[GB] 3-2-2019 Hermes vs. Athena Playtest

[Eliahad]

I was able to play a full 12 round 1v1 game yesterday. Hermes vs Athena. Final score 4-3, with Hermes running the ball into the goal on round 12 to score the final 2 points of the match. It was a fun, good game, and my playing partner says everything feels better from the last time that she played.

Scoring seemed typical to most 1v1 games I play. I score, and then my opponent scores on next turn. Or opponent scores and then I score on next turn. This is a product of the 1v1 game and our current scoring rules. I DO NOT see this as a bad thing, as there are strategies that can be build to mitigate this, they just have to be enacted.

There were TONS of...'hmmm...*think*...hmmm...Oooooooh" moments in this game. I have been worried for a while that, in a game with perfect information, there wouldn't be a ton of 'fiero moments' in this game (Those stand up die rolls, the arms up in the air in triumph) I'm wrong. The fiero moments come from working out clever play from your hand of cards and the positioning of pieces on the board. And they show up in most of (if not all) of the games I've played. I've had those, 'if I just get the one right card I can score on my last turn of the game' coupled with the mild disappointment of coming up just one hex short. That 'awwww,' moment, of knowing that I got outplayed, and still had a chance. This is one of the reasons Godball is a good game, and our improvements over the last few months have, I believe, heightened these moments.

Other notes: Athena and Hermes seem pretty evenly matched in the 1v1 setting. Athena could have played a little more optimally in this game, but then, so could have Hermes. I am convinced that Athena and Hermes have the most powerful 1v1 decks. (And I still contend that Athena has the most powerful deck in the game in the hands of an expert level player, but this is almost certainly wishful thinking on my part more than anything.) Hermes is fast and flexible and his mobility makes him hard to defend. Athena's gifts and the ability to use most actions for free (at least once or twice) makes her formidable.

Hero Reactions on gifts are powerful defenses. Giving a hero some defense range beyond simple positioning. In a 1v1 setting this is vitally important. And something that we might want to consider adding in a few more decks. SEEING a reaction makes it a lot easier to stomach, because now you can weigh the risk vs. reward of making an attempt. We DO need to make sure that the wording on these cards is clear.

Ways to destroy objects. Those sticky Arachne webs get in the way, which is what they are supposed to do, but they also don't have an easy way to be destroyed. We need to at least talk about how to streamline/codify destroying objects.

There's some formatting issues and some leftover old rules. I've made a list of more in-depth suggestions over on the play test spreadsheet.

[Mike]

This is all good. I'm thrilled.

With webs (and a lot of objects) I think we may want to include ways to destroy some of them, but I also like the model of Zeus's lightning... that god's hero can pick it up freely, others have to pay a point or two to pick it up. So even with the webs, you have to pay hex cost to get on them, then a point to control them, then points to destroy them or toss them away.

[Mike]

And I don't think I want to standardize that in the rules for all objects, but if we can state it succinctly on the cards, we can customize as needed.

Side thought: if you are carrying a web from one hex to another, I think the web should add to the hex cost of the hex you are both moving into. But again... only if we can make this clear without burning half the card space for it.

[Mike]

I agree that having reactions visible is a cool dynamic. I was worried about taking away the element of surprise, but the "surprise" in most cases is that the rules change on the fly, so you have perfect knowledge, but only a turn ahead of time. And there are enough options that you have to weigh whether or not to blow a defend now, or decide if you want to take a risk and count on your opponent to NOT want to spend the points to stop you, or whatever.

[Eliahad]

[Eliahad]