cards. Now in most games I'd never want to see these "Hobbit" size cards, but since they are equipment that sits on the table the whole game, it works. I actually bumped up the font size for the most used information.

Update Equipment Cards

Changes for the new combat system

1. The number you need to roll is in large print on the equipment card, rather than calculated using a number there and on the animal disk.
2. The damage the weapon does is in hearts, rather than a number and an icon.

Graphic Design Updates

1. The information you need while hunting is larger, and in a contrast color (white)
2. The number of dice you roll is right next to the number you need to make
3. The cards themselves are smaller, 1.75" x 2.5", so they'll take up less space on the table (equipment is never held in your hand in this game)
4. Font sizes are unified, only two now (9pt and 13pt)
5. The cost is labeled, so you don't have to match the symbol on the score track to figure out what it means.
6. The name of the item has been deemphasized in favor of having the largest possible photo.

Simplified Animal Disk

Here is an updated deadly animal disk. I've removed a bunch of numbers and symbols since equipment now handles the "what you need to roll" side of combat. Numeric life values have been replaced with hearts, and the meat and hide trade values have been moved up top.

Also, based on popular request, I've added a red ring around the deadly animals. This may not hold up well in the printing process, which is why I didn't do it before, but it's worth a shot. It may be more of a crescent shape than a ring, depending on cutter accuracy. But The Game Crafter has been getting better and better, so I'll take the risk.

Any feedback before I apply this throughout all the diagrams in the rulebooks? I'm still trying to come up with good icons for meat and hide, I almost decided to write out the full words in tiny text.

Notes from Sixty-ninth Playtest

Two player game with Cybil.

What we tried

1. Simplified combat math - roll the number on the weapon,
2. Animals don't move when wounded by weapon or torch,
3. Don't collect new your new goal until re-spawning that character.

Conclusion

I like this new combat system. Not having to do any math speeds play along. Weapons are still variable power relative to each other, each weapon is just more similar to itself when hunting different animals.

Next Steps

I'm going to update the graphic design on the animal tiles so that there are hearts for life, removing 2 numbers (3 digits) from each.

I'll also update the equipment cards to a smaller size which will fit better on the table.

Lastly, I'll update the rules. I'll get to trim out a bunch (with these changes I've even removed the knife). Once it's been proofread again I'll update the game on Game Crafter.

Notes from Sixty-eighth Playtest

Eddy rolls 3 ones,
the next turn I did the same!

Simplified Combat, Take 2

What we tried:

1. "to hit" number on the weapon (less math!)
2. wounded animals don't move
3. if multiple weapons are used, weapons are selected before rolling. If either misses against a deadly animal, the character dies.

The game plays even smoother with so much of the math removed from combat, but the weapons retain their distinction, and characters still die. Man do they die. I died twice, Eddy three times, and Lester 4. Lester almost won with the Speaker for the Dead goal!

Notes:

I'll also remove the animal movement when wounded with a torch. That will remove the animal movement rules entirely, and also clear up an odd exception where you could drive an animal away and explore the same spot again.

Next Steps:

Get in another playtest or two, update the equipment (smaller cards), and rules.

Streamlined Combat

Today's experiment:

Remove half the math from the combat system, while retaining as much game balance as possible.

Instead of having the number that you need to roll on the disk, and the bonus to your die roll on the weapon, I averaged out the odds of hitting in the old system, and put the number you need to roll on the card. The life/damage numbers are changed to more visually oriented to hearts.

Initial Thoughts:

The weapons seem more normalized. The club got a lot more use even without its special power. The deadly animals felt less scary. I guess even though with the old system the highest you'd ever need to roll is a 12 (with the +1 from a club), it's still scary to see a Wolf with its 13 to hit.

The game plays very fast, closer to 30 minutes with 5 players. Definitely time to try it out with 36 tiles instead of 24.

Left to right: Eddy, Dan, Kris, Lester

In the Wild

A couple seedy looking fellows playing Hunt or Gather in a bar.