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Mi Gato pieces available online

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Anonymous

Mi Gato se Incendia! is now available on line - sort of. I've got a few parts up for folks to look at and comment on. At the moment the game board is online as a PDF (and ppt) and a rough cut of the rules are available in .txt format.

http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~bgerber/gato

Any comments welcome!

Cheers,
Ben

btaggart
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Mi Gato pieces available online

It looks like a fun game, mostly abstract. I have one question:

Q: Why are there two life tracks? Does the cat lose 9 lives total or nine lives either cold or hot? (Ok, so it's 2 questions)

btaggart
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Mi Gato pieces available online

And now that I've read through the rules, I have comments.

One red flag in my eyes is how you are handling the net cards. I can see that you don't want them to be very available, but how you're trying to enforce that is a bit awkward.

Perhaps this would work: Net cards are played face up on the table. You can only have one card out at a time, and have to have a card out to catch Mi Gato.

This doesn't solve the problem of being able to attempt to catch Mi Gato several turns in a row, which you also seem to want to avoid.

Anyway, my thoughts...

OutsideLime
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Mi Gato pieces available online

First of all, I've been loving this game idea ever since you first brought it up here. Not that I harbour any ill will towards cats, but because it's nice to see something wholly original in terms of theme. Cats on fire... it's not exactly an overdone genre. The sense of humour is a bonus too.

My comments on what you've got:

The pawns. They're fine for the players, but please please include a token that represents the flaming cat. One with a picture of a flaming cat on it, preferably. It could be two-sided. One side, non-flaming. The other side, cheerily ablaze. The token flips over when the cat is ignited/extinguished.

The graphics. I know it's a playable prototype and is designed for function right now, but the board that I envisioned when you originally described this was an overhead view (from an angle, so you can see building sides a bit) of a cartoony town/suburb. The theme of your game demands that the visual tone be compliant. If you dig.

The rulebook. Needs some organizational work. Your first paragraph "To catch the cat you must..." belongs way down under turn 2c. The Special Action Card Rules section can be eliminated, as those instructions can be printed on the cards themselves.

The fragility of the cat... I'm not sure, but it seems like that cat will snuff it way before any player could hope to catch it. I could be wrong, because I can't get a sense of how the cat moves, or how often it gets hurt/ignited. The Cat Health Tracker is a bit confusing too. Does it work like a separate "life bar" for burn and non-burn injuries? Will the cat perish if the bars ADD UP to 9, or if either one GETS to 9?

I'd like to see a sampling (or even a complete list) of the Action cards and the Event cards.

I hope I haven't been too overbearing with these comments, I just like your idea and I want to understand it better. Thanks,

~Josh

Anonymous
Mi Gato pieces available online

btaggart wrote:
It looks like a fun game, mostly abstract. I have one question:

Q: Why are there two life tracks? Does the cat lose 9 lives total or nine lives either cold or hot? (Ok, so it's 2 questions)

The life tracks are basically if the cat's on fire or not. It's possible for Mi Gato to lose a life without being...er... smokey.

Cheers,
Ben

Anonymous
Mi Gato pieces available online

OutsideLime wrote:
First of all, I've been loving this game idea ever since you first brought it up here. Not that I harbour any ill will towards cats, but because it's nice to see something wholly original in terms of theme. Cats on fire... it's not exactly an overdone genre. The sense of humour is a bonus too.

Thanks Josh. I'll agree that it's a new, hot genre. You might even say it's on fire.

OutsideLime wrote:
My comments on what you've got:

The pawns. They're fine for the players, but please please include a token that represents the flaming cat. One with a picture of a flaming cat on it, preferably. It could be two-sided. One side, non-flaming. The other side, cheerily ablaze. The token flips over when the cat is ignited/extinguished.

That's an excellent idea, and one that I am still toying with. My biggest problem is that I can barely draw a straight line with a ruler, let alone scribble off a quick feline BBQ. Any suggestions for those of us who are challenged in this area? Hiring an artist is out because well, I'm pretty much sans cash. Any volunteers would be welcome, and of course would get full credit and a hefty share of the profits from this free game.

