Playtest suggestions

[FlameBlade]

[Mike]

Super easy. Me. Aidan. Three 8th graders. Noah (11). Everyone caught on right away. All of them said it was fun.

The game moved really fast. With 6 players, everyone knew what they wanted to do when their turn hit. They were eager to get a chance.

I was surprised that they even got the end-of-round mechanic so quick. The first end of round took a couple explanations so that everyone was on board. The second one they did without me. I was typing in this thread, and suddenly they're telling me to refresh my HP. I said Why? They said We're at the Laurel Wreath. I said You only do that if someone's out of GP. They said Yeah, Noah just ran out on the last move and then it got to the wreath. Okay. They were right. That was cool.

Eli doesn't want to play with his brother again, but he keeps talking about trying it out with his group of friends. He thinks they will all love it.

Overall, I think we were under and hour. Eli won in the third round.

Sprinting was HUGE. That probably contributed to the speed of the game more than anything.

Biggest problem is SO MANY FIDDLY BITS! I'll start another post about FIDDLY bits.

[Mike]

Dave and I commented the other day on the Magic-like feel of this game, what with all the individualized cards and powers. I think that aspect is what most appealed to the players at this table. The more special each card feels, the better. Names and flavor and pics are a must.

[Mike]

Fiddly bits:

GP and HP can be tracked with sliders on the side of the Hero Cards. (Or dials or something). Let them run 0-10 or 0-6 or whatever. That will take a ton of pressure off.

Similarly, do we put 3 or 5 tokens or whatever on cards that need them, or do we have a spaces to count it out on the card and just have a single token to track it?

Barriers. I want individual tokens for every type of barrier. This is flavor. Specifically, each deck comes with all the needed barriers and counters so each god has their own set. This seems like extra fiddly but I think of other games where you have to search for that exact right piece and I think it'll be worth it. We'll see. [Side note--if we go through decks more than once, might we need extra barriers to accomodate?]

Terrain works for me as is right now.

Cards in play: This is a game that requires many hands and it was easy for kids to forget what cards are in play on them and which ones are in their hand, discarded etc. I think Hero Cards need to be full sheets with space on them for stuff in play. The hero card becomes a dashboard for everything available and going on. I don't know if we can make it work, but I want to try.

[FlameBlade]

Hero card could be like one you use in 7 Wonders. Large enough for lots, but not so big that it occupies the whole table. Except for Athena. You need a poster board.

[Mike]

Cards. I need to write these down in play.

Take one card (of their choice) from each other player and redistribute as you wish. Didn't like this one. Everyone gives up their least effective card and someone else winds up with it. It felt like a lot of work for little transfer of power and not a real obvious advantage for the 2 or cost. A Hermes card I think.

[Mike]

[FlameBlade]

[FlameBlade]

Wait. If it's used when all Gods are down to few cards, then might be a chance to steal a 3 GP card.

[Eliahad]

[Mike]

Better yeah. Hold on to that.

[Eliahad]

[FlameBlade]

Hmm. How much does an edge slider cost? I could see someone attaching something to the edge of a card or hero's card. That way, by attaching, you don't have to worry about anything getting knocked around.

[Eliahad]

Slider clips are about 0.13 cents each. (Less if bought in batches of 100 or more) So a couple are okay. Enough for everything might be pricey.

My Dad had an idea for terrain. It will take a little explanation, so I'll post it up when I'm not on my phone.

Cards in play. You're right about this. Lowering the number of tokens will also help with this. What if there were card spots around the edge of the board. Two sides for 'refresh phase' and two sides for, 'turn marker' (laurel wreath?) phase?

For Gifts, yeah, there should be a set of spots for cards on the Hero boards, too.

And Athena might need to be toned down on the number of gifts she has. Maybe she should have more powerful gifts instead of having a greater number.

[Mike]

If you love Athena so much, why don't you marry her?!

[Eliahad]

You would think, but Aphrodite is the one for me!

[Mike]

I'm actually developing a severe crush on Atalanta.

[Phoebe]

Greek gods have a very poor track record with respect to the well-being of the mortals who capture their fancy.

[Eliahad]

Terrain, via my father.

For the first set...there are four types of terrain, each Hero has 2 favored terrain, and 2 not favored terrain. That way you are more likely to lay down terrain that is favorable to you, but still hinders the opponent. Then each God has 2 terrain types that they are more likely to use in their God Powers.

I mean, I get it. Then we can add other terrain types in the expansion, and maybe eventually Heroes have 3 favored terrain types and 3 not favored terrain types.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Personally, I like the trade off of, yes, I'm going to help some people and not others. It might make the decision a little more difficult. I dunno.

Anywhoozle. There it is. I had an old fashioned. I'm feelin' pretty good.

[Cazmonster]

Here is my suggestion on terrain (and it's the thing I still need to send you).

Gods play terrain that takes up one tile or three connected tiles. The terrain is always an advantage to the related hero. It is always a hindrance to all other heroes. That keeps terrain super simple.

Also - how big are the tiles in your print and play? I can print new hexes that fit better.