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Antics - A hilariously vulgar story building game

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parah7
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Joined: 10/10/2018

Hey everyone, I've been lurking these forums for some time now, learning what I can while developing my board game and i'm proud to say that it is ready for some public play testing.

The game is called Antics and involves 2-4 players aiming to get up to the most crazy, hilarious and simply outrageous weekend possible. Each antic has its own point value and players can make friends as time progressed as well as collect ATM cards to help them or hinder other players.

Whoever has the most points at the end of the game wins, although just by playing the game and having fun you are a winner anyway!

Link to all the PnP files are below, if anyone has any issues please let me know. Just a heads up as well, if you are easily offended or sensitive then this game is probably not for you.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CFi7stH86VGDvCODf1mBSgsn6ulLi8HL...

Just a note: A player can stay in the same spot each turn if they like, but im thinking of modifying it so players must move their piece each turn. I would like everyone's thoughts on this mechanic.

let-off studios
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Joined: 02/07/2011
Some Thoughts

Yeah, this is like Hangover: The Game. :)

A couple thoughts that came to mind as you continue development.

  • I suggest you have counters and a "player board" to keep track of everything a player needs to manage. There are some effects that last multiple turns (even, for example, remembering to not go to Prison on successive turns, since the actions of other players can send a player there) and if there was a moment during the end of a players turn when they discarded tokens to keep track of things.
  • I have a feeling the "Andy" friend card is a bit too punishing. Can you think of some kind of advantage a player can gain even though they've been hampered by this card? Not having friends to help is a tremendous setback for the affected player. Maybe merge "Andy" and "Barry"?
  • Text and descriptions in several areas could use some clarification and editing. Generally speaking however, the game is not difficult to understand.
  • If the game is played over multiple days, is there any way that you can change the game from one day to the next? Any bonuses/setbacks for someone hanging out with the same friend multiple evenings, for example?
  • Can you determine a way for a friend to earn a player more points for certain Antics? Again, tokens might be useful for this, but I also think it can add something to the game.

Best of success on your future development, parah7. :)

Jay103
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Joined: 01/23/2018
Okay, not at all my type of

Okay, not at all my type of game. That said..

Be careful about how much pure randomness there is in the game. An awful lot that happens is based on die rolls with no real mitigation. In particular, why is the number of beers I get at the club based on a die roll? That would seem to be the primary factor in how fast I can gain points, and if I roll and get one beer my first two tries, and my opponent gets three, I'm in some trouble.

If, for example, you always got 2 beers, then you could plan some tradeoffs about holding onto beers to try to be Crazy rather than Tame, etc.

(Btw, playing chicken and maybe ending up in jail does not sound tame to me!)

Also, the "friends" mechanic seems fairly complicated. It adds a lot of mindshare, cards, etc. for not all that much gain in gameplay. Give a little thought as to whether or not the friends are worth the hassle (in the game design, not in life). Then, if you see what I'm getting at, either remove them in the name of simplification (they're basically just weak temporary powers), or enhance them so they're more likely to have an impact. For example, if I get a two-hour friend who keeps me from going to jail, well, that's only useful if I can strategically grab that friend right when I'm planning to do something risky. And even then, "jail" is just losing one turn, so it's hardly worth the trouble of strategizing that.

Having an Event Deck might help (this also speaks to the comment about multiple days, above). Like, have 10 cards and draw one at random each day after the first, that has a large-scale effect on the game for that day, like "hospital visits lose 2 turns", "BOGO sale on beer at the club", "BFF Forever: You may only have one friend today, total".. that sort of thing.

Btw, not sure why the hospital and jail are effectively identical. And "you can't go to jail two turns in a row" seems thematically wrong, even if there's a valid gameplay reason for it (presumably to avoid too much Take-That, but if that's the issue, then you have too much Take-That)

parah7
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Joined: 10/10/2018
Thanks for the input

Hey guys,

Huge thanks for your input, exactly what i needed.

I will look into modifying some of the dynamics to make sure they fit in more effectively and if not, remove them.

There are a few different thoughts and suggestions that I really like the idea of and will have some play tests with those implemented to see how they work.

Will update this thread in the near future, in the meantime if anyone else would like to test my game for me and give me their feedback it would be hugely appreciated.

parah7
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Joined: 10/10/2018
UPDATED

Hey everyone,

I wasnt sure whether to start a new thread or to just bump this post so I chose to bump the post.

So after a lot of thought and reworking I believe I have a version of the game that I am happy with for others to play test again, I am sure there is still some issues that need to be ironed out but that is something I am hoping you guys can help with. I have played 2 player games of it with myself and some 4 player ones as well, both of which played fairly well.

Below is the link to the updated version of the game (minimal graphics for easy PnP), it would be amazing if as many people tested it as possible but if thats not the case, even just looking at all the cards and rules and giving me some input would be incredible.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1K4baUWJEdnqhSYugdVXUJ61sueRpHVp4...

Once I know the game is in a good place and there is only few fixes or balances that need to be made then I can begin work on bringing it to life visually.

It is important to note here as well, the graphics used for this PnP test are from google for context, they will be replaced with my own upon making the proper version.

For anyone who does playtest for me, there are some feedback questions below. Feel free to add any other input if you feel it is necessary and relevant.

What was your favorite part?
What was your least favorite part?
What did you have the most trouble understanding? Why?
What one mechanic would you change, and how would you change it?
Are there any game elements you felt imbalanced the game or weren't needed?
Would you play the game again?
Did any of the mechanics feel too complex? Too simple?
Was it fun?

I would be MORE than happy to play test anyone's game to return the favour!

Fertessa
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Joined: 07/18/2018
Hiya! Glad you updated your

Hiya! Glad you updated your game and bumped the thread. :) Could you explain what Action points are for? The rulebook just mentions action cards, but in your component list you say there is only 1 action card. It's helpful to go into detail about that and provide an image of the action card, if possible.

Everything else seemed pretty clear to me. Enough that I could muck around and get started without too much trouble. I do wonder if the card count is a bit uneven since the Friend and Item deck are so much smaller than the Antic deck. Am I able to draw from the Friend and Item decks as often as I would the Antic deck?

The theme seems interesting enough. I'd give it a try if I saw you playtesting at a con.

let-off studios
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Feedback

Private message sent to you, parah7!

parah7
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Joined: 10/10/2018
Fertessa wrote:Hiya! Glad you

Fertessa wrote:
Hiya! Glad you updated your game and bumped the thread. :) Could you explain what Action points are for? The rulebook just mentions action cards, but in your component list you say there is only 1 action card. It's helpful to go into detail about that and provide an image of the action card, if possible.

Everything else seemed pretty clear to me. Enough that I could muck around and get started without too much trouble. I do wonder if the card count is a bit uneven since the Friend and Item deck are so much smaller than the Antic deck. Am I able to draw from the Friend and Item decks as often as I would the Antic deck?

The theme seems interesting enough. I'd give it a try if I saw you playtesting at a con.

Hey Fertessa,

The action points are what the players use in order to take their turns, a variety of actions are possible for the player such as drawing cards or playing cards and each action requires a certain amount of these available action points. The 'Action Card' is simply a single card supplied that shows the available actions a player can take and how many 'Action Points' each require, call it a guide if you will.

I can understand where the confusion lies, providing more visual guides for the players will help to differentiate between the two.

As for the Antics deck being larger than the other two, this is because I wanted there to be a wide array of different antics the player can do, so there is always something different. This didnt need to happen with the other two decks as the used cards go back into the deck and adding more to it would be unnecessary.

Thank you so much for your input!

let-off studios wrote:
Private message sent to you, parah7!

Will send you a message back now :)

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