OutsideLime wrote:
The graphics. I know it's a playable prototype and is designed for function right now, but the board that I envisioned when you originally described this was an overhead view (from an angle, so you can see building sides a bit) of a cartoony town/suburb. The theme of your game demands that the visual tone be compliant. If you dig.

I dig. This is pretty much how I see it too. But I wasn't prepared to go into this quite yet, as I didn't know if the game would even really work. That and my above stated inability to draw anything but stick figures. I actually pictured more of a backyard (or several backyards joined by fences).

OutsideLime wrote:
The rulebook. Needs some organizational work. Your first paragraph "To catch the cat you must..." belongs way down under turn 2c. The Special Action Card Rules section can be eliminated, as those instructions can be printed on the cards themselves.

Yeah, the rulebook is something I litterally cobbled together this afternoon while picking through the rubble of my playtesting notes. I eventually envision a pdf file that a.) doesn't repeat itself a lot and b.) looks really nice, perhaps with a bug eyed semi-smoldering feline on the front cover.

OutsideLime wrote:
The fragility of the cat... I'm not sure, but it seems like that cat will snuff it way before any player could hope to catch it. I could be wrong, because I can't get a sense of how the cat moves, or how often it gets hurt/ignited. The Cat Health Tracker is a bit confusing too. Does it work like a separate "life bar" for burn and non-burn injuries? Will the cat perish if the bars ADD UP to 9, or if either one GETS to 9?

The tracker (which I freely admit is not layed out very well on the proto board) is to not only keep track of the cat's current amount of lives, but also to distinguish between a burning and non-burning cat. So hot when the cat's incendia, and cold when it's not. The cat moves via the event cards which are drawn at the end of every turn. This also determines if the cat is hurt and on fire. I hope to have some sample card pdf's up soon which help illustrate this. There are also action cards (played by players) which can help heal the cat a bit, so to prolong it's life. In our play tests so far (about 7 games total) the cat has never died, although it's come very close in one game.

OutsideLime wrote:
I'd like to see a sampling (or even a complete list) of the Action cards and the Event cards.

I hope I haven't been too overbearing with these comments, I just like your idea and I want to understand it better. Thanks,

~Josh

Not at all overbearing. In fact, this is exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for. We all play games and I'd like to design and eventually publish games that we'll all enjoy playing.

We're having another play test session tomorrow with some newly designed cards and the rules published on my dinky little website. I'll let folks know how it goes in the playtest board tomorrow.

Cheers!
Ben

Anonymous
Mi Gato pieces available online

btaggart wrote:
And now that I've read through the rules, I have comments.

One red flag in my eyes is how you are handling the net cards. I can see that you don't want them to be very available, but how you're trying to enforce that is a bit awkward.

Perhaps this would work: Net cards are played face up on the table. You can only have one card out at a time, and have to have a card out to catch Mi Gato.

We actually tried doing it this way and the net effect (gosh my puns are getting worse as the evening wears on) was that everyone knew when folks had Net cards, so they saved up all their failures. As implemented now (and as played for half the games at our last play test) you don't start the game with a net card, and the only way a player will know if you have one is if you either attempt to capture the cat, or have to discard another net card. This causes a bit of a gang up on the first player to discard or attempt a capture, but it also forces other players to speed up their strategy and try and get the cat and/or a net card faster. BTW, there are cards that allow you to take cards from someone else's hand.

btaggart wrote:
This doesn't solve the problem of being able to attempt to catch Mi Gato several turns in a row, which you also seem to want to avoid.

I handle this (so far, anyway) by allowing only 1 attempt per turn, and forcing *something* to happen to the cat at the end of every turn. Add to this that players can foil your attempt and steal your cards (to a small extent) makes it a sure bet that if others know you have a Net card, you'll have a harder time meeting up with Mi Gato.

btaggart wrote:
Anyway, my thoughts...

Keep 'em coming. The feedback is most helpful. I may not implement every idea in the finished game, but I'm going to try out all of these in at least one play test game.

Cheers,
Ben

jwalduck
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Joined: 09/06/2011
Mi Gato pieces available online

I have only had a quick look through the game. I can see a resemblance to Kill Doctor Lucky. Not a good or bad thing, just an observation.

OutsideLime
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Mi Gato pieces available online

Quote:
The tracker (which I freely admit is not layed out very well on the proto board) is to not only keep track of the cat's current amount of lives, but also to distinguish between a burning and non-burning cat. So hot when the cat's incendia, and cold when it's not.

I think a good simplifying move here would be to have just one Cat Lives Tracker. Lives 1 thru 9. The cat's token on the gameboard indicates whether it is on fire or not.

Quote:
I actually pictured more of a backyard (or several backyards joined by fences).

Right, backyards, that makes a ton more sense, considering the way the game spaces are laid out.

Quote:
Any suggestions for those of us who are challenged in this area? Hiring an artist is out because well, I'm pretty much sans cash. Any volunteers would be welcome, and of course would get full credit and a hefty share of the profits from this free game.

I'll do it. But I want 75% of the free profits.

~Josh

Anonymous
Mi Gato pieces available online

jwalduck wrote:
I have only had a quick look through the game. I can see a resemblance to Kill Doctor Lucky. Not a good or bad thing, just an observation.

There are similarities now that you mention it. But I guess the main difference is that Dr. Lucky isn't a burning cat. :)

Ben

Anonymous
Mi Gato pieces available online

OutsideLime wrote:
I'll do it. But I want 75% of the free profits.

Really? Heck, you can have 90% of the profits from the free game.

If you're serious, I'd love to collaborate with you. Even though I've not seen y our work, I can say without hesitation that it's better than mine.

I really can't offer money, fame or popularity but I'll certainly put your name on the game along with mine.

Cheers,
Ben

zaiga
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Mi Gato pieces available online

stynx9000 wrote:
There are similarities now that you mention it. But I guess the main difference is that Dr. Lucky isn't a burning cat. :)

One of my cats' name happens to be "Dr. Lucky". The other one is called "Reiner", although we sometimes affectionately call him "Kniz-y" as well.

Anonymous
Sample cards online

I've uploaded a group of sample cards, in PDF format (and zipped) to :

http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~bgerber/gato/samplepdfs.zip

Please note that this are drafts. Yes, there are spelling and formatting mistakes and no, you can't get something for nothing, unless they're free pdfs.

Cheers,
Ben

Anonymous
Mi Gato se Incendia beta 0.3 now available

You can get the complete game at:

http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~bgerber/gato/MiGato.zip

This includes instructions, the board game (in both large format and in 4 sections) and both decks of cards.

The file is about 3.2MB in size.

I'm open to all opinions, questions and suggestions. Please just remember that this is a beta version. You may find some spelling and/or formatting mistakes. Also the graphics are rough and either clip-art or very low quality.

At this point I'm more interested in mechanics and gameplay than I am in the look of the game. Although any donations of artwork for the game will be welcome, and earn you a credit on the cover of the rules and the board, and up to 25% of all of the profits from this free game. (i.e. 0).

Cards are sized to fit avery business card template #8371.

Cheers!
Ben

OutsideLime
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Mi Gato pieces available online

I was serious about helping. Check this link for some cartoony-style work I did for a friend's website. If it's the vibe you want, PM me. I'm a bit crowded for time right now, but if your schedule is easy then I'm your man.

~Josh
http://zygotemusic1.perception.net

Click on any building to see an interior of the building....

JackDarwid
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Mi Gato pieces available online

Beautiful !
And I think the artwork will match with the spirit of the game.
Can't wait to see the result ... :)

Anonymous
New rules online

After another brief round of playtesting, I've added some clarification to the rules.

The rulebook and the entire package are available online at the following site:

http://people.deas.harvard.edu/~bgerber/gato

Cheers!
Ben

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